International Summer School in Iranian Studies is held in Madrid

Report by the Directorate for International Academic Cooperation–

Thanks to the joint efforts made by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), Allameh Tabataba’i University and the Cultural Advisor’s Office at the Iranian Embassy in Madrid, the first Summer School in Iranian culture and civilisation, entitled “Persia’s Cultural Heritage Throughout History: Symbols, Stories, and Encounters” is currently occurring on 24-26 June 2022 in Spain. ATU President and Director of International Academic Cooperation delivered speeches at the event. 

On the first day and the opening ceremony of the Summer School, Dr Mohammad Mahdi Ahmadi, Cultural Advisor of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Madrid; Dr Fernando Camacha Padilla, Summer School Director and Faculty Member at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and Dr Seyed J. Faraji, Director of International Academic Cooperation at Allameh Tabataba’i University, made introductory remarks on the vital role of the cultural interactions between universities and the need to pay attention to these ties.

Following the opening session, a message from ATU President, Professor Abdollah Motamedi, was recited on the topic of previous partnerships and present cooperation between ATU and Spanish universities. Subsequently, participants presented their speeches on the issues related to Iranian culture and civilisation in the morning and afternoon panels.

Dr Gracia López Anguita, PhD in Arabic Philology from the University of Seville, presented a paper entitled “Image and Imagination in the Philosophy of Sohravardi (d. 1191)”. Dr Farshad Zahedi, Professor of Communications at the University of Carlos III in Madrid, then gave a lecture entitled “From Persian Carpet to Iranian Cinema: An Introduction to Iranian Culture and Cinema”.

Dr José Antonio Antón Pacheco, Professor of the History of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy, the University of Seville, in his lecture entitled “The Philosophy of Zoroastrianism in Iran,” spoke about the nature and dimensions of this religion and how the Iranian society faced and accepted it.

Dr Zahara Gharehkhani, a PhD graduate in History from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, delivered a lecture on “The Iranian Influence in Buddhism: A look at the Iranian-Tibetic Relations.”

In the afternoon panel, a roundtable conference was held on what the Iranian world looks like, and professors like Dr Fernando Escribano Martín, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Literature at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Dr Lawin Muhsin Ismail, PhD in Linguistics from the University of Granada; and Dr Alejandro Gallego López, Director of the Oriental Institute of Chicago in Afghanistan delivered speeches.

The summer school will continue for the next two days.