A Lecture by Dr. Abbas Amanat
Topic: Why “Iran: A Modern History?”
Date: Feb 17-18, 2019
Place: Berkeley, CA
Introduction by: Dr. Jaleh Pirnazar, Near Eastern Studies Department, University of California, Berkeley
Presentation of the book “Iran: A Modern History”. A masterfully researched and compelling history of Iran from 1501 to 2009. Abbas Amanat combines chronological and thematic approaches, exploring events with lasting implications for modern Iran and the world. Drawing on diverse historical scholarship and emphasizing the twentieth century, he addresses debates about Iran’s culture and politics. Political history is the driving narrative force, given impetus by Amanat’s decades of research and study. He layers the book with discussions of literature, music, and the arts; ideology and religion; economy and society; and cultural identity and heritage.
Abbas Amanat (B.A., Tehran University; D. Phil., University of Oxford) is Willaim Graham Sumner Professor of History at Yale Univerity. He has taught and written about early modern and modern history of Iran, Muslim world, the Middle East and the Persianate world for more than three decades. His principal book publications include Iran: A Modern History; Az Tehran ta ‘Akka: Babiyan va Baha’iyan dar Asnad-e Dowran-e Qajar; Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian; Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896; Persian translation: Qebleh-e ‘Alam; Resurrection and Renewal: The Making of the Babi Movement in Iran, 1844-1850.
Abbas Amanat is a Consulting Editor and longtime contributor to Encyclopedia Iranica and member of its Board of Directors. His major entries in EIr include: “Constitutional Revolution” (1994); “Great Britain in Qajar Persia” (2002); “Hajji Baba of Ispahan” (2003); “Historiography of Qajar Iran” (2004); “Historiography of Pahlavi Iran” (2004) and “Islam in Iran: Messianism” (2007). He was a Carnegie Scholar of Islamic Studies (2005-2007) and the recipient of the Mellon-Sawyer Grant for comparative study of millennialism (1998-2001). He was the Editor-in-Chief of Iranian Studies, the journal of the Association for Iranian Studies (1991-98) and the Chair of the Council on Middle East Studies, Yale University (1993-2004). He is currently the Director of the Yale Program in Iranian Studies at the Yale MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Amanat
Abbas Amanat received his B.A. from Tehran University in 1971 and D.Phil. from Oxford University in 1981. Abbas Amanat was a Carnegie Scholar of Islamic Studies (2005-2007). He also was the recipient of the Mellon-Sawyer Seminar Grant for comparative study of Millennialism (1998-2001).
He is a Consulting Editor and longtime contributor to Encyclopedia Iranica where his major entries include “Constitutional Revolution” (1994); “Great Britain in Qajar Persia” (2002); “Hajji Baba of Ispahan” (2003) “Historiography of Qajar Iran” (2004), “Historiography of Pahlavi Iran” (2004) and “Islam in Iran: Messianism” (2007). He is the General Editor of Persia Observed series (Mage Publishers) which includes extensive introductions to new editions of E.G. Browne’s Persian Revolution (1995) and C.J. Wills The Land of the Lion and the Sun (2004). He was the Editor-in-Chief of Iranian Studies, the journal of the International Society for Iranian Studies (1991-98) ) and served as the chair of the Council on Middle East Studies at Yale (1993-2004). He is currently Director of the Iranian Studies Initiative at Yale MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies.
Lecture in Persian