A joint initiative between the University of Bergen
and CMI – Chr. Michelsen Institute
Can the Gulf, which is mostly known for its oil resources and Islamic conservatism, also be home to a transnational Jewish past?
Photo: Little is known about the Persian Gulf’s Jewish past. Can the Gulf, which is mostly known for its oil resources and Islamic conservatism, also be home to a transnational Jewish past?
Dr. Eirik Kvindesland will present his research on the history of Gulf Jews in the 19th and 20th century. He explores the emergence of Jewish networks in the Persian Gulf, while linking them to British imperial rule and histories of the wider Indian Ocean.
The result is a new history of migration and community building, one that until now has been lost and forgotten. Kvindesland argues that the story of Gulf Jews is not only an important chapter in the history of the Middle East, but it may even help us rethink the Gulf and Jewish history more widely.
Dr. Eirik Kvindesland holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford. His research deals with the history of Middle Eastern Jews and their place in the Iran, the Persian Gulf and Israel/Palestine.
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Pelle Valentin Olsen is a cultural, social, and transnational historian of the modern Middle East. His research and teaching focus on the history of leisure, labor, gender, sexuality, popular culture, and cultural production.
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Dr. Eirik Kvindesland holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford. His research deals with the history of Middle Eastern Jews and their place in the Iran, the Persian Gulf and Israel/Palestine.
His work has appeared in Past & Present and British Journal of Middle of Middle Eastern Studies, and he is a regular contributor to international and Norwegian media on issues of Middle Eastern history and politics.
Kvindesland is a Postdoctoral Associate Member of the University of Oxford and is currently writing a book titled Iran and Israel: Old friends, new enemies.
Pelle Valentin Olsen is a cultural, social, and transnational historian of the modern Middle East. His research and teaching focus on the history of leisure, labor, gender, sexuality, popular culture, and cultural production.
He focusses specifically on Iraq, but his work simultaneously explores transregional and transnational connections, highlighting everyday perspectives and voices often left out by traditional political and state-centered histories.
He received his PhD with honors from the University of Chicago in 2020. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Roskilde University in Denmark, where he worked on the ‘Entangled Histories of Palestine and the Global New Left’ project.
Bergen Global is a joint initiative between the University of Bergen and Chr. Michelsen Institute that addresses global challenges.
