The Global Asia Colloquium

May 10, 2019. 4:00-6:45 PM, 701KJCC (53 Washington Square South).  With Wine and Cheese.

Commodities, Nations, and Globalization

4:00-5:15. “The Symbolism of Dates in the Arabian Gulf States,” by Elise Bortz, Catherine Korren, Ha-Young Kwon, Richard Seeno, and Taylor Upchurch

In the face of rapid industrial development, how are the Arabian Gulf States reinstating the symbol of the date palm to affirm national identity? In this talk, we conduct a regional case study by examining the material culture of the United Arab Emirates. We will make the claim that the symbol of the date serves as a postmodern romanticization of a preindustrial Arabia. We cite the discovery of oil in the 20th century as a catalyst to the economic development of the region, yet also a motive in the reestablished cultural symbolism of the date. Today, the domestic date production represents less than 1% of the United Arab Emirates’ GDP. Thus we postulate that the fruit continues to serve as a cultural figurehead, which brings to light an inherent contradiction: the date, while seemingly indicative of national values, is invariably excluded from national production. We argue that this underscores the country’s emphasis on cultural capital as opposed to economic imperatives, highlighting the date’s existence as a historically tethered and culturally restorative symbol of the nation.

Presented by five undergraduate sophomore Dean’s Circle Honors Scholars in Liberal Studies.

Elise Bortz is pursuing a degree in Media, Culture and Communications with a minor in Business of Entertainment and Media Technologies. She is from the Bay Area. She has spent her time as a student writer, and currently works as a Development Intern at Jigsaw Productions.

Richard Seeno is from the Bay Area. He is double majoring in Global Liberal Studies and Italian Studies and minoring in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. As part of the Liberal Studies First Year Away Program, he spent his freshman year in Florence, where he will return for his junior year.

Catherine Korren is from Long Island. She is pursuing a major in Global Liberal Studies, concentrating in Politics, Rights and Development, with a double minor in Peace and Conflict Studies and Computer Science. She will be spending her junior year at NYU Tel Aviv.

Ha-Young Kwon is from Boston, pursuing a major in Media, Culture, and Communications. She participated in a gap year in the Fiji Islands as an international service volunteer before spending her freshman year in Paris, France with the Liberal Studies First Year Away program.

Taylor Upchurch is from Atlanta, and is a double majoring in History and Politics in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is the President of the Panhellenic Council in NYU’s Student Government Assembly and a member of the American Historical Association.

5:30-6:45. “Indian Pharma,  Ayurveda, and Global Patents: A Struggle for the Control of Medical Knowledge,” by Murphy Halliburton

Based on fieldwork in India (Kerala and Hyderabad) and the U.S., this presentation
examines the struggle between Indian pharmaceutical companies and global big pharma with a focus on the production of AIDS drugs and concerns about biopiracy of ayurvedic medical knowledge. Considering the views of activists, NGOs and pharmaceutical producers, this paper warns of public health concerns now that the conditions for Indian companies to produce and export medications have changed under the current WTO-enforced patent regime. The presentation will also consider opportunities for resistance and innovation in this regime and how attempts to patent ayurvedic medical products may change this South Asian medical practice.

Murphy Halliburton is Professor of Anthropology at Queens College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY) specializing in medical anthropology, psychological anthropology, science and technology studies, and South Asian ethnography. He has conducted research in India on ayurvedic medicine, treatments for psychopathology, the Indian pharmaceutical sector, and struggles over drug patents. He is the author of Mudpacks and Prozac: Experiencing Ayurvedic, Biomedical, and Religious Healing (Routledge, 2009) and India and the Patent Wars: Pharmaceuticals in the New Intellectual Property Regime (Cornell University Press, 2017).