On January 23 and 24, 2026, the Department of Music is pleased to host “Liminal Encounters: Counternarratives of Rohingya Refugees,” an interdisciplinary event centered on the intersections between diaspora, statelessness, and borders that forms the third annual symposium of “Borderlands of Sonic Encounter,” Professor Philip Bohlman’s International Balzan Prize Project (2023–28). This symposium is organized by Philip V. Bohlman, Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago, Tomal Hossain, PhD Candidate and Project Assistant, University of Chicago, and Vicky Mogollón Montagne, Postdoctoral Instructor and Project Assistant, University of Chicago.
The context of dreams deferred and life in limbo animates a wealth of music/sound, poetry, film, photography, and multimedia production and circulation among and about the Rohingya people. Event organizers contend that an interdisciplinary focus on these practices and objects can offer unique insights into the forces of diaspora, statelessness, and borders as they concomitantly shape Rohingya identity, culture, society, history, spirituality, and daily life. “Liminal Encounters” will be among the first gatherings in North America to explicitly center Rohingya studies as a distinct field of academic inquiry in the humanities and social sciences.
The symposium will unfold across two days: January 23–24. Day 1 will feature panel presentations and a keynote presentation by Tin Mar Oo at the Franke Institute for the Humanities. Day 2 will include a roundtable on documentary filmmaking and a workshop on Rohingya music at the Rohingya Culture Center of Chicago, as well as an evening performance of Rohingya songs featuring Hamid Ullah at Bramble Arts Loft. Food and drink will be provided between the panels on Day 1 and between the workshop and roundtable on Day 2. The evening performance will be followed by a reception.
All events are free and open to the public.
Follow this link to learn more about the symposium, read bios and abstracts, and more.
Co-sponsored by the UChicago Committee on Southern Asian Studies, Crossing Borders Music, Franke Institute for the Humanities, International Balzan Foundation, UChicago Department of Music, and UChicago Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity.
Liminal Encounters, January 23-24, 2026
Friday, January 23rd
Franke Institute for the Humanities (1100 E 57th St, Chicago, IL 60637)
8:30–9:00 am: Check-in + coffee & pastries
9:00–9:15 am: Welcome, Anna C. Schultz (University of Chicago, Music)
9:15–9:30 am: Opening remarks, Nasir Zakaria (Rohingya Cultural Center of Chicago, Executive Director)
9:30–11:00 am: Panel 1—Diaspora (Chair: Eman Abdelhadi, University of Chicago, Comparative Human Development)
—Imran Fazal (Independent): “Journalism Among Rohingyas in Diaspora”
—Haley LeRand (Global Gardens Chicago): “Farming Practices Among Rohingya Refugees in Chicago”
—Sarah Pajeau [virtual] (University of Edinburgh, International Development): “Contested belonging: Rohingya Identity Formation Under Intensified Federal Enforcement in Chicago”
11:00–11:15: Coffee break
11:15 am–12:45 pm: Panel 2—Citizenship and Statelessness (Chair: Anjali Mohan, Stanford, Law)
—Lucky Karim (Rohingya Human Rights Activist; Founder & Executive Director of Refugee Women for Peace and Justice): “From Victim to Voice”
—Ibtesum Afrin (St. Francis Xavier University, Coady Institute): Statelessness and Rohingya agency(ies)
—Nursyazwani Jamaluddin (University of Pennsylvania, Anthropology): “Making Worlds, One Post at a Time: Rohingya Social Media Discourses in the Pursuit of Political Life”
12:45–1:45 pm: Lunch
1:45–3:15 pm: Panel 3—Borders and Borderlands (Chair: Oliver Shao, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Liberal Arts)
—Greg Constantine [virtual] (Documentary Photographer, Independent): "Ek Khaale (Once Upon a Time): The Rohingya—A Visual Restoration"
—Tomal Hossain (University of Chicago, Music): “Infrastructures of Rohingya Music between the “Refugee” Camp and “Host” Town
—Mohammed Ridwan [virtual] (Independent): “Rohingya folktales between Arakan and Cox’s Bazar”
3:15–3:30 pm: Coffee break
3:30–5:00 pm: Keynote by Tin Mar Oo (University of Montana, Forest & Conservation Sciences): “Erased from the Map: Oral History and Geospatial Histories of Rohingya Dispossession.”
5:00–5:30 pm: Closing Roundtable
—Shayna Silverstein (Northwestern, Performance Studies)
—Philip V. Bohlman (University of Chicago, Music and TAPS)
—Vicky Mogollón Montagne (University of Chicago, Postdoctoral Instructor)
5:30–7:00 pm: Reception & Dinner
Saturday, January 24th
Rohingya Culture Center of Chicago (2740 W Devon Ave, Chicago, IL 60659)
*If you would like to RSVP for a seat on any of the shuttle rides listed below, please email Vicky (vickymm@uchicago.edu ).
8:00 am: Shuttle ride from Hyatt Place Hyde Park to the RCCC.
9:00-9:30 am: Check-in + tea & snacks
9:30 am–11:00 am: Panel 4 (Chair: Tomal Hossain)—Hybrid session on journalism and documentary film with panelists joining remotely from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
—Osman Goni, Borderlands of Sonic Encounter, Project Fellow
—Mirza Nu, Freelance, Independent, Filmmaker and Photographer
—Khin Maung Thein, Independent, Filmmaker & Photographer
11:00–11:15 pm: Break
11:15–1:00 pm: Workshop on Rohingya tarana song led by Hamid Ullah
1:00–2:00 pm: Lunch
2:00–3:00 pm: Walking tour of Devon
7:30 pm: Doors open for concert at Bramble Arts Loft
8:00–9:30 pm: Concert of Rohingya tarana songs - RSVP
Bramble Arts Loft (5545 North Clark Street, 2nd Floor Chicago, IL 60640)
—Hamid Ullah, lead vocals and mandolin
—Tomal Hossain, backing vocals and harmonium
—Ronnie Malley, zúri and miscellaneous percussion
—Arun Sabapathy, tabla
—Lucia Thomas, violin
—Tom Clowes, cello
9:30–10:30 pm: Reception
11:00 pm: Shuttle ride from the Bramble Arts Loft to Hyatt Place Hyde Park.
All events are free and open to the public.