I am going to give a presentation at University of Minnesota, Institute for Advanced Study, titled: “Simulations of Time and Life in al-Jazari’s Automata: Islamic Symbolism, Teleological Mechanisms, and Ontological Difference.“ The event is organized by Institute for Advanced Study and Medieval Studies Program at the University of Minnesota which will also be a part of G-MAP workshop. Here is the program announcement of this talk:

Ayhan Aytes’s research focuses on a series of examples from al-Jazari’s Book of Ingenious Mechanical Devices written in 1206. By using media archeology, his study addresses the symbolic depiction of the concept of time such as in al-Jazari’s Elephant Clock, as it simulates a unique mechanistic conception of the universe. Because of the highly syncretic nature of the symbolic system to which these machines refer, al-Jazari’s works are also a subject to the discussion of knowledge transmission of medieval technology. Ayhan Aytes is a graduate researcher in the Department of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. This event is also part of the University Symposium on Time.
For further info…

Global Medieval Studies Project (G-MAP) is a dynamic online initative. The events that are planned around the project include: a traveling maps exhibit of European, Arabic, residencies, the graduate laboratory to be taught at U. of Minnesota, the faculty institute, the online digital project as well as a slate of events planned to punctuate the residency year, and 3 books to emerge from the collaborative project. Asian maps (virtual and physical) hosted on our campuses; a comparative chivalry project that includes King Arthur, Saladin, and samurai; a material culture exhibit of coins, cloth, and artifacts; a Movies on the Middle Ages public Film festival; and an investigation of how children learn about the Middle Ages through videogames and popular culture.