On 9th March 2021, I delightfully moderated the webinar “In Conversation with Mana Kia.” Sponsored by the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization (NELC) and the Persian and Iranian Studies Program, Mana Kia discussed her book Persianate Selves: Memories of Place and Origin Before Nationalism (2020). In Persianate Selves, Kia touches on the larger Persianate world, contextualizing adab in contexts of history, selfhood, and origin. Essentially, Kia sketches out the plurality of culture while also interrogating ahistorical notions of nationalism. This webinar—among others hosted during the 2020-2021 Persian Studies Workshop Series—consisted of intellectual discourse between Kia, Professor Selim Kuru (department chair of NELC), and Professor Aria Fani (Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Professor in Persian and Iranian Studies), including a Q&A section. Please click the hyperlink to enjoy this webinar.
