UPenn Islamic Studies

03/11/2025

An exciting talk from Dr. Zari Mahmoudi on the gendered dynamics of Sufi spirituality in the context of two major Persian hagiographical anthologies. It will take place on Wednesday, Nov 5, 2025 at 3:30pm - 5:00pm in 25 Williams Hall.

This talk reflects on the gendered dynamics of Sufi spirituality in the context of two major Persian hagiographical anthologies, ʿAṭṭṭār’s Taḏkerat al-awliyāʾ (Biography of the Saints) and Jāmī of Nafahāt al-uns (Breezes of Friendship) to reveal what can be learned from their port...

27/06/2025

Persian Language Lecturer Position at University of Pennsylvania. For more information and application guidelines: see Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/168912?fbclid=IwY2xjawLLippleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFZQWpjOGFuSURQMnRtNEgzAR4nIWBkc-RF1lWvXX2uIYslNMj6WXmU0eXQtubrJdnsdtbHE9FqgCacRMCbNA_aem__Xl9yjTg2NkwRcy9ju-POA

10/04/2025

April 11: Rethinking Archives on Afghanistan
Presented by Penn Libraries' Center for Global Collections

What does archival work mean in Afghanistan and its diasporas? What can institutional archives tell us about ways of knowing Afghanistan amid consecutive and concurrent wars, migration, and diasporic (trans)formations in the 20th and 21st century? This panel brings together artists, librarians, and scholars to discuss challenges in the maintenance of collections in Afghanistan and its diasporas as well as the poetic, literary, and artistic possibilities for rethinking archives.

Speakers include Alem Afzalli (Graphic Designer), Arzoo Sidiqi (Perso-Arabic Metadata Fellow, Penn Libraries), Shamayel Shalizi (Designer and Artist), Ahmad Rashid Salim (Scholar & Author, UC Berkeley). The panel will be moderated by Paniz Musawi Natanzi (Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities, Wolf Humanities Center).

April 11, 1:00–2:30pm
Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, 6th floor, Van Pelt Library
Zoom livestream available

1:00pm (Philadelphia)
9:30pm (Kabul)
8:30pm (Tehran)
10pm (Lahore)
10pm (Dushanbe)
10:30pm (Indian Standard Time)
7:00pm (Berlin)
10:00am (Los Angeles)
6:00pm (London)

https://wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/events/rethinking-archives-afghanistan

07/04/2025

April 10: Edhem Eldem, Sakıp Sabancı Visiting Professor at the History Department, Columbia University, will speak on questions of archaeology and heritage in the Ottoman lands, particularly the "local" dimension of archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, in his talk, "How Local Can You (Really) Go?: Archaeology in the Ottoman Lands in the Long Nineteenth Century."

Thursday, April 10 ݀• 5:30–7pm
209 College Hall
3450 Woodland Walk, Philadelphia
Free and open to the public

https://wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/events/eldem

Sponsored by University of Pennsylvania History Department, UPenn Islamic Studies, and Wolf Humanities Center.

Image: Anonymous drawing of a sarcophagus fragment discovered in Ashkelon by the governor of Jerusalem, Zarif Mustafa Pasha (undated [ca. August 1847]). Ottoman State Archives, Istanbul, I. DH. 155/8060.

14/03/2025

14/03/2025

Congratulations to Dr. Oscar Aguirre-Mandujano of the Department of History on the publication of his new book on Ottoman litererary history! A double celebration because the book is published by University of Pennsylvania Press!

How Turkish poetry became the preferred mode for communicating, debating, and shaping political and social experience in the early Ottoman EmpireOccasions fo...

27/01/2025

So happy to have cosponsored this wonderful event featuring the gifted artist Behnaz Karjoo!

16/01/2025

An excellent event with the truly gifted artist, Behnaz Karjoo! Delighted that Penn Forum for Global Islamic Studies and the Ibn Sina Fund can cosponsor such an important lecture and hands on workshop with Wolf Humanities Center at Penn

05/12/2024

The Wolf Humanities Center is now accepting applications for 2025–2026 Research Fellowships on the topic of Truth in the following categories:
• Penn Faculty
• Regional Faculty
• Doctoral
• Undergraduate

We also offer a Graduate Research Assistant position for a Penn ABD Graduate Student in the humanities.

Visit our website for fellowship and applications details:
https://wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/fellowships

26/11/2024

Don't miss this fantastic lecture and workshop with the amazing artist Behnaz Karjoo! Made possible by support from the Wolf Humanities Center at Penn, the Kislak Center at Penn Libraries, the Penn Forum for Global Islamic Studies and the Ibn Sina Fund.

Presented in collaboration with Penn's Forum for Global Islamic StudiesIllumination artist Behnaz Karjoo will explore the evolution of Islamic illumination, or tazhib, and its role in manuscript decoration, providing an overview of the traditional tools and materials involved. Visual images of illum...

18/08/2024

Please come the screening of a wonderful new documentary on Qawwali at Penn on Friday Sept. 27, 2024! Co-producer Schofield and Kamran Anwar will be present for a post-screening discussion. Reserve tickets early through Penn Live Arts because seating is limited!