Columbia University Seminar on Iranian Studies

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SEMINARS

SEMINAR ON IRANIAN STUDIES

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The second meeting of the 26th consecutive year of the Columbia University Seminar on Iranian Studies for the academic year 2013‐2014 will take place on: Thursday October 10, 2013, 5:30pm at the Faculty House of Columbia University.

Our speaker will be:
Dr. Alice C. Hunsberger who will lead the discussion on the topic of Not Just Love and Epic Poems: Philosophical Poetry in Persian and the Case of Nasir Khusraw

Abstract:

“How long will you sing of curly locks and ruby lips, of roses and of tulips?” asks Nasir Khusraw of his fellow 11th-century Persian poets, criticizing their focus on pretty love poems. He has something else in mind—a poetry that explores philosophy, religion, metaphysics, eschatology, faith, rationality and ultimate meaning. On the occasion of the publication of her newest book, Pearls of Persia: The Philosophical Poetry of Nasir-i Khusraw (London 2012), Dr. Alice Hunsberger will discuss this largely unexamined genre of Persian literature. Through a close reading of key terms and poems of Nasir Khusraw, the leading exemplar of philosophical poetry in Persian, Dr. Hunsberger will lift the curtain a bit to reveal both his poetic art and the philosophical content of his poetry. She will discuss how, in spite of Nasir Khusraw’s thousand years of ranking as a major Persian poet, several 20th -century scholars questioned the validity of his poetry as poetry. Containing a dozen articles by leading scholars of Islamic philosophy, Ismaili studies and Persian literature, Pearls of Persia is the first book to examine this subject, and thus makes a major contribution to not only Khusruvian studies but also Persian and Islamic literature in general.

Bio-Notice

Alice C. Hunsberger received her PhD in Persian Studies from Columbia University, writing her award-winning dissertation on Nasir Khusraw’s philosophy of the soul. Her MA thesis also examined Ismaili philosophy with the translation and analysis of a text by Nasir al-Din Tusi. Dr. Hunsberger has written and lectured extensively on Nasir Khusraw, and is the author of the acclaimed biography, Nasir Khusraw, The Ruby of Badakhshan: A Portrait of the Persian Poet, Traveller and Philosopher (2000), which has been translated into Persian, Tajik, Russian and Arabic. A former Research Fellow at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, Dr. Hunsberger frequently teaches courses on Islam and Sufism at Hunter College, City University of New York, where she twice won First Prize in the President LeClerc Award for Excellence in Teaching. She also lived a year in Isfahan, teaching at the Aryamehr (now Sharif) University of Technology.

To reach the Faculty House:

Enter the Wien Hall Gate on 116th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive. Walk past Wien Hall, then turn right to the Faculty House.