The Logistics and Materiality of Print in Middle Eastern History

Location: Hilton Boston Park Plaza, 50 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116

Sepia historical photograph of men posing with a row of early motorcycles outside a stucco building.

Postal services in Egypt, c. 1920 (Source: Mobtada.com)

About the BSA Sponsored Panel ↑

The Logistics and Materiality of Print in Middle Eastern History

The panel examines the logistical networks and material conditions that underpinned the print cultures of the Middle East and its diasporas. Panelists explore topics ranging from Arab print agents in Southeast Asia and North America to the use of chromolithography in Algeria, and from transnational Armenian print networks to illustrated periodicals in colonial India.

Organizer: 2026 BSA Short Term Fellow Johannes Makar

Discussant: Dr. Hala Auji

Chair: Dr. Annette Damayanti Lienau 

Presenters:

  • Dr. Radha Dalal - The Other Print Network: Surveillance, Proscription, and Illustrated Periodicals during the Khilafat Movement

  • Dr. Aram Ghoogasian - Start Spreading the News: The Transregional Networks of Armenian Periodicals, 1840–70

  • Ava Hess - Rock, Paper, Color: Chromolithography in Algeria

  • Dr. Johannes Makar - Arab Print Agents and the Making of Transoceanic Print Networks

Registration ↑

Learn more and register for the full conference on the Middle East Studies Association’s website.