our words make worlds

Faces of the Infinite

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 SongsThe 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.