Pourdavoud Institute
Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Neville McFerrin
Royce 306An Entangled Empire: Dress, Reciprocal Construction, and the Experience of Kingship at Persepolis In reliefs across Persepolis, the Achaemenid administrative center, depictions of mediated bodies offer insight into an imperial ideology that generates inclusion through categorical and material slippages. The crown of the king parallels the crenellations of the architecture that surround him even as...
Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Elspeth Dusinberre
Royce 306The Collapse of Empire: Gordion’s Transition from the Achaemenid to the Hellenistic World This talk will highlight the huge changes that characterized Gordion’s transition from the Achaemenid to the Hellenistic periods. Gordion, ancient capital of Phrygia, was a large and thriving city of secondary importance during the period of the Achaemenid Persian empire (ca 550–333...
Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Christian Sahner
314 Royce HallHow Zoroastrians Argued with Muslims in the Early Islamic Period This lecture will explore the early conflict between Zoroastrians and Muslims by examining the most important polemical treatise in the Zoroastrian tradition, the Škand Gumānīg-Wizār (“The Doubt-Dispelling Disquisition”), written by the ninth/tenth century theologian and philosopher Mardānfarrox son of Ohrmazddād. A sophisticated work of rationalist theology,...
Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Hilmar Klinkott
Royce 306Consolidation of Law, Legal Order, and the Question of Constitutionalizing Processes in the Achaemenid Empire The Old Persian inscriptions of Darius I deal with a range of legal, particularly constitutional questions. The famous grave inscription from Naqsh-i Rustam (DNb) constitutes the conceptional center of a thematical text corpus, exemplified in specific details and different legal...
CANCELLED: Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Robert Rollinger
Royce 306Due to recent events on campus resulting in the cancellations of classes at UCLA today, Professor Robert Rollinger's lecture has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvienence and thank you for your understanding. We look forward to hosting you at one of our upcoming events soon. The “Persian Wars”: An Alternative Perspective? The “Persian Wars”...
CANCELLED: Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Wu Xin
Royce 306It is with sincere regret that we have decided to cancel the upcoming lecture by Professor Wu Xin. Our campus, like many others across the country, is experiencing turbulent times with ongoing protests. We will reschedule this event at a later date when we will be able to welcome safely to campus our friends and...
Pourdavoud Institute Fall Reception 2024
Royce 306Pourdavoud 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...
Pourdavoud & Iranian Studies Co-Sponsored Lecture: Panagiotis Agapitos
Royce 306Byzantium 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 woth noting that also Byzantinists supported this exclusion by...
Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Carlo Cereti
Royce 306The 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...
Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Wu Xin
Royce 306Imperial 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...