星空无限传媒

News Release

Immediate Release:  March 9, 2012Media Contact:  Alicia Steger516.572.9634Email:  alicia.steger@ncc.eduncc.edu/newsreleases

星空无限传媒 Presents

The Porous Border Where Art and Politics Meet The Story of Iran鈥檚 Origins in Ferdowsi鈥檚 Shahnameh

March 20

Garden City, NY 鈥� The 星空无限传媒 Center for Arts and Humanities is proud to present The Porous Border Where Art and Politics Meet:  The Story of Iran鈥檚 Origins in Ferdowsi鈥檚 Shahnameh, a presentation by Prof. Richard Newman of the 星空无限传媒 English Department. The program will take place on Tuesday, March 20 at 11:30 a.m. in Room C65 of Building G. Often called the national epic of Iran, the Shahnameh, or Book of Kings, was written in the 10^th century by Abolqasem Ferdowsi. He took as his subject the pre-Islamic history of the Iranian people, starting with the creation of the world and ending with the seventh century Muslim Arab conquest of the Persian empire. Deeply politicized from the moment of its first publication, the Shahnameh represents an act of cultural resistance, an assertion that the values and traditions of ancient Iran were still relevant despite three hundred years of Muslim Arab rule. Prof. Newman鈥檚 talk will explore the connections between the Shahnameh as a work of literature and its function within explicitly political discourse. Richard Jeffrey Newman is the author of the poetry collection 鈥淭he Silence of Men,鈥� as well as 鈥淪elections from Saadi鈥檚 Gulistan鈥� and 鈥淪elections from Saadi鈥檚 Bustan,鈥� translations of two masterpieces of 13^th century Iranian poetry. He also co-translated with Prof. John Moyne all of the poetry in 鈥淎 Bird in the Garden of Angels,鈥� a selection of work by Rumi, also from 13^th century Iran.   For more information about The Porous Border Where Art and Politics Meet:  The Story of Iran鈥檚 Origins in Ferdowsi鈥檚 Shahnameh 鈥� which is free, open to the public and accessible to the disabled 鈥� call 516.572.9749.

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