Shii News and Resources
Shii News and Resources > 2025 > November > 18

Archive for November 18th, 2025

Shii News – Academic Items

1. Dr. Christine Kämpfer – Rewriting Romance: Khvājū Kirmānī’s Humāy-u Humāyūn as a Post-Mongol Epic [Nov. 22]

Please join us for a zoom lecture as part of UBC’s Alireza Ahmadian Lecture Series on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 11am PST (2pm EST; 8pm CET) for a lecture by Dr. Christine Kämpfer (University of Bamberg) on “Rewriting Romance: Khvājū Kirmānī’s Humāy-u Humāyūn as a Post-Mongol Epic.”

Humāy u Humāyūn recounts the love story of the Syrian prince Humāy, who falls for the Chinese princess Humāyūn and embarks on an adventurous quest to find her. The epic was composed in 1331 by Khvājū Kirmānī at the court of the last Ilkhanid ruler in Baghdad. With this work, Khvājū continues the Persian romance tradition established by his predecessors Gurgānī and Niẓāmī, yet he faced the challenge of renewing the genre for an audience increasingly attuned to Sufi thought. This talk explores how Khvājū both preserves and transforms the literary heritage, transmitting tradition while simultaneously innovating it.

Christine Kämpfer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Iranian Studies at the University of Bamberg (Germany), where she earned her PhD in 2022. Her research focuses primarily on premodern Persian epic poetry and questions of literary transmission. She also works on German travel writing about Qajar Persia and has published in both areas.

Register for the event here: https://ubc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sikjW4EBS-S1w963zpJi_Q#/registration

 

 

 

 

 

2. Online: CLAMS presents THE BACTRIANS, THE KHARAJITS AND THE BARMAKIDS, Friday November 21st at 12 noon EST

https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/U899ul4hTMWjtxEqAzXH_Q

 

3. 3 December 1:00 PM EST AMECYS Childhood, Lit & Memory Across MENA Roundtable

The roundtable focuses on the works of scholars writing for children and young adults, particularly those aged 8-12. It will explore how childhood memories and experiences are evoked, narrated, and imagined through children’s literature. The discussion will reveal the power of this literature to shape histories, identities, and collective memory. The discussion will engage with the intersections of narrative, art, translation, and memory to reconsider representations of childhood, opening new pathways for understanding history, loss, and imagination. It features works by Ariella Aïsha Azoulay (Golden Threads) and Sabiha Al Khemir (Fables Across Time: Kalila and Dimna), and will be moderated by Yael Warshel.

Event Details:

 To inclusively engage our community in programming, AMECYS will open Zoom tools for translation and transcription to assist those whose abilities are stronger in languages other than spoken English. Additionally, and as feasible, our board members may be available to offer informal simultaneous spoken translation between English and Arabic, French, Turkish, and Hebrew. If you believe you will require the latter form of translation assistance, kindly let us know ahead of time. When you RSVP, simply specify for which language and whether you will require it throughout the roundtable or solely during the Q and A.

Please reach out to the AMECYS’ Program Committee at amecystudies@gmail.com if you have any questions, ideas for talks, and/or recent work you would like to present.

 

Posted in: Academic items