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DTSTART:20251102T020000
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DTSTART:20260308T020000
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UID:calendar.2833.events_uoft_date.0@www.nmc.utoronto.ca
CREATED:20260302T161141Z
DESCRIPTION:\nWhen and Where: \nFriday, March 06, 2026 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
  \n Online \n\nSpeakers \nBabak Rahimi, University of California, San Di
 ego \n\nDescription: \nSecular Religion and Neo-Zoroastrian Performatives 
 in the Iranian DiasporaThe Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian 
 Studies in collaboration with the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations o
 f North America, the Ontario Zoroastrian Community Foundation, the Zoroa
 strian Society of Ontario, and the Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation joint
 ly present 'Secular Religion and Neo-Zoroastrian Performatives in the Iran
 ian Diaspora: A Southern California Case Study'.Abstract: This paper outli
 nes the changing religious landscape of the Iranian diaspora in North Amer
 ica by focusing on the reconstruction of pre-Islamic cultural traditions a
 s a distinct public religion. It specifically examines neo-Zoroastrian per
 formatives as diasporic practices in Southern California, highlighting ho
 w ritual, heritage, and spectacle function as sites where race, religio
 n, and identity intersect within the post-secular age. These include Zoro
 astrian material culture, Nowruz, Mehregan, Faravahar iconography, and
  references to Cyrus the Great-deployed not primarily for theological purp
 oses, but as cultural markers of identity. The paper argues that such pra
 ctices reflect a diasporic form of 'cultural religion' rooted in pre-Islam
 ic motifs and expressing both a secular disidentification with Islam and a
 n Aryanist racial imaginary tied to Indo-European lineage as a source of s
 piritual renewal. The paper is divided into two sections. The first sectio
 n offers a brief historical overview of religious culture among Iranian di
 aspora communities in North America. The second section examines two case 
 studies of what the study terms neo-Zoroastrian performative culture-a dis
 tinct form of diasporic public religion that blends ritual, heritage, an
 d spectacle with implicit racial motifs. Drawing on the theoretical framew
 orks of Diana Eck, Thomas Tweed, and Emile Durkheim, the paper understa
 nds these religious reconfigurations as communal expressions of racial ide
 ntity formed within secular-liberal and multicultural contexts. The final 
 section is theoretical and offers a critical discussion of the intersectio
 ns between religion, race, and diasporic identity in shaping new modalit
 ies of public religiosity in the post-secular setting.Bio:  Babak Rahimi i
 s Professor of Culture, Religion, and Technology at the University of Ca
 lifornia, San Diego, where he serves as Director of the Program for the 
 Study of Religion and the Middle East Studies Program. He is the author of
  Theater-State and the Formation of the Early Modern Public Sphere in Iran
 : Studies on Safavid Muharram Rituals, 1590-1641 C.E. (Brill, 2011), a 
 historical-sociological examination of the interplay between public ritual
 , state power, and social dynamics in the Safavid era. His recent book,
  Senses of Mourning: Moharram Performances in Shi'i Iran from the Qajar to
  the Covid Era (University of Pe\nsylvania Press, 2026), explores the se
 nsory dimensions of religion in modern lranian history. Rahimi is the edit
 or of Theatre in the Middle East: Between Performance and Politics (Anthem
  Press, 2020) and Performing Iran: Culture, Performance, Theatre (1.B. 
 Tauris, 2021). He has also co-edited Social Media in Iran (with David Far
 is, SUNY Press, 2015), The Wiley Blackwell History of Islam (with Arman
 do Salvatore and Roberto Tottoli, Wiley Blackwell, 2018), and Muslim Pi
 lgrimage in the Modern World (with Peyman Eshaghi, University of North Ca
 rolina Press, 2019). His current research examines the intersections of c
 ulture, religion, and empire, with a focus on Islamicate societies, pa
 rticularly Iran.Zoom Registration Link: https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/r
 egister/Tz9jK-hRRyCOEz66FvxbYg After registering, you will receive a conf
 irmation email containing information about joining the meeting. \n\nCateg
 ories \n SeminarsThe Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studie
 s \n\nAudiences \n Alumni and FriendsCommunityFacultyGraduate StudentsPros
 pective StudentsStaffUndergraduate StudentsGeneral Public
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260306T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260306T143000
LAST-MODIFIED:20260302T161339Z
SUMMARY:Zoroastrian Studies Seminar Series: Babak Rahimi
URL;TYPE=URI:https://www.nmc.utoronto.ca/events/zoroastrian-studies-seminar
 -series-babak-rahimi
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