Launching the Achaemenid Workshops (AchWorks)
Over the past few years we have been conversing with our international colleagues on a number of occasions about the common wish to launch a new series on Achaemenid history. This endeavor, dubbed Achaemenid Workshops, shall strive to revisit, reassess, and reformulate (the state of) Achaemenid scholarship.
The goal of the workshops is to allow the important momentum around Achaemenid Studies—which is greatly tributary, among others, to the past Achaemenid History meetings, the indefatigable work of Amélie Kuhrt, Heelen Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Pierre Briant and many others, the launch of important series, such as Achaemenid History, Persika, Oriens et Occidens, Classica et Orientalia and more—to continue forth, and for us to be allowed to foster the next generation of scholars, for whom this type of institutional framework might prove crucial.
This is particularly important at the present juncture, when the manifold fields of ancient studies are undergoing profound changes and multiple voices reporting on the ancient worlds are emerging with ever more vigor and independence. Thus, at a time when new research structures, such as Global Antiquity (UCLA), have been instituted, or grand initiatives, such as the Classical World in Context (Getty), are being conducted, the Achaemenid world empire would also have pedagogic and heuristic value for the comparative study of the ancient worlds.
The themes of the workshops shall be reflecting the strength and expertise of the faculty and institutions involved while addressing desiderata within Achaemenid scholarship.
Meet Our Organizing Board
- Lindsay Allen (King’s College London)
- Elspeth Dusinberre (University of Colorado Boulder)
- Hilmar Klinkott (Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel)
- John Ma (Columbia University)
- Marc Van De Mieroop (Columbia University)
- Robert Rollinger, co-chair (University of Innsbruck)
- Kai Ruffing (University of Kassel)
- M. Rahim Shayegan, co-chair (University of California, Los Angeles)
- Rolf Strootman (University of Utrecht)
- Antigoni Zournatzi (National Hellenic Research Foundation)
Achaemenid Workshops (AchWorks) Schedule of Events
 | 2023 (April 12–14, 2023) University of California, Los Angeles: “Identity, Alterity, and the Imperial Impress in the Achaemenid World” Organizer: M. Rahim Shayegan Download Program Download Abstract Book |
 | 2023 (July 3–7, 2023) University of Innsbruck: “The Achaemenid Persian Empire and Imperial Transformations in the Ancient Near East” Organizer: Robert Rollinger Download Program Download Abstract Book |
 | 2025 (February 21–22, 2025) Columbia University: “Towards a Literary History of the Achaemenid Empire” Organizers: John Ma, Marc van de Mieroop, and M. Rahim Shayegan Download Program Download Abstract Book |
 | 2026 (May 16–21, 2026) National Hellenic Research Foundation, Austrian Archaeological Institute, University of Innsbruck, and Pourdavoud Institute: “The Achaemenid Persian Empire and Its Western Borderlands: A Change of Paradigm” Organizer: Antigoni Zournatzi, Birgitta Eder, Robert Rollinger, and M. Rahim Shayegan |
 | 2026 (Summer 2026) King’s College London: “Persianate Receptions of Antiquity/ies” Organizer: Lindsay Allen and Sussan Babaie |
 | 2027 (Spring 2027) University of California, Los Angeles: "Hellenistic Revisited" Organizer: M. Rahim Shayegan |
 | 2027 (September 2027) Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel: “Social History of the Achaemenid Empire: Imperial and Local Societies in Interaction” Organizer: Hilmar Klinkott |
 | 2028 (Winter or Spring 2028) Utrecht University: "Central Asia and the Longue Durée" Organizer: Rolf Strootman |
 | 2028 (September or October 2028) University of Kassel: “The Achaemenid Empire as a Transcontinental Engine of Trade and Entanglement” Organizer: Kai Ruffing |
 | 2029 (Fall 2029) University of Colorado Boulder: "Teaching the Achaemenid Empire" Organizer: Elspeth Dusinberre |
Publication of the Proceedings
A dedicated series is in the process of being created. The series would be edited by M. Rahim Shayegan and Robert Rollinger, but the organizers of each workshop are the volume’s editors.
Responsibilities of the Pourdavoud Institute
The Pourdavoud Institute serves as the organizing hub for the workshops, and also assists with some common logistics, as well as assumes the creation of a common website, and is responsible for the videography of the workshops to be posted on the common and individual websites. The organization of the individual workshops is left in the hands of the hosting institutions, but the Pourdavoud Institute can assist in this. The Pourdavoud Institute may also assist with a limited subvention to defray the expenses associated with the publication of the volume, should the need arise.
Student Participation
In general, we would welcome the participation of advanced graduate students as speakers, chairs, and participants at these events.