A drawing of a hand reaching up through foliage

After the storm: Rebuilding cultural identity and local knowledge

Event date: 
Wednesday 9 September 2026
Time: 
18:00-19:30
Location: 
The Royal Society of Edinburgh 22-26 George St, Edinburgh EH2 2PQ and online

How can communities rebuild and preserve identity after disaster? 

Rebuilding national identity after war or natural disaster involves more than restoring buildings and infrastructure. It also involves bold attempts at reviving ways of thinking about the world that have been forgotten, overlooked or suppressed. 

From Eastern Europe’s efforts to survive Soviet oppression, to Indigenous ideas about ecology, local communities around the world are looking for ways to talk about their experiences in a quest for justice.  

Dr Gillian Dooley: "Editing the Jane Austen Music Books and Investigating and cataloguing the ‘Rice’ Austen family music manuscript volumes"

Event date: 
Thursday 30 July 2026
Time: 
13:00-14:00
Location: 
Seminar room, 2 Hope Park Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9NW

An IASH Work-in-Progress seminar, delivered by Dr Gillian Dooley (Nominated Fellow, 2026)

Editing the Jane Austen Music Books and investigating and cataloguing the ‘Rice’ Austen family music manuscript volumes

My two main Austen music-related projects are being conducted in conjunction with the Blackie House Library and Museum and with Laura Klein, pianist and musicologist from UCB, Colorado. 

Dr Hamide Elif Üzümcü: "Environmental Narratives: Sufi Storytelling Traditions as a Living Cultural Heritage in British Childhoods"

Event date: 
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Time: 
13:00-14:00
Location: 
Seminar room, 2 Hope Park Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9NW

An IASH Work-in-Progress seminar, delivered by Dr Hamide Elif Üzümcü (Nominated Fellow, 2026)

Environmental Narratives: Sufi Storytelling Traditions as a Living Cultural Heritage in British Childhoods

What messages do the stories you know about the environment convey?

For many children growing up in Sufi families, storytelling forms an important part of everyday life, offering ways of understanding the environment as inseparable from the self.