MAY 21 in Los Angeles - Unveiling the Mythos of Iran: Liberating Our Stories, Liberating Ourselves

A conference of Iranian and non-Iranian scholars, psychologists, and artists dedicated to exploring themes in Iranian mythology.

[I’ll be participating via Zoom - Tom Cheetham]

Click here for all details and registration

Date and time

Sunday, May 21 · 11:30am - 8pm PDT

Location

Philosophical Research Society 3910 Los Feliz Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90027

Ten presenters, curated by mythologist Maryam Sayyad:

Nasrin Beyraghdar, Paul Dara Shahparaki, Omid Arabian, Sholeh Wolpe, Sara Mashayekh, Khodadad Rezakhani, John Bucher, Ethan Friedland, John Colarusso, William Linn, and Tom Cheetham with a special performance by Banafsheh Sayyad.

THIS EVENT IS IN ENGLISH

MARYAM SAYYAD PH.D., MYTHOLOGIST

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

This conference is geared toward Iranians educated outside Iran and non-Iranian scholars of myth, religion, philosophy, and literature. We are all more or less occluded when it comes to Iran's place in the world mythological record. One main reason for the lacuna in our knowledge is that what is specifically Iranian has dissolved, or been dissolved, into "Islamic tradition." While separating out, reclaiming, and restoring Iranian mythology is implied, decolonizing is not the explicit topic of this conference. Rather, we’re interested in illuminating the darkened landscape of the Iranian mythic imagination. As many Iranian women cast off their veil, I believe the task of myth scholars is to unveil the rich mythological heritage of Iran for ourselves and others. 

Ten speakers will present on a topic, a motif, a figure, a story, a text, or an idea from the field of Iranian myth that they have researched, written about or taught extensively, and to approach their chosen subject with their chosen hermeneutical method. This is a beginning, an opening, an invitation to Iranian and non-Iranian scholars and students to engage with the Iranian mythic tradition, be able to see it clearly, and contextualize it accurately in the greater world mythological record.