The International Conference on Rumi
University of Maryland, College Park
Van Munching Hall (Directions)
September 28-30, 2007
A live feed from the conference will be available when the sessions begin. Click on the link above to launch the feed. You must have Real Media Player to access the streaming file
Conference Statement
Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Balkhi (1207-1273), known in the West as Rumi,
is the Persian mystical poet par excellence. Based on a centuries-old tradition of mysticism within Islam’s intellectual currents, he developed a universal vision of the human condition that has through the centuries grown far and wide beyond his birthplace, environment and native language and culture. In the past thirty years or so, his poetry and his vision have taken the United States and other Western cultures by storm. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has declared 2007, the 800th anniversary of the poet’s birth, as the International Rumi Year. The International Conference envisioned by the University of Maryland’s Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute Center for Persian Studies (RICPS) is designed to explore Rumi’s
poetry and vision, as well as his continued relevance to our world.
The Conference, which will take place on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, September 28-30, 2007, will bring together over twenty leading Rumi scholars and notable artists from all over the world. It will be thematically and historically organized, with an emphasis on Rumi as a poet and his two major works, The Spiritual Couplets and The Divan,
as its twin focal points. In six sessions over three days it will explore
the historical and aesthetic background to Rumi and the poet’s life, works and ideas, as well as his position in the modern world. A series of cultural and artistic events are also being planned, details of which will be announced as they are finalized. Except for the concluding session featuring renowned Iranian philosopher Dr. Abdolkarim Soroush, the Conference will be entirely conducted in English; translations will be provided where Rumi’s
poetry is recited. Funding permitting, Conference proceedings will be
published subsequently, either in entirety or in substantial part.
Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute (RCHI) in Washington DC, the Persian
Cultural Foundation (PCF) of New Jersey, and Texas-based Ahoora Foundation
have provided major funding for the Conference; additional contributions
are welcome and will be acknowledged appropriately in accordance with
donors’wishes. All inquiries should be directed to the Center
for Persian Studies through the following contact coordinates:
Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute Center for Persian Studies
1220 Jimenez Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742 // USA
Tel: 301-405-1891; Fax: 301-314-9752
Email address: persianstudies@umd.edu
Web site: www.languages.umd.edu/Persian
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