Our meetings are open, but a RSVP is required. In 2026/2027, we will hold four Zoom-only meetings. Missing details will be published, once they are available. If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to write to Heidi Hansen (heh2135 [at] columbia.edu).
Schedule
Oct. 13, 2026 – A. Gibran Siddiqui (Institute of Business Administration Karachi, Pakistan): An Ahrari Knight in the Celestial Emperor’s Court: Reading Mughal Petitions against the Sacro-Political Grain
Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2027, noon-2pm (NYC) – A. Tunç Şen (Columbia University)
Thursday, March 11, 2027, noon-2pm (NYC) – Denise-Marie Teece (NYU Abu Dhabi)
Tuesday, April 13, 2027, noon-2pm (NYC) – Samuel Thrope (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel): A Fit Representative to his Ancient Homeland: Sadegh Hedayat’s Translation of Zoroastrian Literature Between India and Iran
Sadegh Hedayat (1903-1951) is one of the defining figures of Iranian modernity. This seminar aims to contribute to the existing scholarship on Hedayat by focusing on one of the relatively neglected areas of his work: his pioneering research on Zoroastrian literature. Over the course of the 1940s, Hedayat published the first Modern Persian translations of seven late antique and early Islamic Zoroastrian texts. I will focus on Hedayat’s translation of and introduction to one text: the ninth-century Mu’tazilite theological and polemical treatise the Škand Gumānīg Wizār (ŠGW). The seminar will situate Hedayat’s research in the context of the history of scholarship on Zoroastrianism and the entangled histories of India and Iran in the twentieth century.
Speaker in 2027/2028
Sarina Kürsteiner (Union College)
Ali Shapouran (University of St. Andrews, UK)
Columbia University encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. University Seminar participants with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations may contact the Office of Disability Services at 212.854.2388 or [email protected]. Disability accommodations, including sign-language interpreters, are available on request. Please note that requests for accommodations must be made two weeks in advance.
The official page of the Columbia University Seminar 751 is available at: http://universityseminars.columbia.edu/seminars/religion-and-writing/. For more information about the seminar’s history, please see: https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/islamicbooks/religionwriting/usem751history/. The abstracts of all talks since January 2012 are archived at: https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/islamicbooks/religionwriting/abstracts/
Dagmar A. Riedel, chair
Columbia University
dar2111 [at] columbia.edu
Heidi Hansen, rapporteur
Columbia University
Department of History
heh2135 [at] columbia.edu
First published, 1 February 2012
Last updated, 23 October 2026