University Research Priority Program (URPP) Asia and

University Research Priority Program (URPP) Asia and Europe

University Research Priority Program (URPP) Asia and EuropeExchanges and Encounters

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Exchanges and Encounters


Contents

Editorial 3Research Field 1: Concepts and Taxonomies 4Research Field 2: Entangled Histories 8Research Field 3: Norms and Social Order(s) 12Research Projects and Annual Conferences 16Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program Asia and Europe 18Participating Professors and Departments 20Organizational Structure 21Research Partners 22Seal Stone 23

Published by

University of Zurich University Research Priority Program (URPP) Asia and Europe Wiesenstrasse 7/9 CH-8008 Zurich

Editors

Prof. Dr. Angelika Malinar, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Behr, PD Dr. Simone Müller, lic. phil. Roman Benz

English Language Editor

Phillip Lasater, M.Div.

Order at

[email protected]

Second Edition

© URPP Asia and Europe 2014

Photo Credits

p. 4: © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin

p. 6 left: Facsimile Edition from the Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science, Frankfurt 1985

p. 8 and 9: © Children of Srikandi Collective

p. 10 left: © Historical and Ethnological Museum of St. Gallen, Switzerland

p. 10 right: Norman Backhaus

p. 12: © Julia Leser / radioactivists.org

p. 13: Research Field 3, URPP Asia and Europe

p. 14 left: © Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM)

p. 14 right: Eliza Isabaeva

All other photos: Roman Benz

The annual publication Asia & Europe Bulletin offers detailed information concerning the research and teaching activities at the URPP Asia and Europe. It appears once a year at the beginning of the spring semester.

Asia & Europe Bulletin 1/2012 Asia & Europe Bulletin 2/2013 Asia & Europe Bulletin 3/2014



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Dear colleagues and interested readers,

The presence of Asia as a major political, cultural, and economic player is one of the most important parameters for understanding the contemporary world and acting in it. This situation has repercussions for the self-perception and position of Europe not only with respect to current processes of globalization, but also in view of its large spectrum of past encounters with Asia. All of this calls for a research initiative that focuses on the complexities of the relationships between Asia and Europe in the past and present alike and that counters still widespread monolithic representations. To deal with the diverse histories and encounters between Asians and Europeans means being faced with a huge spectrum of languages and literatures, religious and philosophical traditions, social formations, political structures, and geographical settings. It also implies studying multilateral interrelationships between dif-ferent regions in Europe and Asia as well as situations of disentanglement and withdrawal.

The University Research Priority Program (URPP) “Asia and Europe” was established in 2006 in order to address these complex and demanding research tasks by bringing together the expertise on Asia and Europe of scholars across faculties and disciplines at the University of Zurich and by offering funding for doctoral and post-doctoral research projects. Since 2009, we have also offered a doctoral program. Our interdisciplinary research program combines methods and theoretical approaches employed in cultural studies, philology and linguistics as well as in the social sciences. This program allows us to address the multi-faceted structure of our research agenda, enhancing and refining the scope of discourse. Understanding others’ approaches is a demanding but truly enriching endeavor, which we manage to sustain at various levels of collaboration. In addition to their working on the individual doctoral and postdoctoral research projects, senior and junior scholars explore specific topics in the context of three interdisciplinary research fields: “Concepts and Tax-onomies,” “Entangled Histories,” and “Norms and Order(s).” Workshops and conferences as well as international cooperation with distinguished scholars and research institutions play a central role in discussing and enhancing research activities among the different

research fields. Our annual international conferences are dedicated to themes and issues of mutual concern across the research fields, such as “Traveling Norms and the Politics of Contention”, “Concepts of Religion be-tween Asian and Europe,” or “Varieties of Modernity? Possibilities and Limitations of a Research Perspective on Asia and Europe.” Reports and discussions of these events are published in our annual Bulletin.

These activities would not have been possible without the generous grants of the University of Zurich through-out all three phases of the program, the financial support by the Gebert Rüf Stiftung during the first phase (2006–2009) and the funding of several doctoral research projects by the Humer-Foundation for Academic Talent. On behalf of the members of the URPP, I would like to express our sincere thanks for this support. “Asia and Europe” has now entered its third phase (2013–2017), and this booklet provides information on our inter-disciplinary research activities. Our hope is that it en-courages further research initiatives and cooperation in what will continue to be an important field of research in the postcolonial, globalized world.

Prof. Dr. Angelika MalinarAcademic Director

Editorial

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Mughal emperor Akbar in the midst of a theological debate with Jesuit missionaries in his Ibadat Khana, or House of Worship.

© The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin



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Research field coordinators: Prof. Dr. Christoph Uehlinger and Dr. Ralph Weber

Descriptive and explanatory adequacy when concep-tualizing and studying phenomena such as identity constructions, exchanges, encounters, etc. between various cultural spaces in Europe and in Asia can only be achieved on the basis of precise terminology. One of the URPP’s major goals is therefore to contribute to the understanding of fundamental concepts, to the articu-lation of their translational equivalents or correlates, and to their use as heuristic instruments. At the same time, we are interested in how these concepts became historically effective, both normatively and institution-ally, in terms of taxonomies of knowledge and how their taxonomic status influenced their meaning.

Through coordinated research efforts, we concentrate on the conceptual fields demarcated as “philosophy,” “religion,” and “law and order.” We systematically explore the terms that define such conceptual fields, including related terms of a different taxonomic status and possible definienda (such as the concepts of “con-vincing” and “persuasion”). Special emphasis is given to concepts that operate across several of the above-mentioned fields, such as “aesthetics” and “body” or, alternatively, to ‘strategic’ concepts that qualify these fields as overlapping, discrete or mutually exclusive domains. Methodological and theoretical self-reflection accompanies this research, which requires attention to the concepts of “concept,” “taxonomy,” and “knowl-edge” as used in and between Asia and Europe.

PhilosophyThis subgroup is dedicated to the study of the question: “What is philosophy?,” which has formerly been discussed mainly within the framework of the European tradition. We seek to extend this scholarly discussion to traditions in the Arabic-Islamic world, India, China, and Japan and to investigate the taxonomic functions of different words for “philosophy.” The focus is on the diverse intellectual traditions, their self-conceptions, their terminology (both from an internal and an external point of view), their historical development, and their place in cultural, social, and institutional contexts. The goal is twofold: On the one hand, we attempt to identify these traditions and to describe their relationship to each

other and with regard to the underlying concepts of philosophy, including the respective normative impli-cations. On the other hand, we attempt to reflect on the general concept of philosophy itself and on the conditions under which it might engender innovative research.

ReligionThe concept of religion, which was etymologically and semantically controversial already in Roman antiquity, has experienced various careers in the course of history. In European discussions, there is a distinctive tension between positive auto-referential understandings (vera religio vs. idolatria, or religion vs. magic) and a neutral classificatory understanding (religion, religions). The successive broadening of the concept is, of course, intimately related to European colonial and intellectual history. Each of these elements has contributed to the emergence of the new academic field of religious studies.

It is by no means clear whether the conceptualization of a specific area of social communication as “religion” is a characteristic only of the European history of ideas, as is often claimed by those who are suspicious of the concept’s application. Similar terminological differen-tiations may be observed in Asian societies. This point calls for clarification of possible correlations between conceptual taxonomies, on the one hand, and between socio-cultural and institutional variability, on the other. Within the framework of the URPP, we focus on European and Asian taxonomies and semantics and study them in a comparative and diachronic historical

Research Field 1: Concepts and Taxonomies

Participants of the workshop “The Chinese Communist Party and the Politiciza-tion of Traditions” (June 6–8, 2013) in the Lichthof of the University of Zurich.



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perspective. Special attention is given to questions of the mutual intertwining of different religious traditions and their conceptual systems, relating this research focus to the URPP’s Research Field 2 “Entangled Histories.”

Law and OrderLaw (i. e. ius and lex in the Latin tradition) as a regulatory social system exists in some form in nearly all cultures in Asia and Europe. From a historical perspective, law is not only effective in socio-political realms of cultures—as more modern views might suggest. On the contrary, it is usually understood in general to be much more com-prehensive and applicable to phenomena in the cosmos or in nature, etc., developing, for example, into the concept of “laws of nature.” Regarding the latter, we have tested the claim that early conceptualizations in ancient Mesopotamia followed a common model of thought used to define correlations in divination (astro logical and other omina) and in casuistic law. Re constructing the history of the concepts of law and order in their multiple frameworks of reference sheds light on their current usages and implicit dimensions of meaning, and leads to a more profound understanding of their di verse roles in the fields of law, culture, and natural science.

Comparative Conceptual ResearchResearching concepts between Asia and Europe raises a series of questions of both of a philosophical and a research-pragmatic kind. For one thing, the concept of “concept” must be investigated to recognize pre-understandings at work in comparative conceptual

research and to critically pursue the possibilities of enlarging, specifying or merely complicating the employed concept by means of Asian languages and texts. This subgroup seeks to gain insights into the relation of concept and language and into the historicity of concepts by engaging in a constructive dialogue between philosophical conceptual analysis and various Asian languages. With regard to research pragmatics, the choice of concepts conducive to comparative research may be examined. Might it be promising to supplement the frequent studies on concepts such as “philosophy,” “religion,” “nature,” or “the self” with studies on con-cepts that are taxonomically on a different level, such as “washing,” “disciple,” or “text?” What promise would such a taxonomical shift in perspective hold? Moreover, the concept of “comparison” must be examined, and the activity and possibilities of comparing must be subjected to various perspectives. What about concepts akin to that of “comparison” such as “analogy” and “similarity?” What can be learned, for example, from the texts of the Nyāya-school in India for a philosophy of comparison? Does the comparison in the Mengzi (6A:2) between hu-man nature and a water swirl amount to an example or an analogy employed for rhetorical or pragmatic ends or is it an expression of more deeply rooted correlative thinking?

This group is closely linked to the other subgroups of Research Field 1. Instead of focusing on one specific concept, it seeks to investigate not only the methods, epistemology and prospects, but also the limits of comparative conceptual research.

An excerpt from the Compendium of Sciences by Ibn Farighun (10th c. AD) that describes philosophy and its different parts

An excerpt from Mou Zongsan’s Fourteen Lectures on the Convergence of Chinese and Western Philosophy, 1990, p. 42

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Selected Publications

R. Gassmann, E. Lange, A. Malinar, U. Rudolph, R. Steineck, R. Weber (eds.), What is Philosophy? Themes and Issues in China, India, the Islamic World, and Japan, 2 Vols., Boston and Leiden: Brill, forthcoming

T. Itô, S. Müller, R. Rehm (eds.), WortBildAssimi lationen: Japan und die Moderne / WordImageAssimilations: Japan and Moder nity, Berlin: Gebrüder Mann Verlag, forthcoming (Zoom: Perspektiven der Mo-derne, 4)

A. Malinar, K. Jacobsen, H. Basu, V. Narayanan (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vols. 1–6, Leiden: Brill, 2009–2014 (Handbook of Oriental Studies: Section 2: South Asia, 22/1–6)

S. Müller, Das zerissene Bewusstsein: Wiederholung und Differenz im japanischen Intellektuellen diskurs (chishikijin ron) der Zwischen und Nachkriegszeit, Berlin: De Gruyter, forthcoming (Welten Ostasiens – Worlds of East Asia – Mondes de l’Extrême-Orient)

U. Rudolph, R. Würsch (ed.), Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie: Philosophie in der islamischen Welt. Band 1: 8.–10. Jahrhundert, Basel: Schwabe, 2012

K. Schmid, C. Uehlinger (eds.), Laws in Heaven, Laws of Nature, Fribourg: Academic Press and Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014 (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis), in press

R. Seidel, Kant in Teheran: Anfänge, Ansätze und Kontexte der Kantrezeption in Iran, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014 (Welten des Islams – Worlds of Islam – Mondes de l’Islam, 5)

R. Steineck, E. Lange, P. Kaufmann, Begriff und Bild der modernen japanischen Philosophie, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 2014

R. Steineck, Kritik der symbolischen Formen I: Symbolische Form und Funktion, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 2014 (Philosophie interkulturell, 2)

C. Uehlinger (ed.), Concepts of Religion between Asia and Europe, forthcoming

Academic Guests

Jun’ichi Isomae, Location of Reason: Subjectivity in Postmodernism and Postcolonialism (research seminar), January 5–6, 2012

David Mervart, A Sketch Map of a Eurasian Republic of Letters: Interrogating the ‘Global’ Bid of Intellectual and Conceptual Histories (research seminar), September 18–23, 2014

Academic Events

International Symposium, Philosophical Readings of Ancient Texts between Asia and Europe: Chances and Problems, Zurich, De-cember 17–18, 2009

Public Lecture Series, Researching Philosophy in Asian Contexts, Spring 2010, with Dimitri Gutas (Yale University), Arindam Chakrabarti (University of Hawai’i), Roger T. Ames (Uni-versity of Hawai’i), and John C. Maraldo (University of North Florida)

Workshop with Tu Weiming (Harvard University / Beijing University), 心學的文化與政治含義：‘頌ベ‴祿研堺技Â [The Cultural and Political Implications of the Learning of HeartandMind: A Discussion of Tu Weiming’s Thought], Beijing July 16, 2010, in cooperation with the Institute for the Promotion of Chinese Language and Culture and the International Center for Chinese and Com-parative Philosophy, Renmin University of China

Workshop with Roger T. Ames (University of Hawai’i), 安樂哲《儒家角色倫理學》研討會 [Author Meets Critics: A Workshop on Roger Ames’s Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary], Beijing, July 19, 2011, in cooperation with the Department of Philosophy, Renmin Univer-sity of China

International Symposium, Laws of Heaven – Laws of Nature: The Legal Interpretation of Cosmic Phenomena in the Ancient World, Zurich, September 5–6, 2011, in cooperation with Schweizerische Gesellschaft für orien-talische Altertumswissenschaft

Workshop, Sorhoon Tan’s Confucian Democracy: Author Meets Critics, Beijing, July 6, 2012, in cooperation with the Department of Philosophy, Renmin University of China

Public Lecture Series, Concepts of Religion in the Modern Age, autumn 2011, with Christine Axt-Piscalar (Universität Göttingen), Patrick Franke (Universität Bamberg), Jun’ichi Isomae (Kyoto/Zurich), Yang Mayfair Meihui (UC Santa Barbara), and Richard King (Uni-versity of Glasgow)

Workshop, CrossCultural Comparison, Basel, March 8, 2013, in cooperation with the Centre for African Studies, University of Basel

Workshop, The Chinese Communist Party and the Politicization of Traditions, June 6–8, 2013

International Conference, Masters of Disguise? Conceptions and Misconceptions of ‘Rhetoric’ in Chinese Antiquity, Einsiedeln, September 4–6, 2013

Public Lecture Series, Positionen aktueller MohammedForschung, autumn 2013, with Fred M. Donner (University of Chicago), Claude Gilliot (University of Aix-en-Pro-vence), Mouhanad Khorchide (WWU Müns-ter), Tilman Nagel (University of Göttingen) (in co-operation with research field 2)

Public Lecture Series, Cultural Materiality: Concepts at stake in Comparative Manuscript Studies, spring 2014, with Michael Friedrich (University of Hamburg), Andreas Kaplony (LMU Munich), Jens Krijgsman (University of Oxford), Matthias L. Richter (University of Colorado at Boulder), Michael Segal (HU Jerusalem), Esther-Miriam Wagner (Univer-sity of Cambridge), Paul Nicholas Vogt (University of Heidelberg)

International Conference, The Gongsunlongzi and Other Neglected Texts: Aligning Philosophical and Philological Perspectives, August 27–29, 2014, in cooperation with the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies – Chinese Studies, University of Zurich

Workshop, Concepts of Concept: Perspectives across Languages and Disciplines, September 10–11, 2014

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Research Field 2: Entangled Histories

Research field coordinators: Prof. Dr. Hans Bjarne Thomsen and Prof. Dr. Sven Trakulhun

Processes of cultural exchange and the construction of cultural boundaries are both shaped by agents and embedded in particular temporal and spatial contexts. The notion of “entanglement” helps us critically to reflect on national, cultural, territorial, and epochal boundaries that are at play in encounters between Asia and Europe. In studying not only constellations and dynamics of entanglement, but also disentanglement between interacting groups and individuals, we focus on networks, space and place, representations in literature, art and media, and the transfer of knowledge.

NetworksBoth individual and collective agency in transcultural constellations are often embedded in and channeled by networks that are shaped by institutional structures, professional tasks, and interpersonal relationships. Networks not only shape the way in which groups and individuals interact across cultural, political or language borders, but are also the results of such interactions. The research group investigates the emergence of networks in Eurasian history as well as the role of individual actors and of professional and institutional parameters. The focus is on the biographies and travel routes of ambassadors, translators or missionaries, contact zones, Eurasian trade and the emergence and structure of transnational organizations.

Places and TransitionsSpace, scale and social practice are essential concepts for the research projects in this group. Spaces are appro-priated, overcome, and—most importantly—endowed with meaning. Although scales become increasingly entangled, through processes of globalization they remain important ordering principles in everyday life as well as in research. Social practices shape spaces, places, and localities, which conversely are reference points for yet further practices. The everyday actions of Asians and Europeans are what make geography. This research group investigates, on the one hand, the way that landscapes, nature, and the environment are evaluated and, on the other hand, the social practices related to the evaluations. It focused on processes of dis/appropriation

of spaces, which are closely related to creating or nego-tiating social and political borders.

Spatial (i. e. migration, tourism) and social mobility are important factors in overcoming or redrawing borders and entail the creation of new landscapes, such as “nature parks.” For instance, one result of migration is the emergence of multi-locality. People have to consider multiple places for their daily life and practices. All of these issues are connected to processes of glob-alization and, in particular, its increasing speed and frequency of transportation and communication. The entanglement of the global and the local leads to new forms of social and spatial structuration (i. e. glocali-zation).

Narratives, Media and AestheticsThe research group analyses processes of cultural exchange as represented in literature, film, art, theatre, and mass media. The focus is on cultural concepts and theoretical discourses that inform cross-cultural interactions between Asian and European artists and intellectuals. How are these interactions expressed and translated in different media and in which particular social environments? How are self-perceptions and self-representations transformed and recreated in these processes? The spectrum of transformations extends from acculturation to hybridization and syncretism and to (self)-exoticization and stereotypes. Often narratives and constructions of gender and the body are at the center of these transformations.

Crew members of the documentary “Children of Srikandi” (created as part of a PhD project at the URPP Asia and Europe) filming in the streets of Yogyakarta.



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Our investigations entail exploring the circulation of theoretical positions and aesthetic theories, such as, for instance, with respect to “landscape painting,” “the gothic” or “women literature.” This also calls for ex-ploring Asian-European entanglements with respect to even more general and theoretically multi-faceted notions like “postmodernism.” This means reassessing the idea that cultural exchange is generally based on hegemonic relationships and unidirectional influences by focusing instead on the mutual adaptation of modes of representation as well as on the resistance against such intertwinement.

History of Knowledge and Cultures of KnowledgeThis research group explores the entanglement of cultures of knowledge by employing the term “history of knowledge,” which allows us to broaden the long established, Europe-centered, history of science to non-European cultures of knowledge. This move results in rethinking the conventional comparative approaches that still have as their point of departure European historical developments for which Asian examples supply confirmation. The study of encounters and of

parallel developments in histories of knowledge is concerned with the circulation of material objects and substances (mercury, for instance), the techniques of processing them, and the cultural practices related to them (for example, cook-shops), as well as with knowl-edge systems that are translated, adapted or rejected. This kind of study requires dealing with multiple languages in texts and communication techniques and in the transformation of material cultures in colonial and postcolonial contexts alike.

Mobile street vendors such as this snack seller in Bangkok are able quickly to transport their business to their customers.

Portrait of a French woman wearing a kimono (attributed to Auguste Blondel, 1799–1872) © Historical and Ethnological Museum of St. Gallen, Switzerland

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M. Flitsch, A. Kaplony (eds.), Entangled By Multiple Tongues: The Role of Diaspora in the Transfer of Culture, Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques, 65(3), 2011

M. Reichel, H. B. Thomsen (eds.) Kirschblüte & Edelweiss: Der Import des Exotischen, Baden: Hier + Jetzt, 2014

A. Riemenschnitter, D. L. Madsen (eds.) Diasporic Histories: Archives of Chinese Transnationalism, Hong Kong: Hong Kong Uni ver-sity Press, 2009.

S. Trakulhun, H. Trüper (eds.), Biography Afield in Asia and Europe, Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques, 67(4), 2013

B. R. Upreti, U. Müller-Böker (eds.), Livelihoods Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal, Kathmandu: NCCR North-South / Heidel Press, 2010

M. Vitale, Eparchie und Koinon in Kleinasien von der ausgehenden Republik bis ins 3. Jh. n. Chr., Bonn: Verlag Dr. Rudolf Habelt, 2012 (Asia Minor Studien, 67)

A. Zangger, Koloniale Schweiz: Ein Stück Globalgeschichte zwischen Europa und Südostasien (1860–1930), Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2011 (1800–2000: Kulturgeschichten der Moderne, 8)

Academic Guest

David Howell, Contested Histories of NineteenthCentury Japan (research semi nar), December 16–20, 2013

Academic Events

Public Lecture Series, Mirrored Histories – Constructions of the Past between Asia and Europe, Spring 2009, with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (Columbia University, New York), Jürgen Osterhammel (University of Konstanz), Sven Trakulhun (University of Zurich), Dipesh Chakrabarty (University of Chicago), and Kapil Raj (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris)

Workshop, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Chinese State: Multiscalar Dimensions and Legal Pluralism, June 12–13, 2009, in cooperation with the Department of Chinese Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies

International Conference, Body at Work, June 26–27, 2009, in cooperation with the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich

International Workshop, Recalling Historical Legacies: Ethnography and Ethnology in China, 1950–1980, September 1–3, 2010, in

cooperation with the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich

International Workshop, Entangled By Multiple Tongues: The Role of Diaspora in the Transfer of Culture, Zurich, June 3–4, 2010

International Conference, Transcultural Bodies – Transboundary Biographies: Border Crossings in Asia and Europe, New Delhi, February 21–24, 2010, in cooperation with the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context: Shifting Asymmetries in Cultural Flows,” University of Heidelberg, and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi

Public Lecture Series, Euro Asian Knowl edgescapes. Concepts and Models of Technological and Scientific Knowledge Transfer, Spring 2011, with Dagmar Schäfer (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin), Dhruv Raina (University of Heidelberg), Guido Sprenger (University of Heidelberg) and Pamela Smith (Columbia University, New York), in cooperation with the research group “Concepts and Modalities: Practical Knowledge Transmission” at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

International Workshop, Contact Zones in Asia and Europe, Zurich, June 14–15, 2011

Conference, Global Circulations of Modern Historical Teleologies – Colonial and Postcolonial Perspectives, Budapest, September 8–9, 2011, in cooperation with the Research Project Europe 1815–1914, University of Helsinki

Exhibition at the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich, Many Layered Borneo – The Swiss Geologist Wolfgang Leupold in the Dutch East Indies 1921–1927: Objects, Photographs and Documents, March 25 – November 27, 2011

International Conference, Yangzhou – A Place in Literature, September 1–3, 2011, in cooperation with the Department of Chinese Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies

International Workshop, Ghosts in Asian Cinemas, Zurich, November 4–6, 2011, in cooperation with the Department of Chinese Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies

Graduate Student Workshop, Asian Postmodernities and their Legacies, March 30–31, 2012, in cooperation with the Department of Chinese Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies

Public Panel Discussion, Maoismen – Ideal, Utopie, Gewalt, Verzerrung, May 11, 2012, in cooperation with the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich

Workshop, Mao – MaoBibel – MaoFieber: Maoismen in China und Europa, May 11, 2012, in cooperation with the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich

Workshop, Immigrants and Citizens in the Global City, Mai 21, 2012, with Saskia Sassen (Columbia University, New York)

International Workshop, Tertium datur: Das Dritte in der Geschichte, 1450–1850, June 21–23, 2012, in cooperation with the Department of History, University of Zurich

International Conference, Transcultural Perspectives on Late Medieval and Early Modern Slavery in the Mediterranean, September 12–15, 2012, organized by the Department of History, University of Zurich, in cooperation with the Free University of Berlin, the URPP Asia and Europe, and the Swiss Asia Society

Workshop, Biography Afield in Asia and Europe, September 20–21, 2012, in co-operation with the Department of History, University of Zurich

Workshop, Protests, the Media and the Circulation of Norms: Arab Spring and Fukushima, October 26, 2012

Workshop, Mercury in Medicine: Fluid Economies of Knowledge and Trade, February 21–22, 2013

Exhibition, Constructing Qing Imperial Landscapes: Exhibition of the Yangshi Lei Architecturial Archives, May 10 – June 10, 2013, in cooperation with the History of the Modern World, ETH Zurich, and the School of Architecture, Tianjin University

International Symposium, Entangled Landscapes: Rethinking the Landscape Exchange between China and Europe in the 16th–18th Centuries, May 10–12, 2013, in cooperation with the Institute of Art History, Section for East Asian Art, and the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies – Chinese Studies, Univer-sity of Zurich.

Conference, The Gender of Authority: Celibate and Childless Men in Power: Ruling Bishops and Ruling Eunuchs, 400–1800, August 28–30, 2013, in cooperation with the Department of History, University of Zurich

Workshop, Sense of Place, Sense of Taste, Sense of Skill: Hawkers and Cookshops in Public Spaces of Asian Cities, October 10–12, 2013, in cooperation with the Department of Geography and the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich

Conference, 23rd European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS), July 23–26, 2014, in cooperation with the Department of Geography and the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies – Indian Studies of the University of Zurich

Exhibition at the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich, Tokens of the Path – Japanese Devotional and Pilgrimage Images: The Wilfried Spinner Collection (1854–1918), November 28, 2014 – May 17, 2015

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Anti-nuclear protest in Shinjuku, Tokyo, June 11, 2011



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Research Field 3: Norms and Social Order(s)

Research Coordination: Prof. Dr. David Chiavacci and Dr. Yasmine Berriane

On a transnational level, norms and orders offer a basis on which to communicate about reciprocal contacts and interactions and to regulate them on levels ranging from local to global networks of relations. At the same time, norms and orders are shaped by specific, underlying cultural concepts as well as by asymmetrical power relations on local and global scales. Thus, Research Field 3 studies the frameworks of normative beliefs and ordering systems that are established on various levels and that support the exchange of ideas, goods, and persons, along with the global interdependence of developments and interactions. These investigations take place in two subgroups representing the main foci of Research Field 3.

Transnationalization of Norms and OrdersThe first subgroup focuses on transnationalization processes of norms and orders that influence, among other things, forms of normative regulation and justi-fication. At the same time, these processes are judged along those selfsame lines, turning into subjects of political debate and conflict in which a multitude of stakeholders contribute to shaping and implementing normative concepts and regulatory mechanisms on levels both below and above the nation state. Against the background of past and current interactions and upheavals in Asian-European relations, this subgroup focuses on new possible courses of action and oppor-tunities as well as on conflict lines and fragmentations as they shape and are shaped by normative concepts and regulatory mechanisms.

So far, several studies of various regional contexts have investigated these issues within the Research Field. For example, one project analyzed the potential of the Commonwealth of Independent States to develop into an effective multi-level system of regional governance, while others studied legal, cultural and religious in flu-ences on the continuation of the death penalty in Palestinian territories or investigated the relation of religion and the modern state near the turn of the 20th century in Japanese and Islamic contexts. Yet other studies investigated whether domestic policies and con-ditions in India are consistent with normative stances on

energy poverty in international negotiations or scru-tinized debates on state as opposed to private ownership of banks through analyzing China’s and Switzerland’s market economies.

Translocal Circulation of Norms and Ideas The second subgroup explores the translocal circulation of norms and ideas from the perspective of the spaces, praxis, and forms of political protest in Asia and Europe—factors that enable or otherwise bear relevance to norms and ideas. The discussion centers on the political arenas, mechanisms and processes of conflict through which norms and orders are negotiated as political disputes and gain statuses of (il)legitimacy and (un)reliability in local or global contexts. We analyze both semantic shifts emerging from these conflicts and the forms and technologies of circulation through which various ideas, norms, and orders from numerous contexts undergo debate.

Accordingly, a study of the multi-layered controversy surrounding the construction of a hydroelectric plant in Nepal contributed to the ongoing scientific discussions on development and modernity; another study conducted in post-tsunami Sri Lanka analyzed humanitarian aid from the perspective of the everyday practices and dilemmas faced by aid workers and agencies. Analyzing similarities and differences between mass mobilization and the related actions and responses of elite figures in Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand,

Discussion at the Annual Conference of the URPP Asia and Europe “Traveling Norms and the Politics of Contention” (October 24–26, 2013)



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another project further challenged the democratization literature’s narrow focus on the political elite.

Achievements so FarSince 2006, the work of these two groups has led to several publications, workshops and conferences, such as the 2013 URPP annual conference organized by Research Field 3 with the theme “Traveling Norms and the Politics of Contention.” This international event gathered URPP researchers and internationally recog-nized specialists working on three empirical spaces of contentious politics: the Arab Spring, anti-nuclear move-ments, and protests against special economic zones. The speakers and participants looked into the actors, mechanisms and processes through which different norms and ideas (e. g. citizenship, equality, security, human rights, etc.) are negotiated in spaces of contentious politics. They discussed how norms and ideas travel from and to different contexts and analyzed both what happens to them when they travel and how they gain or fail to gain legitimacy and credibility in specific settings.

Projects AheadThe current and prospective projects of Research Field 3 will be set at the intersection of the two previous thematic foci: “Transnationalization of Norms and Orders” and “Social Protest and Political Conflict in Transnational Contexts.” This time, they will focus specifically on social movements, processes of territorialization, norms of the body, and social change. Thus, we will explore the

pluralization of medical norms and practices in postcolonial India; state sponsored colonization schemes in Sri Lanka; the transformation of protest and citizenship in the context of land privatizations in Morocco; the anti-nuclear movement and its media coverage after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan; current debates on gender equality and their impact on the Tunisian Nahda Movement; and the reformulation in Egypt of the national consensus around security issues after 2011.

Members of the Soulaliyate movement protesting for equal rights for men and women in Rabat, Morocco

A part of a squatter settlement in the outskirts of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

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C. Chammartin, Stateowned Banks: A Comparative Analysis of Stateowned Banks in China and in Switzerland, Zürich: Schulthess, 2010 (Zürcher Studien zum Privatrecht, 223)

B. Dennerlein, E. Frietsch, T. Steffen (eds.), Verschleierter Orient – Entschleierter Okzident? (Un)Sichtbarkeit in Politik, Recht, Kunst und Kultur seit dem 19. Jahrhundert, Paderborn: Fink, 2012

B. Korf, T. Raeymaekers (eds.), Violence on the Margins: States, Conflict, and Borderlands, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

D. Linggi, Vertrauen in China: Ein kritischer Bei trag zur kulturvergleichenden Sozial forschung, Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag, 2011

D. Lüddeckens, C. Uehlinger, R. Walthert (eds.), Die Sichtbarkeit religiöser Identität: Repräsentation – Differenz – Konflikt, Zürich: Pano, 2013 (CULTuREL, 4)

E. Manea, The Arab State and Women’s Rights: The Trap of Authoritarian Governance, Oxford: Routledge, 2011 (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics)

S. Randeria (ed.), Border Crossings: Grenzverschiebungen und Grenzüberschrei tungen in einer globalisierten Welt, Zürich: vdf Hochschulverlag, 2013 (Zürcher Hoch schul-forum, 42)

Academic Guest

Jakob De Roover, Concept Mapping (Work-shop), November 1 & 21, 2011

Academic Events

Public Lecture Series, Border Crossings, Spring 2007, with Johannes Jütting (OECD Development Centre, Paris), Judith Schlehe (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau), Johann Arnason (University of Latrobe, Australia), Werner Menski (School of Oriental and African Studies, London), Sadiq Jalal al-Azm (University of Damascus, Syria), and others, in cooperation with Kommission Interdisziplinäre Veranstaltun-gen (KIV) of the University of Zurich

Public Lecture Series, Governance and Development, Autumn 2009, with Arjun Singh Bedi (Institute of Social Studies, The Hague), Helen Siu (Yale University), and Ummu Salma Bava (Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi)

Public Panel Discussion, After the Ban on Minarets: Open Society and Islam, November 17, 2010, with Giuliano Amato (Luiss University, Rome, former Italian prime minister), Katajun Amirpur (University of Zurich), Nilüfer Göle (École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris), Reinhard Schulze (Universität Bern), Rosemarie Zapfl (Präsidentin alliance F – Bund Schweizeri-scher Frauenorganisationen, former mem-ber of the Swiss National Council and the Council of Europe), in cooperation with Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations, Rome

Public Lecture Series, Farewell to Secu larization?, Autumn 2010, with Otto Kallscheuer (Università degli Studi di Sassari), Wang Hui (Tsinghua University, Beijing), and Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin (Ben Gurion University of the Negev)

International Conference, Veiled Orient – Unveiled Occident? Stagings in Politics, Law, Art, and Culture since the 19th Century, June 3–5, 2010, in cooperation with the Gender Studies of the University of Zurich

Public Panel Discussion, Revolution in the Arab World?, March 28, 2011, with Reinhard Schulze (University of Bern), Sarah Farag (University of Zurich), Isabelle Werenfels (German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin), Bettina Dennerlein (University of Zurich)

Workshop with Rajeef Bhargava (Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi), Travelling Values: Secularism in India, April 18, 2011

Workshop, Media and Politics in Asia and Europe, with a public panel discussion on Democracy and New Media, April 19, 2011, in cooperation with the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research (IPMZ) of the University of Zurich and the Centre for Culture Media and Governance (CCMG) Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi

International Conference, Islamic Thinking – in Honor of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, June 27– 28, 2011, in cooperation with the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities, Essen

Public Lecture Series, Circulating Norms – Human Rights, Spring 2012, with Susanne Baer (Humboldt University of Berlin), Nikita Dhawan (University of Frankfurt), and Deniz Kandyioti (School of African and Oriental Studies, London)

Public Panel Discussion, Ein Jahr nach Fukushima – Die Debatte zu Atomenergie in Asien und Europa, March 13, 2012, with David Chiavacci (University of Zurich), Simona Grano (University of Zurich), Patrick Kupper (ETH Zürich), and Fabian Schäfer (University of Zurich)

Conference, Entdifferenzierungen? Religion und Medizin, May 11–12, 2012, in cooperation with the Department for the Study of Religions, University of Zurich

Workshop, Protests, the Media and the Circulation of Norms: Arab Spring and Fukushima, October 26, 2012

Graduate Students Workshop, Political Protests, Social (Non) Movements and the Role of Digital Media, April 24–25, 2013

Workshop, Intersectionality Revisited, May 5, 2013, in cooperation with the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies – Gender Studies and the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich

Film Screening, Iran and the Green Revo lution, October 24, 2013, with Katajun Amirpur (University of Hamburg) and Ali Samadi Ahadi (filmmaker)

Symposium, Sterbehilfe und Suizidbeihilfe: Japan, Deutschland und die Schweiz in vergleichender Perspektive, November 28, 2013, in cooperation with the Faculty of Law, the Center for Medicine – Ethics – Law Helvetiae, and the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies – Japanese Studies

Workshop, Gendering Citizenship, September 10, 2014, with Suad Joseph (University of California, Davis), in co operation with the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies – Gender Studies of the University of Zurich, and the Swiss Society for Gender Studies (SGGF/SSEG)

Workshop, Social Movements in Theory and Practice: Concepts and Experiences from Different Regional Contexts, October 24–25, 2014, in cooperation with the Center for African Studies, University of Basel

Doctoral Workshop, Civil Society in Japan, November 25, 2014, with Robert Pekkanen (University of Washington, Seattle), in cooperation with the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies – Japanese Studies, Univer-sity of Zurich



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Research Projects

Research Field 1: Concepts and Taxonomies

Monika Amsler (Religious Studies), Concepts of Sickness, Prevention and Health in the Babylonian Talmud, PhD Project

Şevket Ateş (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), Philosophy in the Turkish Republic: Processes of Philosophical Reception in the Context of Cultural Transformation, PhD Project

Elisa Ganser (Indian Studies), The Place of Art in Indian Religious Thought: On the Soteriological Value of Acting, Singing and Dancing in Abhinavagupta’s Work and Beyond, Postdoc Project

Philipp Hetmanczyk (Religious Studies), Economic Classification and the Formation of Modern Concepts of Religion: The Example of Burial Practice in China between “Waste” and “Economic Reason,” PhD Project

Thomas Hüllein (Japanese Studies), The Normative Effect of the Health Concept on Bioethical Expert Debates and Legal Initiatives in Japan, PhD Project

Lisa Indraccolo (Chinese Studies), Debate Arena: Argumentation and Persuasion in Warring States Philosophical Discourse, Postdoc Project

Elena Lange (Japanese Studies), The Overcoming of the Subject: Nishida Kitarō’s 西田幾多郎 (18701945) Way to Ideology, Faculty of Arts, PhD 2011

Phillip Lasater (Theology), The Facets of Fear: Fear of the Divine in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East, PhD Project

Polina Lukicheva (Chinese Studies), The Concepts of Space and Methods of Composition in the Chinese Literati’ Theories of Art in the Seventeenth Century, PhD project

Christoph Mittmann (Japanese Studies), Yamagata Bantō’s Yume no shiro: An Attempt to Reorganize the Knowledge Available to Japan, PhD Project

Ralf Müller (Japanese Studies), Zen and Japanese Philosophy: Dōgen’s Importance to the Kyōto School, Postdoc Project

Simone Müller (Japanese Studies), Torn Consciousness: Repetition and Difference in the Intellectual Discourse of Inter and Postwar Japan, Faculty of Arts, Habilitation 2012

Roman Seidel (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), The Reception of Kantian Philosophy in Iran: It’s Origins and Significance, Faculty of Arts, PhD 2012

Olga Serbaeva Saraogi (Indian Studies), Translating the NonEvident: “Altered States of Consciousness” in Vidyapitha Tantras and in Western Transcreations of “Tantrism,” Postdoc Project

Viatcheslav Vetrov (Chinese Studies), Reincarnated Conceptuality: The Other Life of Western Philosophy in the Work of Hu Shi 胡適 (1891–1962) and Qian Zhongshu 錢鍾書 (1910–1998), Postdoc Project

Paola von Wyss-Giacosa (Social and Cultural Anthropology), Pictorial Ethnography of Religion in European Publications on Asia, Postdoc Project

James Weaver (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), Organising Disagreement in the Long Ninth Century: On the Use of the Term ‘iḫtilāf’ in the ʿAbbāsid Period, Postdoc Project

Ralph Weber (Philosophy), Constructions of Political Modernity in Contemporary Chinese Political Thought, Postdoc Project

Ralph Weber (Philosophy), Tertium comparationis? Comparative Philosophy and the Philosophy of Comparison, Postdoc Project

Research Field 2: Entangled Histories

Eric Alms (Geography), A Political Ecology of Nature Conservation and Sustainable Tourism in Chinese Conservation Areas, PhD Project

Natalie Böhler (Film Studies), Made in Thailand: Thainess, Performance and Narra tion in Contemporary Thai Cinema, Faculty of Arts, PhD 2010

Sofia Bollo (East Asian Art History), Chinese Cultures on Display: A Comparative Study on Chinese and European Oriental Art Museums and their Narratives on the Origin of Chinese Civilisation, PhD Project

Samir Boulos (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), EuropeanProtestant Missionary Institutions in Egypt: Locations of Cultural Entanglement (1900–1956), Faculty of Arts, PhD 2012

Laura Coppens (Social and Cultural Anthro-pology), Film Activism in Contemporary Indonesia: Queer Autoethnography, Film Festival Politics, and the Subversion of Heteronormativity, Faculty of Arts, PhD 2014

Tobias Delfs (History), Lifeworlds of Protestant Missionaries in India (1770–1813), PhD Project

Jeanne Egloff (East Asian Art History), Kindai bijutsu: The Reception of Western Concepts of Art in Japan around the Year 1900, PhD Project

Alfred Hirt (History), The Cultural Transformation of Phoenicia, 1000 BC – AD 500, Postdoc Project

Justyna Jaguścik (Chinese Studies), Literary Body Discourses: Corporeality, Gender and Class Difference in Contemporary Chinese Women’s Poetry and Fiction, Faculty of Arts, PhD 2014

Rohit Jain (Social and Cultural Anthropology), Between Assimilation, Exoticism and Global Indian Modernity: Transnational Subjectivities of ‘Second Generation Indians’ from Switzerland, Faculty of Arts, PhD 2014

Rita Krajnc (Indian Studies), ‘Indianness’ in the Hindi novel “Cittkobrā” by Mṛdulā Garg: The Main Female Character between “Western” and “Indian” Role Model, PhD Project

Jörg Lanckau (Theology), Constructions and Transformations of Judaism in the Hellenistic Period, Postdoc Project

Virginia Yee-Yarn Leung (Chinese Studies), Coming of Age in Hong Kong: A Study of a Colonial Literary Field in the 1950s, PhD Project

Nathalie Marseglia (Social and Cultural Anthropology), Living National Treasures – Hegemonic Discourse and Practical Knowledge: An Ethnographic Study of Cultural Politics and Pottery in Japan and France, PhD Project

Urs Müller (Geography), Overcoming the NatureCulture Dualism? Notions of Nature and Nature Protection in Model Regions for Integrated “Nature Conservation,” Postdoc Project

Claudia Nef-Saluz (Social and Cultural An-thro pology), Living for the Caliphate: Hizbut Tahrir Student Activism in Indonesia, Faculty of Arts, PhD 2012

Henning Sievert (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), Imperial Reign in Libya: Processes of Negotiating Local and Translocal Acteurs in Osmanic and Italian Contexts (1870–1930), Postdoc Project

Anusooya Sivaganesan (Legal Studies), Forced to Marry – A Human Rights’ Violation within its EuroAsian Entanglements: Unfree Marriages from a MultiCountry Perspective Exemplified by Switzerland, Great Britain, Holland, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Turkey, PhD Project

Sven Trakulhun (History), Asian Revolutions: Conceptions of Political Change in the Orient, 1644–1818, Faculty of Arts, Habilitation 2012 (University of Konstanz)

Henning Trüper (History), The Grammar of Modernity: Inquiries into the History of 19th and Early 20th Century Oriental Philology, Postdoc Project

Marco Vitale (History), Eparchy and Koinon in Asia Minor from the End of the Republic to the Third Century A. D., Faculty of Arts, PhD 2010

Miriam Wenner (Geography), “Contested Spaces”: Gorkhaland and the Making of New Geographies of Darjeeling, PhD Project

Helena Wu (Chinese Studies), (Re)Configurations of Place, Person and Thing in Hong Kong Cinema and Literature after the Millennium, PhD Project

Research Projects and Annual Conferences



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Dagmar Wujastyk (Indian Studies), When the Vaidya Met the Doctor: Medical Exchanges in 17th–19th Century India and the Reimagining of a Great Medical Tradition, Postdoc Project

Andreas Zangger (History), Koloniale Schweiz: Ein Stück Globalgeschichte zwischen Europa und Südostasien (1860–1930) , Faculty of Arts, PhD 2010

Dinah Zank (East Asian Art History), Divine Mothers Across Borders of National Identities: JapaneseIndian Artistic Exchanges in Early TwentiethCentury Buddhist Paintings and the Reception of the British PreRaphaelite Brotherhood’s Concept of ‘Spirituality’ and ‘Sensitivity,’ PhD Project

Yue Zhuang (Marie Curie Fellow in Archi-tectural History), Matteo Ripa’s “Views of Jehol”: Entangled Histories of 18th Century European and Chinese Landscape Representations, Postdoc Project

Research Field 3: Norms and Social Order(s)

Motaz Alnaouq (Legal Studies), The Right to Life in the Palestinian Society: The Case of the Death Penalty from Comparative Human Rights Perspective, PhD Project

Katajun Amirpur (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), Civil Society in Iran, Postdoc Project

David Arn (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), From Crime to Illness: Shifts in the Iranian Press Discourse on Drugs (1995–2000), Faculty of Arts, PhD 2010

Anne-Sophie Bentz (Political Science), India’s Refugee Policies, Postdoc Project

Yasmine Berriane (Political Sociology), Collective Lands, Political Change and Protest in Morocco: Transformations of Collective Actions, Citizenship and Gender Relations, Postdoc Project

Christine Bichsel (Geography), From Socialist Pasts to Developmentalist Futures: European and Chinese Development Schemes for Central Asia, Postdoc Project

Ulrich Brandenburg (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), Japan and Islam 1890–1914: Between Global Communication and PanAsiatic Movement, PhD Project

Rasmus Brandt (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), Islam, Pluralization and Gender: The Tunisian Movement “anNahda,” PhD Project

Patrick Brozzo (Legal Studies), Marriage in Islamic and Jewish Law: A Contribution to the Inclusion of Cultural Diversity into Family Law, PhD Project

Catherine Chammartin (Legal Studies), StateOwned Banks: A Comparative Analysis of StateOwned Banks in China and Switzerland, Faculty of Law, PhD 2009

Amir Hamid (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), On Bodies, Books and Hypertext: Mediating Islamic Norms of Gender and Religious Violence in the Transnational Arab Public Sphere, PhD Project

Pia Hollenbach (Geography), The Paradox of Good Intentions: The Biography of Private Giving in PostTsunami Sri Lanka, Faculty of Science, PhD 2014

Zhanna Hördegen (Legal Studies), Legal and Political Integration in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Postdoc Project

Sandra Hotz (Legal Studies), Immorality and Private Autonomy in Contract Law: A Comparative Research Project to Balance Freedom of Contract and Control in Europe and Japan Exemplified by Contracts Regarding Prostitution, Surrogate Motherhood and Marriage, Postdoc Project

Eliza Isabaeva (Social and Cultural An-thropology), Social Citizenship from Below and the Making of State in Kyrgyzstan: Migrants Making a Living in the Squatter Settlements of Bishkek, PhD Project

Thiruni Kelegama (Geography), Contested Spaces: An Examination of State Sponsored Colonisation Schemes in Sri Lanka, PhD Project

Aliya Khawari (Political Science), The Political Economy of Microfinance, PhD Project

Nikolas Kosmatopoulos (Social and Cultural Anthropology), Pacifying Lebanon: Violence, Power and Expertise in the Middle East, Faculty of Arts, PhD 2012

Dominik Linggi (Sociology), Trust in Chinese Society: A Critical Contribution to Crosscultural Social Research, Faculty of Arts, PhD 2010

Ayaka Löschke (Japanese Studies), The Mothers’ Network “National Network of Parents to Protect Children From Radiation”: A Social Movement after the Nuclear Reactor Accident of Fukushima, PhD Project

Linda Maduz (Political Science), Social Protest and Political Change: Evidence from (South) East Asia’s Newly Democratized States, PhD Project

Elham Manea (Political Science), The Arab State and Women’s Rights: The Trap of the Transitional State, Habilitation at the Faculty of Arts, 2010

Nina Rageth (Religious Studies), Medical Pluralism in Contemporary South India: Religion, Tradition and Competing Medical Systems, PhD Project

Matthäus Rest (Social and Cultural An-thropology), Water Power: Discourses on Modernity and Development around the Nepalese Arun3 Hydropower Project, Faculty of Arts, PhD 2014

Meltem Sancak (Social and Cultural Anthro-pology), Economic Transformation, Social Change, and Surviving Strategies in PostSoviet Rural Uzbekistan, PhD Project

Vijay Singh (Legal Studies), Developments in Indian Copyright, PhD Project

Dilyara Suleymanova (Social and Cultural Anthropology), Schooling the Sense of Belonging: Identity Politics and Educational Change in PostSoviet Tatarstan, Faculty of Arts, PhD 2013

Tobias Weiss (Japanese Studies), Media and Nuclear Power in Japan: Tricksters, Lapdogs and Agenda Setters, PhD Project

Annual Conferences

URPP Annual International Conference, Varieties of Modernity? Possibilities and Limitations of a Research Perspective on Asia and Europe, Zurich, September 8–10, 2009

URPP Annual International Conference, What is Philosophy?, including sections on philosophy in the Islamic world, philosophy in India, philosophy in China, and philosophy in Japan, January 13–16, 2011

URPP Annual International Conference, Concepts of Religion between Asia and Europe, November 1–3, 2012, in cooperation with Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Reli-gionswissenschaft SGR/SSSR

URPP Annual International Conference, Traveling Norms and the Politics of Contention, October 24–26, 2013

URPP Annual International Conference, Asia and Europe in Translation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, November 6–8, 2014

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Members of the URPP Asia and Europe at the annual retreat in Vitznau (June 2–4, 2014).



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Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program Asia and Europe

The “Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program Asia and Europe” provides highly qualified young academics with a vibrant environment in which to pursue a doctoral degree in an interdisciplinary context. The PhD students are integrated into the research structure of the URPP Asia and Europe and focus on research questions within the framework of three research fields: 1) Concepts and Taxonomies; 2) Entangled Histories; and 3) Norms and Orders.

The program offers: – ample opportunities to enter into contact with

professors and peers from a variety of academic backgrounds

– interdisciplinary workshops and courses dealing with theoretical and methodological questions

– discipline-specific doctoral level study in one’s own field through access to colloquia, seminars, workshops, and conferences

– development of transferable skills, including presentation techniques, academic writing, and more

– intensive mentoring by interdisciplinary and international doctoral committees

The languages of the program are German and English. Non-English speakers are expected to acquire the necessary German language skills in due course of time and are supported by the URPP in these efforts. Currently fourteen PhD students from eight countries participate in the program.

CurriculumThe writing of a doctoral thesis based on original research forms the core of the doctoral program. The research is accompanied by a variety of courses aimed at strengthening participants’ methodological and theo-retical knowledge as well as at the acquisition of transferable skills. Doctoral candidates in the program must earn a minimum of 30 credits in accordance with the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). Credits can be acquired in the following areas:

ApplicationDetailed information about the deadlines and application procedures may be found on our webpage: www.asienundeuropa.uzh.ch

ContactProf. Dr. Wolfgang Behr, Director Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program Asia and EuropePD Dr. Simone Müller, Executive Manager URPP Asia and Europe

A URPP Asia and Europe compulsory modules (10 ECTS)

– regular URPP colloquium – thematic work groups – individual colloquium presentations

B Core elective modules I: interdisciplinary modules offered by the URPP Asia and Europe (8 ECTS) – interdisciplinary research seminars – URPP Asia and Europe research retreat – workshops in transferable skills – scientific management (e. g. conference or-

gani zation)

C Core elective modules II: discipline-specific courses (8 ECTS) – disciplinary research seminar/colloquium – participation at a conference with paper

presentation – publication of an article in a scientific

journal – teaching of a course

D Elective modules (4 ECTS)

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Participating Professors and Departments

Faculty of Arts and Social SciencesProf. Dr. Katajun AmirpurModern Islamic World with Focus on IranURPP Asia and Europe2010–2011Prof. Dr. Wolfgang BehrChinese Studies / Traditional ChinaInstitute of Asian and Oriental StudiesSince 2008Prof. em. Dr. Helmut Brinker †East Asian Art HistoryInstitute of Art History2006–2012, Professor Emeritus since 2006Prof. Dr. David ChiavacciMercator Professor in Social Science of JapanInstitute of Asian and Oriental StudiesSince 2010Prof. Dr. Bettina DennerleinGender Studies and Islamic StudiesInstitute of Asian and Oriental StudiesSince 2009Prof. Dr. Annuska DerksSocial and Cultural AnthropologyDepartment of Social and Cultural AnthropologySince 2014Prof. Dr. Peter FinkeSocial and Cultural AnthropologyDepartment of Social and Cultural AnthropologySince 2006Prof. em. Dr. Jörg FischModern HistoryDepartment of HistorySince 2006, Professor Emeritus since 2012Prof. Dr. Mareile FlitschSocial and Cultural AnthropologyEthnographic MuseumSince 2008

Prof. em. Dr. Robert GassmannChinese Studies / Language and Literature of Ancient ChinaInstitute of Asian and Oriental StudiesSince 2006, Professor Emeritus since 2008Prof. Dr. Francine GieseArt HistoryInstitute of Art HistorySince 2014Prof. Dr. Almut HöfertTranscultural History of the Latin and Arabic Middle Ages Department of HistorySince 2012Prof. Dr. Andreas KaplonyIslamic StudiesInstitute of Asian and Oriental Studies2006–2011, Research Associate since 2011Prof. Dr. Angelika MalinarIndian StudiesInstitute of Asian and Oriental StudiesSince 2009Prof. Dr. Christian MarekAncient HistoryDepartment of HistorySince 2006Prof. Dr. Katharina MichaelowaPolitical Economy and DevelopmentDepartment of Political ScienceSince 2006Prof. Dr. Johannes QuackSocial and Cultural AnthropologyDepartment of Social and Cultural AnthropologySince 2014Prof. Dr. Shalini RanderiaSocial and Cultural AnthropologyDepartment of Social and Cultural Anthropology2006–2012, Research Associate since 2012

Prof. Dr. Andrea RiemenschnitterChinese Studies / Modern ChinaInstitute of Asian and Oriental StudiesSince 2006Prof. Dr. Markus RitterIslamic Art HistoryInstitute of Art History2010–2012Prof. Dr. Ulrich RudolphIslamic StudiesInstitute of Asian and Oriental StudiesSince 2006Prof. Dr. Dieter RuloffPolitical ScienceDepartment of Political Science2006–2010Prof. em. Dr. Peter SchreinerIndian StudiesInstitute of Asian and Oriental StudiesSince 2006, Professor Emeritus since 2008Prof. Dr. Raji C. SteineckJapanese StudiesInstitute of Asian and Oriental StudiesSince 2008Prof. Dr. Hans Bjarne ThomsenEast Asian Art HistoryInstitute of Art HistorySince 2007Prof. Dr. Sven TrakulhunModern History of AsiaURPP Asia and Europe2008–2014, Research Associate since 2014Prof. Dr. Sandro ZanettiComparative LiteratureDepartment of Comparative LiteratureSince 2011

Faculty of TheologyProf. Dr. Dorothea LüddeckensReligious StudiesInstitute of Religious StudiesSince 2006Prof. Dr. Daria Pezzoli-OlgiatiReligious StudiesInstitute of Religious Studies2006–2008Prof. Dr. Konrad SchmidHebrew Bible and Ancient JudaismInstitute of TheologySince 2006Prof. Dr. Christoph UehlingerHistory of Religions / Comparative ReligionInstitute of Religious StudiesSince 2006

Faculty of LawProf. Dr. Andrea BüchlerPrivate and Comparative LawInstitute of LawSince 2006Prof. Dr. Helen KellerPublic Law, European and Public Inter-national LawInstitute of Law2008–2010Prof. Dr. Matthias MahlmannLegal Theory, Legal Sociology, and International Public LawInstitute of LawSince 2010

Faculty of ScienceProf. Dr. Norman BackhausHuman GeographyDepartment of GeographySince 2006Prof. Dr. Benedikt KorfPolitical GeographyDepartment of GeographySince 2007Prof. Dr. Ulrike Müller-BökerHuman GeographyDepartment of GeographySince 2006

Academic DirectorsProf. Dr. Ulrich Rudolph (January 2006 – December 2007)Prof. Dr. Andrea Büchler and Prof. Dr. Christoph Uehlinger (January 2008 – July 2010)Prof. Dr. Andrea Riemenschnitter (August 2010 – December 2012)Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Behr and Prof. Dr. Angelika Malinar (January 2013 – December 2014)Prof. Dr. David Chiavacci and Prof. Dr. Mareile Flitsch (beginning in 2015)

Executive ManagersDr. Inge Ammering (2006–2013)PD Dr. Simone Müller (since 2014)



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Organizational Structure

Executive Board of the University

Faculties(Arts and Social Sciences, Theology, Law, Science)

Advisory Board URPP Asia and Europe

Steering CommitteeURPP Asia and Europe

Academic Director

SpeakerResearch Field 1


Director PhD Program


Executive Manager

Assembly of the Participating Professors

Asia and EuropeDoctoral Program Study

CommitteeHead Office



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Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context: Shifting Asymmetries in Cultural Flows” at Heidelberg University

Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders” at Frankfurt University

Käte Hamburger Collegium “Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe,” Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Taiwan Studies Center (TSC), National Chengchi University, Taipei

Centre for African Studies Basel (CASB), University of Basel

Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities, Essen

International Center for Chinese and Comparative Philosophy, Renmin University of China, Beijing

Interdisciplinary Department of European Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok

Research Group “Concepts and Modalities: Practical Knowledge Transmission” at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany

Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations, Rome

Swiss Asia Society

The Research Project Europe 1815–1914, University of Helsinki, financed by the European Research Council, September 2009 – August 2013

Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research (IPMZ) of the University of Zurich

Center for Islamic and Middle Eastern Legal Studies (CIMELS), University of Zurich

Center for Comparative and International Studies (CIS), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) and the University of Zurich

Chair of History of the Modern World, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich)

Centre for Human Rights Studies, University of Zurich

Kommission UZH Interdisziplinär , Univer sity of Zurich

Research Partners

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Hangzhou seal artist, calligrapher, painter and musician Lu Dadong has created a seal stone especially for the URPP Asia and Europe. Modeled after a Han-era ‘stone ball’ with 16 surfaces suitable for engraving, the artist has managed to carve our motto in 11 different European and Asian languages and scripts into a Changhua stone without having to alter its natural form more than necessary. The modern Chinese term for an object is dongxi, literally ‘east-west’. Our dongxi conveys this double meaning and at the same time translates the term into the different languages of the URPP, generating both a loss of and a gain in meaning.


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University of ZurichUniversity Research Priority Program (URPP) Asia and EuropeWiesenstrasse 7/9CH-8008 Zurich

Phone: +41 44 634 49 83 www.asienundeuropa.uzh.ch