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H W A

H W AH W AH W A

Heritage in West Asia

Heritage in West AsiaHeritage in West Asia
opening

Welcome to Heritage in West Asia

This website presents a range of research projects and related activities in which I have been involved. It serves as both a personal academic site and a broader thematic platform, bringing together work that spans research, writing, and engagement across various fields. 

Enter

Themes & People

Geographies

Geographies

Geographies

The projects featured here are situated within the geographical expanse broadly recognised as the Iranian Plateau, encompassing parts of West and Central Asia. 


To date, these initiatives are focused particularly in West Asia. The term "West Asia" is employed strategically to minimize the value-laden connotations often associated with labels like the Middle East or Persianate. This designation facilitates a nuanced acknowledgment of the historical and contemporary influences exerted by Turkic, Persian, Arabic, and Russian (European) civilizations on the region’s cultural dynamics. 


These projects examine historical imaginations in this region and investigate how these imaginations are used to reshape regional and sub-regional identities at various scales. These  identities frequently transcend nation-state boundaries and reflect a complex interplay of cultural and historical legacies.  

Questions

Geographies

Geographies

In this geographical context, there are a number of questions that are worth probing. They include:


  • How is the past used in justifying the present national and regional relationships? 


  • In what ways do these justifications manifest in political, territorial, or cultural terms?


  • How does contemporary culture shape and get shaped by historical conceptions, and how are these conceptions realised through both official and unofficial heritage?


  • What are the trans-border forms of imagining the past, and how does the existence of such phenomena influence identity formations?


  • In what ways are borders conceptualised and re-conceptualised in light of historical narratives?


  • What conceptual frameworks and methodologies are most effective for analysing these relationships with the past in contemporary contexts? 

People

Geographies

People

Ali Mozaffari, expert in heritage studies, architecture and urbanism (Academia webpage, CV)


Other collaborators (and co-authors, in alphabetical order):


Dr Ali Akbar, expert in Islamic Studies and International Relations (National Centre for Contemporary Islamic Studies),


Dr James Barry, anthropologist and expert in Iranian and Armenian Studies (Academia profile)


Dr  José Antonio González Zarandona, art historian and expert in iconoclasm, heritage studies, and cinema ( Reader in Heritage Studies, Newcastle University, Academia profile)


Associate Professor David C. Harvey, Historical geographer, expert in geography and heritage studies (Aarhus University profile)


Professor James M. Jasper, writer and sociologist, Graduate Centre of the City University of New York (profile, blog)


Associate Professor Tod Jones is a geographer and Indonesianist with expertise in heritage studies and Indigenous Australian heritage studies (Curtin University profile)


Mr. Bakhtyar Lotfi, an architect and social anthropologist, functions as a cultural analyst with extensive fieldwork training and experience. 


Dr. Mandana Tishehyar, Faculty at the Department of Regional Studies, Allameh Tabataba'i University Tehran (ATU).


Associate Professor Nigel Westbrook, architect and architectural historian, School of Design, University of Western Australia.


Professor Tim Winter, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Sociologist and expert in heritage studies and the Silk Roads, School of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Western Australia (profile).

Past and Upcoming Events

Conferences | Presentations | Lectures | Exhibitions | Talks

12 May 2025

How the Past Shapes Borders and How Borders Redefine Our Understanding of the Past

2–3:30 PM EST

AIAS, building 1630, room 301, 3 floor, and Online

Event Details

12 May 2025

How the Past Shapes Borders and How Borders Redefine Our Understanding of the Past

 In this presentation, I will discuss the motivations and trajectory behind my current research, which focuses on heritage-border relations....

Event Details

2–3:30 PM EST

AIAS, building 1630, room 301, 3 floor, and Online

13 Dec. 2024

Persian Monuments in Other Lands: Taq Kasra and Darband

2–3:30 PM EST

Online via Zoom

Event Details

13 Dec. 2024

Persian Monuments in Other Lands: Taq Kasra and Darband

As part of the Goergetown University Persian Studies Program, Dr Ali Mozaffari will moderate and discuss the topic with filmmaker Pejman Akb...

Event Details

2–3:30 PM EST

Online via Zoom

8 October 2024

MESF Conference 2024: "Mutual Entanglements of Cultural Heritage and Borders in West Asia"

3:30–5:00 PM AET

Deakin Burwood Campus, BCC Building

Event Details

8 October 2024

MESF Conference 2024: "Mutual Entanglements of Cultural Heritage and Borders in West Asia"

Ali Mozaffari presents the following paper discussing modalities of heritage-border relations as part of the Panel D The Politics of Heritag...

Event Details

3:30–5:00 PM AET

Deakin Burwood Campus, BCC Building

5 June 2024

ACHS 2024: “Heritage and...”: Boundary Crossing Potentials and Responsibilities of Doing Heritage

9:30–10:30 AM GMT

O’Flaherty Hall

Event Details

5 June 2024

ACHS 2024: “Heritage and...”: Boundary Crossing Potentials and Responsibilities of Doing Heritage

As part of the panel "Responsibility: Echoes of the Past: Navigating the Responsibilities of Conflict Heritage Custodianship," organised Ali...

Event Details

9:30–10:30 AM GMT

O’Flaherty Hall

4 June 2024

ACHS 2024: Heritage Diplomacy and Soft Power Competition: Who Owns Rumi and Nowruz?

9:30–10:30 AM GMT

Dillion Room

Event Details

4 June 2024

ACHS 2024: Heritage Diplomacy and Soft Power Competition: Who Owns Rumi and Nowruz?

As part of the panel "Responsibility, Innovation, and Contestation," organised Ali Mozaffari will present "Heritage Diplomacy and Soft Power...

Event Details

9:30–10:30 AM GMT

Dillion Room

More Events

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