Women in the Qajar Era
conference organised jointly by the International Qajar Studies Association (IQSA) and Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.
Conference Programme
Thursday, May 31
Welcome and Introductory Remarks ~ 10:00 Houchang Chehabi, Boston University; Manoutchehr Eskandari-Qajar, President, IQSA
Morning Session I ~ 10:00 — 11:15 am — Title: Gender and Historiography; Chair: Afsaneh Najmabadi
1) Manoutchehr Eskandari-Qajar, ‘The Women Behind the Throne: Powerful Voices From Unexpected Quarters’
2) Dariush Rahmanian and Azadeh Hassanein, ‘Women in Qajar Photography: A Case Study of Ali Khan Vali Album‘
3) Fatemeh Masjedi, ‘Feminist Historiography of Early Twentieth Century Iran’
Coffee/Tea 11:15-11:30 am
Morning Session II ~ 11:30 — 12:45 pm — Title: Cultural Representations of Women; Chair: Shahla Haeri
1) Ahmad Kamranifar and Zahra Torki, ‘Engravings and Petrographs of Tombstones of Some Women’s Graves in Takht-i Fulad’
2) Dariush Rahmanian and Zahra Hatami, ‘Sorcery and Magic, Talisman and Taviz and the World of Women in Qajar Era’
3) Irina Koshoridze and Marina Dgebuadze, ‘The Depiction of Women and the Concept of Ideal Beauty in the Qajar Era’
Lunch 12:45 — 1:45 pm
Afternoon Session I ~ 1:45 — 3:00 pm — Title: Gender and Architecture; Chair: Ferydoun Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn
1)Kaveh Mansoori, Negar Badri, Aisan Chavoshnejad, ‘Women and Newly Established Individualism in Qajar Harem Architecture’
2)Pamela Karimi, ‘Women and Interior Design in Qajar Iran’
3) Joanna De Groot, ‘Women and Gendered Space in the Qajar Era: A Reappraisal’
Coffee/Tea 3:00 — 3:15 pm
Afternoon Session II ~ 3:15 — 4:15 pm — Title: Women and Literature; Chair: Olga Davidson
1) Dominic Parviz Brookshaw, Expression Justified: Framing Women’s Poetry in Qajar Iran
2)Sahar Allamezade-Jones, ‘The Subjection of Iranian Women: Representation of Women in Fath ‘Ali Akhundzadeh’s Tamsilat’
3) Special Session Honoring Sattareh Farmanfarmaian: 4:30-5:30 pm
4) Traditional Persian Music Concert: Shadi Ebrahimi and Ensemble: 5:45-6:45 pm
Conference Schedule Day Two:
Friday, June 1
Registration/Book Tables 9:00 — 9:30 am
Morning Session ~ 9:30 — 10:45 am — Title: Biographies; Chair: Houchang Esfandiar Chehabi
1) Mahbubeh Moghadam ‘Re-thinking Anis al-Dawla’
2) Eden Naby, Murassa and Queen Victoria: Assyrian Women’s Public Role in Qajar Azarbaijan
3) Nasser Mohajer, Fakhr al-Dawla: The Woman and the Legend
Coffee/Tea 10:45 — 11:00 am
Special Session I — 11:00 –11:45 am — Abbas Amanat, Fatima Qurrat al-‘Ayn and Deconstruction of the Nomos
Special Session II ~ 12:00 — 12:45 pm — Afsaneh Najmabadi,Presentation and Update on the WWQI Project
Lunch 12:45 — 2:00 pm
Afternoon Session I ~ 2:00 — 3:15 pm Title: Women in the Constitutional Period and Its Aftermath; Chair: Nahid Nosrat Mozaffari
1) Simin Fasihi, ‘A Thousand Petitions; A Single Demand: Reflections on Women’s Petitions during the Constitutional Period’
2) Jasmine Khosravie, ‘Bending Boundaries, Crossing Taboos: Sediqeh Dowlatabadi’s Newspaper Zaban-e Zanan’
3) Farzin Vejdani, ‘History and Biography in the Service of the Iranian Women’s Movement (1919-1925)’
Coffee/Tea 3:15 — 3:30 pm
Afternoon Session II ~ 3:30 — 4:45 pm Title: Women and the European Gaze; Chair: Dominic Parviz Brookshaw
1) Sunil Sharma, ‘Qajar Women in Travel Literature: A Comparative Approach’
2) Irene Natchkebia, ‘The Brilliance and Poverty of Women in the Qajar Epoch’
Roundtable Discussion ~ Questions and Conclusions ~ 4:45 — 5:30 pm — Moderator: Touraj Atabaki
Vote of Thanks and Concluding Remarks ~ Houchang Chehabi, Boston University; Manoutchehr Eskandari-Qajar, President, IQSA