New Delhi: ‘4th Dialogue of Civilizations’ is being jointly organized by the Archaeological Survey of India, Ministry of Culture and National Geographic in New Delhi from 8th to 15th October, 2017. It will be inaugurated by the Minister of State (Independent charge) for Culture Dr. Mahesh Sharma on 8th October, 2017 (Sunday). Secretary, Ministry of Culture Smt. Rashmi Verma will preside over the function. The theme of the Conference is “Technology and Civilization”. The inaugural function of the Dialogue will be followed by Academic sessions at Ahmedabad and Dholavira and the final dialogue will take place at the important Harappan centre of Dholavira in the Rann of Kachchh.
The inaugural function will be followed by a Panel Discussion moderated by Dr. B.R. Mani, Director General, National Museum. The participants will be Prof. B.B. Lal (Harappan), Dr. Fransisco Estrada-Belli (Maya), Prof. Augusta McMohan (Mesopotamian), Dr. Anna Latifa Mourad (Egyptian) and Dr. Xinwei Li (China).
International scholars from many countries are participating in the Conference. These include Barbara Helwing, Li Liu, Renee Friedman, Aslıhan Yener, Anabel Ford, Augusta McMahon, Xinwei Li, Monica Smith, Chase Harrison, Yukinori Kawae, Thomas E. Levy and Francisco Estrada-Belli.
In 2013, the National Geographic Society initiated a five-year annual conference called “The Dialogue of Civilizations,” the mission of which is to encourage scholarly and public discourse about the five ancient, literate civilizations of the world (i.e., Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia, China, and Mesoamerica) and how the study of the past can inform our present and future. The first conference of this series was inaugurated in Guatemala in 2013, followed by Turkey in 2014 and in China in 2015. The fourth dialogue in this series was scheduled to be held in October 2016. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the event was shifted to October 2017.
