March 20: The Porous Border Where Art and Politics Meet
News Release
Immediate Release: March 9, 2012Media Contact: Alicia Steger516.572.9634Email: alicia.steger@ncc.eduncc.edu/newsreleases
Nassau Community College Presents
The Porous Border Where Art and Politics Meet The Story of Iran’s Origins in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh
March 20
Garden City, NY — The Nassau Community College Center for Arts and Humanities is proud to present The Porous Border Where Art and Politics Meet: The Story of Iran’s Origins in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, a presentation by Prof. Richard Newman of the NCC 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 10th 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’s 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 “The Silence of Men,” as well as “Selections from Saadi’s Gulistan” and “Selections from Saadi’s Bustan,” translations of two masterpieces of 13th century Iranian poetry. He also co-translated with Prof. John Moyne all of the poetry in “A Bird in the Garden of Angels,” a selection of work by Rumi, also from 13th century Iran. For more information about The Porous Border Where Art and Politics Meet: The Story of Iran’s Origins in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh — which is free, open to the public and accessible to the disabled — call 516.572.9749.
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