The Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Alborz High School - U.S. Alumni Present From Oxus to Euphrates: The Sasanian Empire 8:30 - 9:00 am Light Breakfast 9:00 – 9:15 am WELCOMING REMARKS Mary-Jane Deeb, Chief African and Middle Eastern Division, Library of Congress Mark Sweeney, Associate Librarian, Library Services, Library of Congress Congressman Jamie Raskin, U.S. Representative for Maryland's 8th Congressional District. Yousef Javadi, Representing the Alborz High School US Alumni 9:15- 10:45 am: THE HISTORY OF IRANSHAHR Moderator: Mary-Jane Deeb, Chief of the African and Middle Eastern Division - Library of Congress Touraj Daryaee, Maseeh Chair in Persian Studies and the Director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies & Culture at the UC Irvine, “The Sasanian King, Iranshahr and the Walls of His Garden.” Stephen H. Rapp Jr., Professor of Eurasian and World History, Sam Houston State University “Caucasia in Late Antiquity: Between the Byzantine and Iranian Worlds?” Khodadad Rezakhani, Associate Research Scholar, the Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies, “The End of the Sasanian Rule: the Center and the Periphery of Eranshahr in the Seventh Century. ” 10:45 – 11:00 am Tea & Coffee Break All Day: Book Display in AMED Conference Room 11:00 am - 12:30 pm: PEOPLES AND RELIGIONS OF THE SASANIAN REALM Moderator: Fatemeh Keshavarz, Director of the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Chair and Director, Roshan Institute for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina, Yarshater Assistant Professor of Avestan & Pahlavi Languages, University of Toronto, “Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism in the Sasanian World and Beyond.” Scott McDonough, Associate Professor of History, William Paterson University “Queen Shirin and the Churches of the East: Christianity in Sasanian Iran.” Simcha Gross, Assistant Professor of History in Late Antique Judaism, UC Irvine “Kings or Slaves? Babylonian Jewish Claims of Royal Genealogy in their Sasanian Context.” 12:30- 1:45 pm Lunch Break Film Screening and Book Display: During the lunch break the documentary film: “Iran: the forgotten glory, the Achaemenids and Sassanids (500 B.C.-600 A.D.)” by Mystic Films Intl., produced and directed by Makan Karandish, will be featured. 1:45 – 3:15 pm: ART AND CULTURE IN THE SASANIAN PERIOD AND BEYOND Moderator: Hirad Dinavari, Iranic World Reference Specialist, Near East Section, Library of Congress Samra Azarnouche, Maître de Conferences, L’École Pratique des Hautes Études, “Mythical and Political Narrations in Sasanian Era: Middle Persian Texts and Literature in Context.” Judith A. Lerner, Co-editor, Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology, Research Associate; Institute for the Study of the Ancient World , “Knowledge and Revival of Rock Relief Sculpture in Post-Sasanian Persia: The Qajars’ Use of an Ancient Iranian Art Form and of Sasanian Imagery.” Ida Meftahi, Visiting Assistant Professor in Contemporary Iranian Culture and Society, Roshan Institute for Persian Studies, University of Maryland, “Sasanian Reflections on the Modern Stage.” .