Bibliographia Iranica

A predominantly bibliographic blog for Iranian Studies

Category: Events

  • Sanskrit in Persianate India

    Sanskrit and Persian—both as languages and cultural systems—overlapped in time and space for several centuries on the precolonial subcontinent. But only more recently have scholars investigated points of intersection and exchange between these two linguistic and intellectual traditions. Scholars of Indo-Persian have recently devoted substantial attention to various sorts of Sanskrit-Persian encounters, such as the translation of Sanskrit works into Persian and multilingual patronage ties. In this conference, we aim to highlight and spur thinking about similar cross-cultural interactions between members of the Sanskrit and Persian traditions from the vantage point of Sanskrit literary culture.

    The last few decades have witnessed a surge in scholarly attention to Sanskrit during the medieval and early modern periods. Within this wider area of interest, many scholars have begun to ask questions about how Sanskrit thinkers conceptualized Persian, the only viable rival to Sanskrit as a transregional idiom, and exchanges between the two traditions. Sanskrit-focused scholarship sheds light on intellectual, social and literary aspects of medieval and early modern India and is thus crucial for understanding these complex periods. Sanskrit texts also provide tools for analyzing the larger categories that we use for precolonial Indian literature, including the popular but problematic idea of “Indo-Persian” as a distinct literary and cultural realm. Yet such scholarship is still in its infancy and struggles for attention among a wider audience. This conference will highlight fresh, dynamic research and consider future avenues, both individually and collectively, for emphasizing Sanskrit materials in the exciting, but currently Persian-dominated, study of medieval and early modern India. We aim to give coherence and visibility to an emerging, vibrant subfield of South Asian studies, especially the crucial place of Sanskrit materials and Sanskritists within that subfield.

    For more information see Papers and Abstracts. (more…)

  • CfP: Endangered Iranian Languages

    ISEIL 2016

    Second International Symposium on “Endangered Iranian Languages”

    8 – 9  JULY  2016, PARIS, FRANCE

    CNRS, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, INALCO, EPHE

    The International Symposium on Endangered Iranian Languages (ISEIL) proudly announces the second symposium to be held at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle, France, from 8 to 9 July 2016, as part of a cooperation between the Empirical Linguistics, at the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany and UMR “Mondes iranien et indien” (CNRS, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, INALCO, EPHE).

    The Symposium is the most significant gathering of scholars from all the regions of the world and across different disciplinary interests in the field “Endangered Iranian Languages”. It serves as a platform for presenting new knowledge and insights. (more…)

  • Photography of the Persian Past

    Persepolis in Qajar era, c. 1902. © Wikimedia

    Exhibition: The Eye of the Shah: Qajar Court Photography and the Persian Past

    October 22, 2015- January 17, 2016
    Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 11am-6pm, Friday 11am-8pm, Closed Monday and Tuesday

    The Eye of the Shah: Qajar Court Photography and the Persian Past explores a pivotal time in Iran, when the country was opening itself to the Western world. With over 150 photographic prints, a number of vintage photographic albums, and memorabilia that utilized formal portraiture of the shah, the exhibition shows how photographers—many of them engaged by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1848-1896), the longest reigning Shah of the Qajar Dynasty (1785-1925)—sought to create a portrait of the country for both foreigners and Iranians themselves. Most of the photographs in the exhibition have never been publicly displayed.

    The Eye of the Shah includes unprecedented photographs of life in the royal court in Tehran, such as images of the last shahs of the Qajar Dynasty, their wives and children, and court entertainers. These are complemented by photographs of iconic ancient monuments and sites, such as Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rostam, capturing Iran’s expansive and rich historical past, which further promoted Iran and Iranian culture to the West. The photographers depicted the Iran of their day through images of modernization initiatives, such as the military, the railway, and the postal system, while the daily lives of Iranian people was revealed through photographs showing shopkeepers, street vendors, and field workers. Additionally, Eye of the Shah features pieces by two modern-day Iranian photographers, Bahman Jalali (1944-2010) and Shadi Ghadirian (b. 1974), who evoke and sometimes incorporate images of photography from the Qajar Dynasty, illustrating the continuing and powerful influence that Iranian photography of 19th and early 20th century photography has in the country’s contemporary art world.

    The image is taken from ©Wikimedia Commons.

  • Conference: The Past in the Present of the Middle East

    The Past in the Present of the Middle East

    Starts: 15 April 2016, 9:00 AM
    Finishes: 16 April 2016, 5:00 PM
    Venue: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre

    Call for papers and posters for a two-day conference organised by the Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL) and the London Middle East Institute to showcase the work of CBRL and its partners in the region. The conference will present sessions on a number of themes linking the past to the present day in the Middle East.

    • Cultural heritage in conflict
    • Cultural heritage, society and economics
    • Britain and the Levant: Culture and (Mis)Communication
    • The past in the political present: the legacy of colonialism and intervention
    • The Politics of Dissent: challenges to Orientalism and Zionism
    • The impact of research – working with humanitarian agencies/practitioners

    Closing session: The future of the past in the Middle East

    (more…)

  • Mimesis and Liturgy in Zoroastrian Ritual

    © Dadar Athornan Institute

    Antonio Panaino: “Mimesis und Liturgie im mazdayasnischen Ritual: Die Amtseinsetzung der sieben Unterpriester und die symbolische Götter-Verkörperung”

    Donnerstag, 16. Juli 2015, Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Iranian Studies.

    This lecture proceeds within the framework of the Corpus Avesticum Meeting in Berlin, which was held in 22–23 May 2015 at the Freie Universität Berlin. The lecture will be followed on Friday 17th July 2015 with an internal meeting of the members of the Corpus Avesticum settled in Berlin.

  • Iran Graduate Student Workshop (IGSW)

    To build bridges across Persian and Iranian Studies programs, scholars from New York University’s Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Department and the Gallatin School (ISI-NYU), Princeton University’s Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Middle East Center announce the Iran Graduate Student Workshop (IGSW). The workshop will provide a valuable venue for academic exchange and production, giving distinguished young scholars of the field an unrivalled opportunity to present and promote their research. On April 29-30, 2016, Princeton University will host the first meeting of this joint workshop, to be followed by similar gatherings at the other campuses every two years.

    The first workshop cohort will consist of PhD students that are near ABD status and preparing their dissertation proposals (i.e., typically in their 2nd or 3rd year of graduate work). This cohort will participate again, as discussants, in the second workshop, to be held in 2018, i.e. towards the end of their graduate work. Applicants must focus on modern Iran, other countries of the Persianate world, or diasporas, or conduct relational histories and comparative work; and will be drawn from disciplines and programs in the humanities and social sciences, including anthropology, art history, economics, history, literature, politics, sociology, and related fields.

    For more information see this.

  • Ideology, power and religious change in antiquity

    Plakat_IPRCA2015Ideology, Power and Religious Change in Antiquity, 3000 BC – AD 600 (IPRCA)

    International Summer School organized by Graduate School of Humanities Göttingen (GSGG)

    20 – 24 July 2015, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Archäologisches Institut und Sammlung der Gipsabgüsse)

    In the modern world, political as well as religious leaders make use of ideological messages to legitimize and advertise their power. Especially during periods of transformation and change, it is important for leaders to demonstrate their strengths and capacities in order to unify their subjects. By presenting themselves as the right men in the right place they could win their subjects’ loyalty and thus legitimize and safeguard their own positions. This practice is however not a modern invention, it is rooted in ancient traditions and habits.

    The summer school focuses on ideological messages communicated by leaders in the ancient world (Ancient Near East, Greece and Rome, c. 3000 BC – AD 600) during periods of religious change (periods characterized by the rise, expansion or dominance of new religions, specific religious factions, sects or cults that caused changes in or threatened existing social, religious and/or power structures). Which messages were communicated by central and local authorities as well as specific religious authorities in these epochs? What do these messages tell us about the nature of power exercised by leaders?

    The pre-arranged sessions to discusse the different subjects and questions are:

    • Session 1 Ancient Mesopotamia
    • Session 2 Ancient Anatolia, Levant and Iran
    • Session 3 Classical Greece and the Hellenistic World
    • Session 4 Roman Republic and Empire
    • Session 5 The Byzantine Empire

    Programme:

    (more…)

  • Silks from the Silk Road: Origin, Transmission and Exchange

    Sasanian SilkSymposium

    Silks from the Silk Road: Origin, Transmission and Exchange

    Hangzhou, China, Oct. 11th –Oct. 13th, 2015

    In June 2014, the Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor jointly nominated by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan was inscribed on the World Heritage List, making the ancient Silk Road a common wealth of human beings.

    Parallel to the cognominal exhibition, held at the China National Silk Museum from Sept. 15th to Oct. 14th, 2015, which include masterpiece ancient silk textiles and other treasures related to the Silk Road from 24 Chinese museums and archaeological institutions of eight provinces, the symposium will present the following six sections:

    • Silk Road and Technical Exchange
    • Archaeological Findings of Silk in China
    • Archaeological Findings of Silk outside China
    • Silks on the Silk Road from the Perspective of Linguistics
    • Maritime Silk Road and Chinese Export Silk
    • Silks on the Silk Road from the Perspective of Anthropology

    See here  for more details and the programme, speackers and topics.

    Some talks relevant to Iranian Studies are:

    • Matthehew Canepa: “Sasanian Persian silks in archaeology findings and stone relief illustration
    • Bi Bo: “Silk in Sogdian Literature”
    • Mohammad Bagher Vosoughi: “Silk in Persian Literature”

     

  • Susa and Elam

    International conference: Susa and Elam: History, Language, Religion and Culture

    6-9 July 2015, Université catholique de Louvain

    Program

    Monday 6 July

     Opening lecture: Elizabeth Carter: Reassessing the Elamite contribution to the Luristan Bronzes

    (more…)

  • Zoroastrianism in Iran and India: Then and Now

    Call for Applications

    The Institute of Religious Studies at the University of Zurich (UZH) invites to the summer school:

    Zoroastrianism in Iran and India: Then and Now
    August 30th – September 2nd 2015

    Zoroastrism is one of the oldest living religious traditions today. It shaped the Persian Empire and strongly influenced other religions, such as Judaism and Islam.
    Zoroastrian communities today in Iran, India and in the diaspora are faced with typical challenges of modernity. They are confronted with the need to negotiate the preservation of tradition in the light of requirements of tolerance and the preservation of identity in an age of globalization.
    Our Summer School appeals primarily to Master students and PHDs and will be conducted bilingually (English-German).
    In lectures and workshops both historic and contemporary socio-scientific subject areas (rituals, beliefs, conflicts, etc.) are discussed with the contributors.
    In the discussion with Zoroastrian guests the contemporary situation in India and Switzerland in particular will be analyzed.

    Location
    KAA E-11
    Religionswissenschaftliches Seminar
    Kantonsschulstrasse 1
    8001 Zürich

    • Registration is open until June 30th.
    • Please register via E-Mail: sekr_luedd@theol.uzh.ch
    • There is no participation fee.
      (more…)