In previous years, the Institute has participated at MESA by sponsoring the following panels:

1998

Panel: “Ismaili and Zaydi Projections of Symbolic Religious Identity”

Chair/Discussant

Dr Paul E. Walker, Independent Scholar

Panelists

Towards Sobriety: Nasir-i Khusraw’s Construction of Identity
Professor Zayn Kassam, Pomona College Visiting Fellow, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 1998 to 1999

Nasir-i Khusraw’s Journey of the Soul: The Pilgrimage as an Expression of Ismaili Identity
Dr Alice C Hunsberger, Visiting Fellow, The Institute of Ismaili Studies 1998 to 2000

‘Ali’s sword Dhu’l-Fiqar as Icon in Ottoman Egypt
Professor Jane Hathaway, Ohio State University

The Projection of Religious Identity Among Contemporary Ismaili Muslims
Professor Tazim R Kassam, Colorado College

Bohra Architecture and the Restoration of Fatimid Culture
Professor Paula Sanders, Rice University

1996

Panel: “Nasir-i Khusraw in Poetry and Prose”

Chair

Professor Ismail Poonawala, University of California, Los Angeles

Panelists

Nasir-i Khusraw on the Interpretation (ta‘wil) of the Qur’an
Dr Latimah S Peerwani

Symbolic Interpretation (ta‘wil) in Nasir-i Khusraw
Professor Zayn Kassam, Pomona College Visiting Fellow, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 1998 to 1999

The Ethical Philosophy of Nasir-i Khusraw
Dr Faquir M Hunzai, Research Associate, The Institute of Ismaili Studies

Nasir-i Khusraw’s Isma‘ili Poetics
Dr Julie Scott Meisami, University of Oxford

Nasir-i Khusraw: Practicing What He Preached
Dr Alice C Hunsberger, Hunter College Visiting Fellow, The Institute of Ismaili Studies 1998 to 2000

Making The New Edition of the Divan
Dr Mehdi Mohaqqeq, McGill University/Tehran

Discussant

Dr Paul E. Walker, Independent Scholar s