2.30 pm – 6.30 pm

Organizer: PD Dr. Anke Walter (Newcastle University/Einstein Center Chronoi)

In this workshop, we want to examine what it is that makes festive time so special. Does time pass more slowly or more quickly during festivals, is it particularly intense, or is it ‘thicker’ than normal time, imbued with the memories and traditions not only of one lifetime, but of countless past generations? Is there just one ‘festive time’, or do different kinds of festivals have different temporalities? How does the rhythmic recurrence of a festival as well as its synchronous or asynchronous occurrence with other events contribute to its distinctive temporality? What are the social, institutional and gendered dimensions of festive temporality? Which role does the passage of time play as festivals acquire new meanings over time within one or even between different cultures? For a full abstract, see here.

The recording of this workshop will be uploaded soon, please check back for updates.

Program

14:30-14:35 | Anke Walter (Newcastle University/EC-Chronoi)

Introduction: Festive Time

14:35-15:00 | Yadin Dudai (Weizmann Institute of Science)

Festive Time as an Efficient Instrument for Persistence of Long-Term Cultural Memory

15:00-15:25 | Eva Rosenstock (Freie Universität Berlin/EC-Chronoi)

Celebrating in Prehistory: How Archaeology Can Reveal Festive Times

15:25-15:40 | Coffee Break

15:40-16:05 | John Steele (Brown University)

Astronomical, Sequential and ‘Festive’ Time in Late Babylonian Rituals

16:05-16:30 | Daniel Morgan (Centre de recherche sur les civilisations de l'Asie orientale)

Festival Calendars Do Not Write Themselves: The Ideological Stakes and Scientific Demands of the State Festival Calendar in Early Imperial China

16:30-16:55 | Glenn W. Most (University of Chicago/Max Planck Institute for The History of Science Berlin)

The Tragic Day

16:55-17:10 | Coffee Break

17:10-17:35 | Andreas Schüle (University of Leipzig)

“Shabbat”: Sacred Temporality in Early Judaism

17:35-18:00 | Shahzad Bashir (Brown University)

Mourning, Renewal, and Carnival: The Tenth of Muharram in Muslim Contexts

18:00-18:10 | Concluding Discussion

18:10-18:30 | Happy Hour

• Workshop Program (PDF, 111 KB)