Doha: The School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, in partnership with the Asian Association of World Historians (AAWH), inaugurated on Saturday 25 October 2025 the 6th Congress under the title “The Gulf and the World”.
According to Qatar News Agency, the two-day event is being held with the participation of a group of scholars and historians from Asia, Europe, the United States, and the Arab region. It continues the Association’s series of conferences, previously held in Osaka, Seoul, Singapore, and New Delhi, affirming its role in advancing research and education in world history with a focus on Asia and enhancing south-south scholarly dialogue.
The conference program includes four keynote lectures and thirteen academic sessions, featuring approximately fifty research presentations delivered in a hybrid format combining in-person and online participation. President of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies Dr. Abdelwahab El Effendi emphasized the significance of hosting the conference in the region as a step toward understanding the interconnection between Asia and global history.
President of the Asian Association of World Historians Sucheta Mahajan stated that the congress in Doha marks a milestone in the Association’s efforts to institutionalize studies in global and transcontinental history in Asia. She highlighted the inclusive Asian dimension of the event and its role in strengthening scholarly dialogue from the Gulf to the eastern part of the continent.
Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Doha Institute Amal Ghazal noted that the congress brings together researchers and historians to discuss historical issues from a perspective that places the Gulf region and the Asian continent at the center of global transformations. She described the event as a platform for dialogue among historians and an opportunity to re-center the history of the Arabian Gulf within the context of Asian and world history.
Following the opening session, parallel sessions commenced, including “The Gulf in the World,” led by Issam Nassar, and sessions on “Late-20th Century Transformations” and “Techniques of the Past and Future,” chaired by Shigeru Akita and Hong Liu, respectively. These sessions addressed topics such as national identity, Gulf diplomacy, energy transformations, political economy, and technologies in modern and contemporary history.