Author: Brynn Boyer

On Thursday, Nov. 8, Nabil Al-Tikriti delivered a paper entitled “The Ties that Bind: Ottoman Sea Ghazis from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean” to the 1st International Congress of Eurasian Maritime History (Turkish Naval History), hosted by Piri Reis University in Istanbul, Turkey.  The conference website and conference program is available in the links, and the abstract of the paper delivered is as follows:

“In the first decade of the sixteenth century, several sea ghazis with little known prior experience grew active in the Indian Ocean, and came to be known as the “Rumis” in their new theatre of action. At first the active combatants appear to have acted somewhat independently, arriving in the Red Sea with Ottoman logistical support, Mamluk financial backing, and uncertain knowledge of what lay ahead. In time what began as an uncertain partnership grew into a regular Ottoman intervention designed to explore, exploit, and trade within the Indian Ocean basin.

In this paper, I plan to explore the first “Rumis” to venture into the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, particularly examining their connection to their Ottoman backers and their prior Mediterranean careers. In the course of this prosopographical examination, I hope to uncover what trends may have emerged between such individuals as Kurdoğlu, Hussein al-Kurdi, Şehzade Korkud, Kemal Reis, the Barbarossa brothers, and others who made a name for themselves in either theatre of operations.  In so doing, one of the primary questions I hope to explore is the degree to which early moves from the Mediterranean to Indian Ocean theatres was a centralized effort.”

Lisa Ames, LMS Admin, joined Brown University, and the University of Maryland  in a panel presentation at Educause 2012 held in Denver last week.  Titled “Moving to the Cloud,” the three universities answered key questions and shared the stories, trials, tribulations, and successes with moving from their respective LMS to an LMS in the Cloud.

With Thanksgiving a week away, remember to shut off lights, computers, monitors, printers, copiers, etc. before you leave your offices for the break.   Also unplug items in your office such as coffee makers, microwaves, radios, etc. since these small appliances often waste energy when plugged in and not in use.

As you begin to spend this weekend perhaps making final Thanksgiving day plans, here’s a great article we found online about having a “Green” Thanksgiving.  Some good tips are featured in this article including reducing the amount of waste that often accompanies Thanksgiving, ways to keep costs down on the big day, and also general Do’s and Don’ts for an Eco-Thanksgiving:

http://earth911.com/news/2011/11/22/your-guide-to-a-green-thanksgiving/

If you’re also starting to think about getting a start on holiday shopping, November 24th is Small Business Saturday.  Sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to support their local economy by patronizing brick and mortar businesses in your community.  Consider if items you plan on buying this holiday season can be purchased from locally owned “mom & pop” stores.

Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving — enjoy the break!

Last week’s tip of the week: Green Meetings

Eric Lorentzen, associate professor of English, presented a scholarly paper at a special session of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association Annual Convention in Raleigh/Durham, N.C., on Nov. 11.  In the paper, entitled “Interdisciplinary Pedagogy in Literature: Dickens and Cultural Studies,” Lorentzen argued for the efficacy and exigency of adopting a cultural studies/critical pedagogy in the university literature classroom, and delineated the benefits of this methodological praxis through his treatment of Charles Dickens.  He also served as secretary for a second panel on inter-disciplinarity in the humanities entitled “On the Human.”