Islam, the Humanities and the Human

In the early nineteenth century, some of the most consequential developments in Ottoman architecture unfolded not in Istanbul but on the empire’s frontier. This talk explores the ambitious building program of Ali Pasha of Ioannina (r. 1788–1822), the renegade governor of Greece and Albania whose architectural patronage ranged from mosques to dervish lodges and even Orthodox … Read More

Since the 1990s, Jafar Panahi has been a central figure in contemporary Iranian cinema and one of its most acclaimed voices on the global stage. A master of the semi-documentary … Read More

From the era of the Mamluk Sultanate to the age of jet travel, Cairo has long served as an important hub of West African migration. Whether as a stop on the hajj to … Read More

The Iranian diaspora, estimated at 5 to 8 million people worldwide, has become increasingly visible, especially in North America and Europe. In response to misrepresentation and marginalization, many have turned … Read More

The Nakba of 1948 is often narrativized as a massive break in Palestinian cultural production. In this presentation, Drs. Ari and Amin will bring nuance to this idea through comparative studies of … Read More

Join us for a conversation about Dr. Amir Moosavi’s recently published book Dust That Never Settles: Literary Afterlives of the Iran-Iraq War. The book is the first comparative study of Arabic and Persian literature from the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). It traces the ways in which writers from both countries have wrestled with state-sponsored narratives of war … Read More