There have been many arguments about whether human notions of time are universal or whether they are conceptualised and experienced differently in different linguistic and cultural contexts. Beyond ancient debates about time as linear, circular or spiral in conception, there has been discussion engaging anthropologists, archaeologists, linguists, historians, literature and cultural studies scholars about the extent to which Indigenous notions of time in Asia and Oceania have been distinctive, whether seeing the past as in front of the speaker rather than behind, or plotting ideas of origins and epochs which engage different temporalities to the linear progress of ‘civilization’ or ‘modernity’.

This flagship event of the School of Culture, History and Language is projected to engage staff and graduate students across several disciplines and regions. It will be a workshop on September 11‐ 12, to coincide with the annual visit of Dean’s Distinguished Visitor, Professor Dipesh Chakrabarty from the University of Chicago, who has written a series of scintillating essays and books on some of the questions posed above. 

Director Professor Simon Haberle invites you to this Flagship Workshop which is free and open to the publc.

Please click here for information about the workshop and how to request a copy of the program