I've been invited to attend this conference (limited attendance) and consider it an exciting privilege. Maybe for many it would be too boring, as a poster said on one of my threads, (my paraphrase) " Who cares about the past?"
But, if I started my adult life as a brainwashed slave to YHWH/Jesus (and, don't give me any shit about Jw's ignoring Jesus), I am finishing it as a (somewhat-grin) enlightened man who just may have some understanding of the development of world thought
For eight years, (thanks to the generous Australia government scheme that allows me to do this) I've been wandering through Asia with the help of two universities, the home (if you count Greece and Egypt as border zones). I've criss-crossed Asia, east to west, north to south and past to present. I have at least some knowledge of major religious and political developments and know where to go for more detailed information. (I will make clear at this point that I have not studied Islamic history and thought - it just turned me off.)
Macquarie was not my first choice university, but it turned out to be probably the best choice. When I first entertained the idea of studying for a degree, I was torn between learning about my past, in studying the origins of Judeao-Christianity or East Asia. In practise I found I was able to study both areas (with a little manipulation of the courses). One of the reasons for that was the presence of Sam Lieu at Macquarie, he didn't do a lot of teaching these past few years, but his research, particularly in the field of Manichean studies, and the early Asian churches has had great influence on the University courses.
Maybe the program will give you an insight:
Thursday: EURASIA ❂ SILK ROAD ❂ BYZANTIUM
A Conference in Honour of Prof. Samuel N.C. Lieu on His Retirement - Ancient History Documentary Research Centre
Macquarie University, Sydney - 26–27 November 2015
✮ Program ✮
Thursday 26 November
10.00-10.15 Welcome - GUNNER MIKKELSEN - IAN PLANT, HOD Ancient History
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10.15-11.15 HYUN JIN KIM (University of Melbourne)
Ethnic identity and the ‘Barbarian’ in ancient Eurasia: Classical Greece and early China
Chair: Paul McKechnie
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11.15-12.15 NICHOLAS SIMS-WILLIAMS (SOAS, London)-
The Bactrian archives: Reconstructing the lost history of Ancient Afghanistan
Chair: Ken Sheedy
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12.15-13.15 Lunch
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13.15-14.15 ENRICO MORANO (Turin & Berlin), ACRC Visiting Research Fellow
Some remarks on the corpus of the Berlin Manichaean Sogdian texts in Manichaean script: among books, glossaries, letters, booklets, bilingual and trilingual texts, normal, bold and cursive script
Chair: Javier Alvarez-Mon
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14.15-15.00 URSULA SIMS-WILLIAMS (British Library)
Manuscripts from the Southern Silk Road
Chair: Peter Edwell
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