DAY ONE: The Global Eighth Century: A Comparative Assessment of Socio-economic and Political Developments in the Eighth Century CE Across Eurasia
Around the middle of the eighth century CE different societies in Eurasia experienced important changes. The Carolingian revolution in Western Europe, the Abbasid revolution in the Middle East and the An Lushan rebellion in China practically coincided with the sudden relocations of the capital of Japan. The eighth century in general seems to be a period of simultaneous socio-economic upswing in societies as far apart as Southeast Asia and Northwestern Europe. This two-day workshop on April 15-16, 2016, will investigate these simultaneous developments by bringing together specialists on the history of the eighth century in Western Europe, Byzantium, the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, China, Japan and Southeast Asia.
Day One: Friday, April 15th
10:30am
Introduction
Erik Hermans (ISAW, NYU)
Western Europe and Byzantium
10:45am
Jennifer Davis (The Catholic University of America)
“The Political Economy of the Carolingian Empire”
11:15am
Michael Decker (University of South Florida)
“Empire of the Five Seas: Byzantium in the Eighth Century”
11:45am
Discussion
12:15pm
Lunch Break
The Caliphate and Central Asia
2:00pm
Abigail Balbale (Bard Graduate Center)
“Ruptures and Continuities from the Umayyad to Abbasid Caliphate”
2:30pm
Sören Stark (ISAW, NYU)
“The Heartland of Empires? Some Observations on the So-Called ‘Orkhon Tradition’ in Inner Asian Polities during the Eighth Century and Before”
3:00pm
Discussion
3:30pm
Tea Break
China and Japan
4:00pm
Tineke D’Haeseleer (Princeton University)
“Economy and Society in Eighth Century Tang China: The Relationship between Metropolis and Provinces Reconsidered”
4:30pm
Ross Bender (Independent Scholar)
“Changing the Capitals: Imperial Peregrination in Eighth-Century Japan”
5:00pm
Discussion
Please check isaw.nyu.edu for event updates.
Registration is required at isaw.nyu.edu/rsvp
Please note that separate registration is required for each day of the workshop: April 15th (10:30am-5:30pm) and April 16th (9:00am-1:00pm).