3rd International Symposium of the UNESCO Chair on Science Diplomacy and Scientific Heritage

Wednesday, November 26, 2025 (Day 1)

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Time

Opening Session

Openeng Reception - Art Exhibition: Good Works Factory

9:00 - 10:00
Ibn Haldun Main Campus

Opening Remarks: 
Assoc Prof. Vahdettin Işık (Director, Alliance of Civilizations Institute), 
Prof. Parsifal Islas-Morales (General Coordinator, UNESCO Chair on Science Diplomacy and Scientific Heritage, UNAM),
Prof. Mesut Idriz (Director of SIFHAMS, Sharjah University),
Prof. Öcal Oğuz (President, Turkish National Commission for UNESCO)
Hatice Akıncı Yılmaz (Chairwoman of TÜRGEV Board of Directors),
Prof. Atilla Arkan (President of Ibn Haldun University), 


Opening Keynote: "Islamic Scientific Tradition in the Global Age" by Prof. Alparslan Açıkgenç 

10:00 - 12:00
Ibn Haldun Main Campus

Lunch Break

12:00 - 14:00

Thematic Panel 1:
Cross-Continental Collaboration: Science Diplomacy, Cultural Bridges, and Counterflows

Chair: Heba Raouf Ezzat

- Baptiste Brodard, University of Fribourg, Switzerland: Recent (Re)connections Between Latin America and the Muslim World: Decolonial Politics, Ethics, and Liberation Theology (English)

- Muhammad Ayaz Naseem, Concordia University, Canada: Decolonizing Global Science through Epistemic Disobedience: A Preliminary Conceptual Framework (English)

- Semiyu Aderibigbe, College of Public Policy, University of Sharjah, UAE: Decolonizing Learning: Global Citizenship Education and the Pursuit of Epistemic Justice (English)

- Etrit Shkreli, Sabancı University, Türkiye: Unlearning Linear Time: Rumi, the Quechua, and the Regenerative Imagination of Futures (English)

14:00 - 15:30 
Ibn Haldun Main Campus

Coffee Break

15:30 - 16:00

Thematic Panel 2:
Contemporary Platforms for Cooperation: Science Diplomacy, Culture, and Climate Action 

Chair: Önder Küçükural

- Aline Mendes da Silva and Afonso de Albuquerque, Federal Fluminense University (UFF), Brazil: From Telenovelas to Dizis: Dynamics of Cultural Counterflow Between Turkey and Brazil (English)

- Montserrat Marroquín Rodríguez, UNAM, Mexico: The Role of UNESCO Chairs in Latin American Science Diplomacy (English)

- Muhamed Ali, College of Public Policy, University of Sharjah, UAE: Cultural Bridges: Türkiye’s Public Diplomacy in Latin America (English)

- Fatima AlSuwaidi (PhD Student) & Mahnaz Fancy (Ministry of Culture, UAE): The Group of Friends for Culture-Based Climate Action (GFCBCA): A UAE-Brazil Case Study in Cross-Continental Collaboration (English)

16:00 - 17:30
Ibn Haldun Main Campus

Dinner

18:00

Thursday, November 27, 2025 (Day 2)

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Thematic Panel 3:
Contemporary Platforms for Cooperation: Science, Digital Knowledge, and Heritage 

Chair: Jairo Lugo-Ocando

- Fadia Boumjahed, Lebanese University, Lebanon: Arab Knowledge Networks in Latin America and the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Science Studies and the Challenges of Digital Interpretation (شبكات المعرفة العربية في أمريكا اللتينية وعصر الذكاء الصطناعي: استم اررية العلوم وتحديات التأويل الرقمي) (Arabic)

- Saleh Muhammad Zeki Mahmood, University of Sharjah, UAE: Digital Preservation of Manuscripts and Historical Documents and Its Impact on Global Knowledge Exchange (الحفظ الرقمي للمخطوطات والوثائق التاريخية وأثره في التبادل المعرفي العالمي) (Arabic)

- Irek Suleymanov, HSE University, Russia: Bridging the Muslim World and Latin America through Big Science: The Interplay of Science Diplomacy and Cooperation at JINR (English) 

- Noura Nasser Al-Karbi ( نورة ناصر الكربي), University of Sharjah, UAE: Student Scholarships in Promoting Intercultural Dialogue: An Emirati Experience in the Spanish Context (الابتعاث الطلابي في تعزيز الحوار بين الثقافات: تجربة إماراتية في السياق الإسباني) (Arabic)

09:30 - 10:45
Ibn Haldun Main Campus

Coffee Break

10:45 - 11:00

Thematic Panel 4:
Building Knowledge Infrastructures of the Global South 

Chair: Parsifal Islas

- Ahammed Ishac Chmebırıka Ebrahım, Sakarya University, Türkiye: Bridging Oceans: Indo-Islamic Contributions to Cross-Continental Knowledge between the Muslim World and Latin America (English)

- Adeela Arshad-Ayaz, Concordia University, Canada: South–South Cooperation as Post-Abyssal Thinking: Creating “Southern” Knowledge Pathways between the Muslim World and Latin America (English)

- Manal Abdulhafiz Al-Haddad (منال عبدالحفيظ الحداد), Islamic University of Minnesota, USA: The Role of Educational Endowments in Providing an Institutional Framework for Scientific Exchange between the Islamic World and Latin America (ألأوقاف التعليمية في تأطير مؤسسي للتبادلية العلمية بين العالم اإلسلامي وأمريكا اللاتينية) (Arabic)

- Iklil Athroz Arfan, Ibn Haldun University, Türkiye: Plural Paths to Justice: Pancasila and Vivir Bien as State Philosophies of Legal Pluralism in Indonesia and Bolivia (English)

11:00 - 12:30 
Ibn Haldun Main Campus

Lunch Break

12:30 - 13:30

Visit to Historical Sites

Historical Visit to the Süleymaniye Complex:
Süleymaniye Mosque,
Süleymaniye Dar al-Shifa and the Medical Madrasa
Süleymaniye Manuscript Library

14:30 - 15:30
Süleymaniye Quarter

Institutional Welcome

"Introduction to the Alliance of Civilizations Institute," Dr. Ercüment Asil (Deputy Director)

15:30 - 16:00
Süleymaniye Salis Madrasa, Alliance of Civilizations Institute

Workshop 

Identifying and Preserving Scientific Heritage Through Open Science
Delivered by: Dr. Parsifal Islas & Dr. Yudy Tibaduiza

16:00 - 18:00
Süleymaniye Salis Madrasa, Alliance of Civilizations Institute

Dinner

18:00 - 19:00

Friday, November 28, 2025 (Day 3)

Description

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Thematic Panel 5:
Entangled Histories: Muslim–Latin American Encounters and the Cross-Continental Flow of Knowledge 

Chair: Mesut Idriz

- Ali Çaksu, Balıkesir University, Türkiye: Two Ottoman Subjects in South America: Priest Ilyas Hanna al-Mawsili (1675–83) and Shaikh Abdurrahman al-Baghdadi (1865) (English)

- Nesreen Ahmed Abdel Hamid, Al-Azhar University, Egypt: Cultura árabe-islámica en América Latina en los Siglos XIX y XX "Arab-Islamic Culture in Latin America in the 19th and 20th Centuries" (Spanish)

- Vehbi Baysan, Ibn Haldun University, Türkiye: Reinventing Learning: A Comparative History of Ottoman and Latin American Educational Transformations (English)

- Ammar Alnahar, University of Damascus, Syria: The Discovery of America and the Influence of the Andalusians in Latin America (Historical Pathways of Scientific Exchange between Latin America and the Islamic World) (اكتشاف أمريكا وأثر الأندلسيين في أمريكا اللاتينية (المسارات التاريخية للتبادل العلمي بين أمريكا اللاتينية والعالم الإسلامي) ) (Arabic)

9:00 - 10:45
Ibn Haldun Main Campus

Coffee Break

10:45 - 11:00

Keynote Speech

"Opening Science to the World: Tensions Between Local Knowledge and International Science,"  Prof. Ana María Cetto (President of the UNESCO Open Science Steering Committee, UNESCO Chairholder on Science Diplomacy and Heritage)

11:00-11:50
Ibn Haldun Main Campus

Break

11:50-12:00

Thematic Panel 6: 
From Language to Cosmos: Tracing the Scientific Heritage Linking the Islamic World and Latin America" 

Chair: Nadia Alhasani

- Anas Chakkala, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Qatar: Arabic Scientific Terminology in Colonial Spanish and Its Survival in Latin American Lexicons (English)

- Sofía Benítez Villalobos, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) & INAH, Mexico: From Natural Features to Gems of Extraordinary Value: Pinctada Pearls and Their Relationship with Mexico and the Islamic World (De aspectos naturales a gemas de extraordinario valor: las perlas de la especie Pinctada y su relación con México y el mundo Islámico) (Spanish)

- Mashhoor Ahmad Al-Wardat, University of Sharjah, UAE: The Observational Basis of the Heliocentric Theory: A Critical Review of the Evidence Used by Copernicus (االأسس الرصدية لنظرية مركزية الشمس: مراجعة نقدية للأدلة التي استعان بها كوبرنيكوس) (Arabic)

- Safaa Benabdelmoumene & Fatima Belhaouari, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman: Scientific Exchange between the Islamic World and Latin America: From Andalusi Influence to Contemporary Partnerships (Spanish)

12:00 - 13:20
Ibn Haldun Main Campus

Lunch Break

13:20 - 14:00

Visit to Historical Sites

Guided visit to Topkapı Palace Museum followed by a historical walk to key sites in the surrounding area with Dr. Elif Tokay (Istanbul University)

14:30 - 17:30

Cultural Activities

Traditional Music Recital: Performed by Yek Ahenk Music Ensemble
Turkish Art Experience: Traditional Turkish Craft Demonstration

17:30 - 18:30
Hocapaşa Safvetî Tekkesi (Safvetî Dervish Lodge)
TÜRGEV