The Newest Old World Mention the "Indian Ocean World" to most
people and they will ask "what is it?" Find out at "Cultural
Exchange and Transformation in the Indian Ocean World" on April
5-6. Historians largely agree that their subject encompasses
everything east of the Cape of Good Hope as far as the Moluccas
On April 5-6 the James S. Coleman African Studies Center will
sponsor Cultural Exchange and Transformation in the Indian Ocean
World, a two-day international conference organized by Allen F.
Roberts, center director and professor of World Arts and
Cultures, and myself. When I mention the conference to
colleagues they often ask "what is the Indian Ocean World?" In
general, people are aware of an Atlantic World and many are now
familiar with the Pacific Rim, but the idea of an Indian Ocean
World (IOW) -- arguably the world's oldest oceanic "world" but
without question the least known ocean among citizens of this
country -- baffles them. Yet the IOW pulls together in important
ways some of the most signifi