Convenors:
Professor Stefan Sperl, SOAS, University of London
Professor Trevor Dadson FBA, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Yorgos Dedes, SOAS, University of London
The conference is intended to generate the first comparative overview of the extent to which Neoplatonist philosophy has permeated poetic forms, styles, themes and figurative language as well as poetic theory in seven principal languages of the greater Mediterranean region, from late antiquity to the modern period. Listed in alphabetical order, they are Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Persian, Spanish and Turkish. The findings are intended to result in a major publication which will shed light on the significance of Neoplatonism as a cross-cultural phenomenon which links the literary traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Speakers include:
Professor Walter Andrews, University of Washington
Professor Leili Anvar, INALCO, Paris
Dr James Binns FBA, University of York
Dr Abigail Brundin, University of Cambridge
Dr Alessandro Cancian, Institute of Ismaili Studies, London
Professor Cristina D’Ancona, University of Pisa
Dr Neslihan Demirkol, Ankara Social Sciences University
Professor Ziad Elmarsafy, King's College London
Professor Carl W. Ernst, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Professor Ferial J. Ghazoul, The American University in Cairo
Dr Didem Havlioğlu, Duke University
Dr David Hernández de la Fuente, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid
Professor Mehmet Kalpaklı, Bilkent University, Ankara
Professor Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, University of Maryland
Dr Alexander Matthew Key, Stanford University
Dr Kazuyo Murata, King’s College, London
Professor Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis, Freie Universität Berlin
Professor Terence O’Reilly, University College, Cork
Professor David Ricks, King’s College, London
Professor Peter Robinson, University of Reading
Professor Claudio Rodríguez Fer, University of Santiago de Compostela
Professor John Roe, University of York
Professor Suzanne Stern-Gillet, University of Bolton
Dr Adena Tanenbaum, Ohio State University
Professor Richard Taylor, Marquette University
Professor Colin Thompson, University of Oxford
Professor Julian Weiss, King’s College, London
Dr Joachim Yeshaya, University of Leuven
For further information and details of how to register for this conference at the British Academy on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 November 2017, please click on 'Book event'.
A third day of the conference will be hosted by SOAS on Saturday 11 November 2017; this third day requires separate registration (please click here for further information).
Note: In association with the conference there will be a musical rendering of poetry in Castilian, Hebrew and Persian based on the Biblical Song of Songs, The Odes on Mystical Love by Jalal al-Din Rumi and The Spiritual Canticles of St. John of the Cross. Time and venue: Friday 10 November at 19:30 at the SOAS Brunei Gallery. Register with Eventbrite
Download the full programme here.
Read a blog post reflecting on this event here.