Welcome to the Institute of Iranian Studies
The Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews was formally launched on 31st October 2006 by Seyyid Mohammad Khatami. The foundation of the Institute was made possible through a generous benefaction the centre-piece of which will be a Persian language library of some 12,000 books. These books will be selected from a full list of Iranian publications and will reflect the strengths of the University of St Andrews in History, Politics and International Relations. The collection, which will be housed in the Main Library, will be the largest resource of its kind in the United Kingdom, if not Western Europe, and will form the basis of research and teaching in all aspects of Iranian Studies at St Andrews.
The function of the Institute is to encourage and facilitate research and teaching in all aspects of Iranian civilisation and culture. The philosophy of the Institute is inclusivity and engagement. While the principle beneficiaries of the Institute’s resources will be students and staff at the University of St Andrews, the collection and the research facilities will be open to all interested parties subject to a letter of introduction and registration.
Recent Research:
The proceedings of the conference, on Iranian Historiography is due for publication this year by I B Tauris. For detail see here.
Professor Ansari's recent book length study of the 'Politics of Nationalism in Modern Iran' is due for publication with Cambridge University Press in 2012.
Ali Ansari, explores the idea of nationalism in the creation of modern Iran. It does so by considering broader developments in national ideologies which took place following the emergence of the European Enlightenment, and showing how these ideas were taken up by a non-European state. The book charts a course through twentieth-century Iran, analyzing the growth of ideas and their impact on the state, and demonstrating the connections between historiographical and political developments. In so doing, the study shows just how the different regimes manipulated ideologies of nationalism and collective historical memory, to suit their own ends. Firmly relocating Reza Shah within the context of the Constitutional Revolution the study argues that his son’s identification with a monarchy by Divine Right bore a greater resemblance to, and facilitated the religious nationalism that catapulted Ayatollah Khomeini to power on the back of a populist and highly personalized mythology. Drawing on hitherto untapped sources, the book concludes that it was the revolutionary developments and changes that occurred during the first half of the twentieth century, which paved the way for the radicalisation that was to follow
Recent News:
EASTERN IRAN AND TRANSOXIANA and Transoxiana 750-1150 Conference, 8-9 March 2013
The Institute for Iranian Studies is hosting this two day conference in which a number of leading specialists in the field will explore why and how Khurasan and Transoxiana became one of the most culturally and politically dynamic areas of the Muslim world, from the launch of the Abbasid revolution to the empire of Sanjar.
More details >
SYMPOSIA IRANICA: 1st Biennial Iranian Studies Graduate Conference
Hosted by the University of St Andrews, 13-14 April 2013
CALL FOR PAPERS: Symposia Iranica invites proposals for papers that relate to any aspect of Iranian studies.
More details >
Professor Ansari was elected Vice President of the British Institute for Persian Studies in June 2011 for a period of three years