Whither the Study of Ancient Iran?

On April 19–20, the Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World will be convening a number of workshops to assess the state of ancient Iranian studies, as well as reflect on the Center’s research agenda and priorities for the next 3–6 years, in consultation with invited affiliates.

The main axes, along which the Center’s research shall be tentatively organized, are threefold (see below): (1) History and Civilizations of the Iranian World; (2) Oral and Literary Traditions — Scribal Practices; and (3) Religious Ideas and Practices. These overarching themes and their subcategories will be informed by patterns of continuities in the Iranian world, and its interactions with other civilizations of antiquity. In time, we hope that our affiliates will help further develop and populate these and other research areas.

History and the Civilizations of the Iranian World

1. Sources and Material Culture
2. New Methodologies and Historical Constructions
3. Networks, Elites, and Cosmopolitanism

Oral and Literary Traditions — Scribal Practices

1. Iranian Library
2. Writing and Scribal Practices
3. (Oral) Epic Traditions

Religious Ideas and Practices

1. Religions of the Avesta
2. (Elamo-)Achaemenid Religions
3. Iranian Religious Practices in the Hellenistic and Arsacid Worlds
4. Religious Landscape in the Sasanian Empire
5. Iranian Religions in the East

First Day: April 19, 2017

• 9:30: Coffee and Cakes
• 10:00–10:15: Introductory Remarks
• 10:15–12:00: Workshop I: Elam/Achaemenid Iran
• 12:00–1:30: Lunch
• 1:30–3:00: Workshop II: Seleucid and Arsacid Iran
• 3:00–3:30: Coffee Break
• 3:30–5:30: Workshop III: Sasanian Iran
• 7:00: Dinner

Second Day: April 20, 2017

• 9:30: Coffee and Cakes
• 10:00–12:00: Workshop IV: Iranian Philology
• 12:00–1:30: Lunch
• 1:30–3:30: Workshop V: Religious Practices
• 3:30–4:00: Coffee Break
• 4:00–5:30: Workshop VI: Continuities and Reception
• 7:00: Dinner

Participants

1. Azarnouche, Samra (ÉPHÉ, Paris)
2. Brookshaw, Dominic (University of Oxford)
3. Brosius, Maria (University of Toronto)
4. Carter, Elizabeth (UCLA)
5. Daniel, Elton (Columbia University)
6. Daryaee, Touraj (UCI)
7. Davidson, Olga (Boston University)
8. Grenet, Frantz (Collège de France)
9. Hauser, Stefan (Universität Konstanz)
10. Henkelman, Wouter (ÉPHÉ, Paris)
11. Herzig, Edmund (University of Oxford)
12. Ingenito, Domenico (UCLA)
13. Jamison, Stephanie (UCLA)
14. de Jong, Ab (University of Leiden)
15. Moazami, Mahnaz (Columbia University)
16. Mousavi, Ali (UCLA)
17. Nagy, Gregory (Harvard University)
18. Panaino, Antonio (University of Bologna, Ravenna)
19. Potts, Daniel (ISAW, NYU)
20. Rollinger, Robert (Universität Innsbruck)
21. Rose, Jenny (Claremont Graduate U.)
22. Shayegan, M. Rahim (UCLA)
23. Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (Harvard University)
24. Stronach, David (UC Berkeley)
25. Vevaina, Yuhan (University of Toronto)

*Closed workshops – open to faculty, graduates, and invited guests