Prof. dr. Ihab Saloul is Co-Founder and Research Director of the Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture AHM at the University of Amsterdam, and Professor of Memory and Narrative at the International Center for Advanced Studies in the Humanities Umberto Eco at the University of Bologna. He leads the research domain 'Conflict' at the University of Amsterdam Research Priority Area, the Amsterdam Centre Cultural Heritage and Identity ACHI. Saloul held senior research positions and visiting professorships at various institutions such as the Institute of Advanced Studies (Istituto di Studi Avanzati (IAS), Istituto di Studi Superiori of the Alma Mater Studiorum, ISA at the University of Bologna, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies NIAS, the Forum Transregionale Studien (EUME, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, WIKO ), Free University Berlin (Center for Middle Eastern & North African Politics), Marburg University (CNMS, The Research Network Re-Configurations), and Maastricht University.
Saloul expertise extend beyond the fields of heritage and memory studies, cultural studies and museum studies and encompass collective memory, conflict, trauma and identity politics, narrative theory and semiotics, post-colonialism, aesthetics and visual culture as well as migration, diaspora and exile in contemporary cultural thought in Europe and the Middle East. Saloul is an editor of two book series, ˜Heritage & Memory Studies' (Amsterdam University Press AUP) and the ˜Palgrave Studies in Cultural Heritage and Conflict (Palgrave Macmillan), Editor-in-Chief of the international peer-reviewed open access journal, International Journal of Heritage, Memory and Conflict (HMC /Amsterdam University Press AUP), and Editor-in-Chief of the new Palgrave Encyclopedia of Cultural Heritage and Conflict (PECHC). His recent books include Martyrdom: Canonisation, Contestation and Afterlives(Amsterdam University Press, 2020), Catastrophe and Exile in the Modern Palestinian Imagination: Telling Memories (Palgrave MacMillan, 2012 / Paper Edition 2018), Zoom In: Palestinian Refugees of 1948, Remembrances (Republic of Letters, 2011).
Saloul teaches in the BA Cultural Studies, MA Heritage and Memory Studies, MA Museum Studies, and the ReMA Heritage, Memory and Archaeology of which he was the program co-coordinator from (2016-2020). He also developed advanced seminars such as the Huizinga Institute ReMA & PhD seminar (Heritage & Memory Theory, 2015- ), the ReMA seminar (Violence and Postcolonial Remembrances, 2017-2019) at the Netherlands Research School for Literary Studies OSL, and the BA Honors course 'Competing Heritages and Memories' at University of Amsterdam. Saloul chairs the Curriculum Committee of the MA Heritage Studies (opleidingscommissie OC erfgoed: MA Heritage and Memory Studies, MA Museum Studies, MA Curating Arts and Culture) at the University of Amsterdam. He also initiated and currently coordinates the international Erasmus Exchange Program University of Amsterdam-Bologna University and the research collaboration program 'Critical Heritage Studies and Digital Humanities' between University of Amsterdam-New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD).
Saloul supervises several PhD and Postdoc projects and participates in international scholarly committees and research networks. He leads the UvA part of the EU Horizon-2020 Rise Marie Curie project 'SPEME, Questioning Traumatic Heritage: Spaces of Memory in Europe, Argentina, Colombia (2018-2022) which takes as its specific object of investigation a various array of spaces of memory, such as museums, former detention camps and sites of commemoration, to investigate how various traumatic pasts can be preserved and transmitted through space, and which kind of innovative actions might both improve knowledge of the past and serve as an opening to actual issues and new social subjects.
PUBLICATIONS
Books
Editorial Work
Articles, Book Chapters, Special Journal Issues, Lectures & Conference Papers (Selection)
- Special Open Access Journal Issue, “Spaces of Memory: Heritage, Trauma, and Art”, (with Patrizia Violi, Anna Maria Lorusso and Cristina de Maria, Bologna University), International Journal of Heritage, Memory and Conflict (HMC), Volume 1, issue 2, 2022: 1-76
- “Post-Memory and Oral History: Intergenerational Memory and Transnational Identity in Exile”, Visioning Israel-Palestine. Gil Pasternack (ed), London: Bloomsbury, 2020: 244-263
- “Female Martyrdom Operations: Gender and Identity Politics in Palestine”, in Martyrdom: Canonization and Contestation and Afterlives. Ihab Saloul & Jan Willem van Henten (eds). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2020: 255-283
- Keynote Lecture, "Traumatic Heritage in Conflict”, el Museo Sitio de Memoria ESMA, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2 August 2019
- Film Lecture, “A Tale of Hidden Histories”, EYE Film-museum, Amsterdam, 27 March 2019
- Conference Paper, “Space of Memory: Europe and Latin America”, Memory Studies Association Annual Conference, Madrid, Spain, 25-28 June 2019
- Invited Lecture, “Heritage & Memory Studies in the Present: Traumatic Narratives and Museums”, Bologna University, 18 April 2019
- Invited Lecture, “Competing Memories and Heritages of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict”, Workshop & Joint Meeting “The Exploitation of the Heritage: between Politics and Economy”, ISUFI, Lecce, Italy, 10-11 May 2018
- Keynote Lecture, “Aesthetics and Performativity in Times of Conflict”, Institute of Advanced Study (Istituto di Studi Superiori, ISA), Bologna University, Italy, 12 December 2017
- International PhD Workshop, “Theory and Interdisciplinarity”, Department of Philosophy and Communication, University of Bologna, Italy, 27 November 2017
- Invited Lecture, “Unwanted Histories’, Netherlands Institute at Athens (NIA), Greece, 1 October 2016
- Conference Paper, “Questioning Aesthetics of Catastrophe and Exile”. Questioning Aesthetics Symposium QAS. Berlin, Germany, 16-19 June 2016
- Invited Seminar, “Only Connect"? Bridging the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”, Harvard University, Massachusetts, 17-20 March 2016
- Keynote Lecture & Panel, “Museums, Heritage, Memory and Identity”. International Training Seminar “Conservation and Preservation of Cultural Heritage”, Jordan Museum. Amman, Jordan, 15 March 2015
- Panel, “Negotiating the Past in Turkey, Palestine/Israel”, Middle East Re- search Convention, ACMES, University of Amsterdam, 28 January 2015
- Invited MLA Presidential Lecture, "Performing Palestinian and Israeli 'We' in the Aftermath", Modern Language Association (MLA), Vancouver, Canada, 8 January 2015
- Invited MLA Executive Council Panel, “Towards Redrawing the Boundaries of Europe: Current Geopolitical Developments and What We Study”. Modern Language Association (MLA), Vancouver, Canada, 9 January 2015
- “Frozen Events, Competing Memories and Moving Forward: Yael Bartana’s ‘Two Minutes of Standstill’”. In Two Minutes of Standstill. Florian Malzacher (Ed). Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2014: 15-31
- Keynote Lecture, “Trauma Theory, Nostalgia and Active Memories”, University of Koln, 21 November, 2014
- Public Debate, “Beyond the Map: Storytelling across Borders”, Spui25, University of Amsterdam, 24 October 2014
- Lecture, “Yael Bartana’s Inferno 2013”, Stedelijke Museum, Amsterdam, 29 May 2014
- Keynote Lecture, “Memory, Borders and Exile in Photography and Video Art: Ahlam Shibli’s Phantom Home”, IKT International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 11-13 April 2014
- Public Lecture, “Contested Heritage and Identity Politics in Europe and Beyond”, VU University Amsterdam, 14 March 2014
- Keynote Lecture, “Conflict and Transnational Identity”, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal, 22 November 2013
- International Lecture Series, “Performative Approaches to Intervening in Conflict”, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal, 23-28 November 2013
- Masterclass, “Art, Memory and Performativity”, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal, 29-30 November 2013
- Lecture, “Art, Memory and Catastrophe”. Competing Memories International Conference, University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam, 30 October 2013
- Book Response,”Tapestry of Memory: Evidence and Testimony in Life Story Narratives”, NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam, 13 September 2013
- Lecture, “Mapping the Field: Integrating Culture in Political Science and Middle East Studies”, The Center for Middle Eastern and North African Politics, Free University Berlin, 10 May 2013
- Lecture, “Transgenerational Memory in Exile”, Transnational Memory and Digitization Workshop, University of Amsterdam, 18 March 2013
- Panelist, “Deficits of Democracy: Arab Revolutions and the Israeli Elections (2012)”, Sociology and Cultural Anthropology Department, University of Amsterdam, 17 January 2013
- Guest lecture, “Border Politics and National Identity”, Literary Studies, University of Amsterdam, 13 December 2012
- Lecture, “’The Right of Return’ in Palestinian Youth Narratives”, Reconsidered Geographies: Territoriality in Israel and Palestine, Free University Berlin, December 5-6, 2012
- Guest lecture, “Islamic Martyrdom, Gender and Nationalism”, Free University Berlin, 13 June 2012
- Keynote lecture, “Exilic Memory and the Politics of the Anti-linear Sound-Im- age”, International workshop, Insight Palestina: Images, Discourses, and the Image of Discourse. Leeds University, UK, 7 June 2012
- Lecture, “Performativity and Political Change”, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin), 1 June 2012
- Guest lecture, “Postcolonial Heritage: The Case of Robben Island in Post- Apartheid South Africa”, University of Amsterdam, 29 May, 2012
- Invited Lecture, “Palestinian and Israeli Contested Memories”, Leipzig University, Germany, 24-26 February 2012
- Panelist, “The Arab World in Revolution”, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin), 25 January 2012
- “The Afterlives of 1948: Photographic Remembrances in a Time of Catastrophe”. In ZOOM IN: Palestinian Refugees of 1948, Remembrances. Dordrecht and Boston: The Republic of Letters Publishing, 2011: 46-60
- Panelist, “Middle Eastern Revolts 2011 and the Role of the Media”, Maastricht University Alumni Day, May 28, 2011
- Lecture, “The Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars and the Politics of Remembrance in the Middle East”, Maastricht University, May 24-25 2011
- Guest lecture, “Nostalgia in Arabic Fiction”, Leiden University, 20 April 2011
- Panelist,"Resistance: Image, Visibility, Power, Surveillance", ASCA International Workshop, Practicing Theory, University of Amsterdam, 2-4 March 2011
- Lecture, “Historical Catastrophe and Arab Culture”, International Workshop, Public History and Social Memory, Oxford University, UK, 23-27 January 2011
- “Cultural Analysis and Affective Reading”. In Eighty Eight: Mieke Bal's PhD's, 1983-2011. Murat Aydemir and Esther Peeren (eds). Amsterdam: ASCA Press, 2010: 164-171
- Keynote lecture, “Vagabond Café: Working with Narrative as a Transdisciplinary Concept”, Maastricht PhD Workshop, “What to Do with Narrative?”, Maastricht University, 20 October 2010
- Lecture, “Remembering 1948: Twice Upon a Time”, International Expert Meet- ing, The Inception of the Palestinian Refugees Issue, The Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR), The Hague, 8-10 July 2010
- Lecture, “Art-Making in Times of Political Transformation: Cultural Poetics and Identity Politics”, 41st Poetry International Festival, Rotterdam, 16-17 June 2010
- Keynote lecture, “The Use and Abuse of History: Transnational Memories in the Middle East”, The Studium Generale Lecture Series, Leiden University, 3 June 2010
- Keynote lecture, “Future Visions of Palestine”, The Middle East Lecture Series, Leiden University, 27 May 2010
- Panel moderator, “Edward Said: Academics, Activism, and Art”, University of Amsterdam, 22 April 2010
- “‘Performative Narrativity’: Palestinian Identity and the Performance of Catastrophe”. Cultural Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Folklore and Popular Culture. (7) 2009: 5-39
- Panelist, “Intercultural Aesthetics”, The Annual Conference of International Association for Aesthetics (IAA), GIMME SHELTER: Global Discourses in Aesthetics, University of Amsterdam, 8-10 October, 2009
- Panelist, “The History of Zionism Lecture Series”, Department of Religion, University of Amsterdam, 18 March 2009
- “Al-Nakba and Palestinian Identity”. Eutopia (1) 2008: 27-37
- Panelist, Eutopia Magazine, “RUINATION: Reflections on Exile and Identity in Israel/Palestine”, De Balie Theatre, Amsterdam, 17 May 2008
- “‘Exilic Narrativity’: The Invisibility of Home in Exile”. In Essays in Migratory Aesthetics: Cultural Practices between Migration and Art-Making. Sam Durrant and Catherine M. Lord (eds). New York: Redopi, 2007: 111-28
- “The Identification of the Nostalgic”, In Conceptual Odysseys: Passages to Cultural Analysis. Mieke Bal and Griselda Pollock (eds). London and New York: I B Tauris, 2007: 120-38
- Keynote lecture, “Intellectual Encounters: Postcolonial Theory between ‘the Material’ and ‘the Specific’”, Platform for Postcolonial Readings. Institute for Art, Historical and Literary Studies, Leiden University, 24 May 2006
- Conference Paper, “Narrativity and Identity”, ASCA Annual International workshop, Trajectories of Commitment and Complicity: Knowledge, Politics, Cultural Production. Amsterdam, 29-31 March 2006
- Conference Paper, "Writing and Catastrophe", International Workshop Migratory Aesthetics, AHRB-CenterCATH, University of Leeds, 11-13 January 2006
- “Theory and Practice: Acting and Spectating”, Special Online Issue and Platform CASAzine #1 (CASA), Amsterdam, 2005: p.1-15
- Panel moderator, “Joseph Conrad in Amsterdam”, 31st Annual International Conference of the Joseph Conrad Society (UK), University of Amsterdam, 7-9 July 2005
- Conference Paper, “The Diasporic Subject and the Invisibility of Home”, 10th International Cultural Studies Symposium, When Far Away Becomes Home: Cultural Consequences of Migration. EGE University, Izmir, Turkey, 4-6 May 2005
- Conference Paper, “Nostalgia and Identification”, European Summer School for Cultural Studies (ESSCS), Witness: Memory, Representation and the Media in Question, Copenhagen University, Denmark, 23-27 August 2004
- Conference Paper, "Deconstructing Arafat’s Political Myth t", International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP), University of Washington, USA, 12-15 July 2000
Ongoing and Completed PhD & Postdoc Supervision
- PhD project, “Transnational Conflict Heritage in Europe: Mediatization of Witnessing and Postmemory in Literary, Museum and Filmic Representations”, Dawid Grabowski, University of Amsterdam, 2020-
- PhD Project, “Owning Heritage and the Power of Historic City in Post-Conflict Recovery: The Case-study of Sahat al-Hatab in the Old City of Aleppo”, Abdullah Halawa, New York University Abu Dhabi and University of Amsterdam, 2020-
- Postdoc Project, “Post Memories and War Veterans of WWII in Europe”, Dr. Laurie Slegtenhorst, AHM Amsterdam School or Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam, 2019-2020
- Postdoc Project, “Islamic Fundamentalism among Kurdish Community in Iran”, Dr. Farhad Bayani (funded project by the University of Tabriz), AHM Amsterdam School or Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam, 2018-2019
- Postdoc Project, “Intergenerational Memory and Kurdish Women”, Dr. Lucie Drechselová, (funded project by Erasmus+ & the Czech Academy of Science), AHM Amsterdam School or Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam, September-December, 2018
- Postdoc Project, “Historical Archaeology of Informal Maritime Trade in the Colonial-era Caribbean”, Dr. Konrad A. Antczak, AHM Amsterdam School or Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam, 2017
- Postdoc Project, “Memory and Ukrainian Social Media”, Dr. Mykola Makhortykh, AHM Amsterdam School or Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam, 2017
- PhD Project, “Mobilisation in Opposition and in Office-Power: Comparing the Roles of Hamas Movement in Gaza”, Imad Soos, Free University Berlin (completed 2017)
- PhD Project, “Dance Intentionality: A Challenge on Documentation Methodologies and Archiving of Intangible Heritage”, Bertha Bermudez, AHM Amsterdam School or Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam, 2016-
- PhD Project, “Traumatic Memories of Communism in Hungarian Art, Cinema and Literature after 1989”, Reka Deim AHM Amsterdam School or Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam, 2016-
- PhD Project, “Lost Empires: Exploring Contemporary Museum Representations of the Dutch and British Colonial Pasts”, Sarike van Slooten, AHM Amsterdam School or Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam, 2016-
- PhD Project, “Film Heritage and Collective Memory in the UAE”, Alia Yunis, AHM Amsterdam School or Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam, 2016-
- Postdoc Project, “Homes and Museums in Israel”, Dr. Judy Jaffe-Schagen, AHM Amsterdam School or Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam, 2015-2016