Pourdavoud Institute Fall 2024 Welcome Reception Wednesday, October 9, 2024 4:00 – 6:00 pm Royce Hall 306 Registration Required The Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World invites you to join us for a fall reception. In the company of our supporters, colleagues, academic affiliates, students, and esteemed guests, we shall be introducing...
Byzantium Within a Medieval Eurafricasian Literary Polysystem: Historiography, Fictional Tales, and the Practices of Narrative Representation Byzantium and its literature has been excluded from the national canons of European literatures. While there are some obvious reasons for this exclusion in the 18th–19th century, it is worth noting that also Byzantinists supported this exclusion by...
“Nezāmi and the Iranian World” is a two-day conference (November 21–22, 2024) that brings together specialists of Persian literature, junior faculty, and graduate students to facilitate in-depth conversations on Nezāmi in a stimulating intellectual environment at UCLA.
Between and Beyond Empires: From the Seleucids to the Sasanians (2nd c. BC – 7th c. AD) Wrocław/Breslau, December 3–6, 2024 Organized by Robert Rollinger, Krzysztof Nawotka, Agnieszka Wojciechowska and Florian Schwarz As a follow-up of the conference in Obergurgl (The Achaemenid Persian Empire and Imperial Transformations in the Ancient Near East, 7th – 2nd...
The Rise of Persian: Understanding the Evolution of Writing in the Sasanian and Early Islamic Periods This talk explores the evolution of writing during the Sasanian and early Islamic periods, shedding light on the long-term process that led to Persian becoming the lingua franca in Western and Central Asia from Iran to the borders of...
Achaemenid Workshop 3 | Columbia University February 21-22, 2025 Columbia University, New York An International Workshop Convened by: John Ma & Marc Van De Mieroop, Columbia University M. Rahim Shayegan, UCLA Download the Abstract Booklet Download the Conference Program Co-sponsored by: The Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World The Yarshater Center for...
March 13-14, 2025 | 306 & 314 Royce Hall UCLA An International Conference Convened by: M. Rahim Shayegan, UCLA William Schniedewind, UCLA Catherine Bonesho, UCLA Co-sponsored by: The Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World The Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies Zoom Webinar Link Download the Conference Program Download the Abstract...
Zoroastrian Hermeneutics in Late Antiquity The Sūdgar Nask of Dēnkard Book 9 is a commentary on the ‘Old Avesta’ of the 2nd millennium BCE produced in Pahlavi (Zoroastrian Middle Persian) in the Sasanian (224–651 CE) and early Islamic centuries. This commentary is a value-laden, ideologically motivated discourse that displays a rich panoply of tradition-constituted forms...
Whither Global Antiquity? Retrospection and Future Directions Thursday, April 10–Friday April 11 Royce Hall 314 & 306 Registration and Info at Global Antiquity Site Global Antiquity is convening its second annual symposium that will be held at UCLA, and live-streamed on Zoom, on April 10–11, 2025. Whither Global Antiquity? Retrospection and Future Directions aims to assess the...
Imperial Foundations of the Silk Road: Persian Roads and Han Walls While the Silk Road is often celebrated as a pivotal example of early globalization, scholarship has primarily focused on the consequences of its connectivity, neglecting the crucial question of its formation and operational logistics. This lecture re-examines the origins and mechanisms of this trans-Eurasian...
