Behzad Borhan, PhD (year 4)
Behzad Borhan is a Ph.D. student at the Institute of Islamic studies at McGill University. He has also earned a Ph.D. in Persian Language and Literature from Tehran University, where he had previously taught courses on Persian literature for two years. Before joining McGill, Behzad was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Religious Studies and a Fellow in the Iranian Studies Program and NELC at Yale University. Behzad’s research is focused on Persian and Arabic mystical literature, especially medieval hagiographical texts, and Sufi manuals. He is currently working on his book manuscript on saintly miracles (karāmāt) in Sufi literature. He studies the narratives about Sufis’ supernatural deeds in their historical and social context with a special focus on the role of the narrator and the master-disciple relationship in the formation and development of these narratives.
Education:
Ph.D., Persian Language and Literature, University of Tehran, 2020
M.A., Persian Language and Literature, University of Tehran, 2014
Areas of interest: Persian literature, medieval Sufism, Islamic hagiographic literature
Publications:
Books
- Laṭāyif al-Maʿnavī min Haqāyiq al-Mas̲navī, Abd al-Laṭīf Abbāsī Gujarāti. Edited, annotated, and introduced by Behzad Borhan, Tehran: Intishārāt-i Maḥmūd Afshār and Sukhan, 2017.
Articles
- Borhan, Behzad; Hajian-nezhad, Alireza. “A constructivist explanation for the contrast between Nirvānā and Fanā.” Persian Literature (Adab-i Fārsi, Journal of Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran), no. 23, 2019, p. 21-41.
- Borhan, Behzad. “Zinā of the Eye or Gaze of the Eye? A suggestion for editing a verse in the Mas̲navi of Rumi.” Persian Language and Literature, no. 22, 2020, p. 36-46.
- Borhan, Behzad. “Analysis of ambiguous phrases in the Tārīkh-i Jahān-Gushā of Juwainī.” Kohan Nāmeh-yi Adab-i Pārsī, no. 03, 2016, p.103-118.
- Borhan, Behzad. “Some new facts about Abd al-Laṭīf Abbāsī Gujarāti’s life.” Subcontinent, vol. 04, no. 04, 2015, p. 221-235.
Book Reviews
- Persianate Selves: Memories of Place and Origin Before Nationalism, Mana Kia (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press 2021, xxiv + 312 pp.) in Iranian Studies Journal, 2022.
- Sinews of war and trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula, by Laleh Khalili (London: Verso 2020, 386 pp.) in British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2021.
Talks, Conferences, and Workshops:
“Making sense of Kīmīyā-yi Saʿādat through al-Ghazzālī’s Sufi sources,” presented at MEA 2023, Montréal, Canada, November 2023.
“The Evolution of Karāmat Narratives in Sufi literature,” Presented at MESA 2022, Denver, Colorado, December 2022.
“Among our Shaykh’s Karāmāt… Abū Saʿīd Abū'l-Khayr and his Karāmāt Narratives,” invited talk in Persian Circle, University of Chicago, November 2022.
“A Narrative of Karāmat or a Karāmat of Narrative?” in the Iranian Studies Conference (AIS 2022), Salamanca, Spain, August-September 2022.
“From Chords to Words: Pedagogical Benefits of Intertwining Persian Literature with Persian Traditional Music,” Presented at the 3rd International Conference on Teaching Persian Language and Literature, University of Cambridge, December 2021.
“Narratives of Karāmāt in the Sufi Literature,” invited talk at Khārazmī University, Tehran, Iran. March 2019.
“The Ghāsem-e Ghani Collection in Sterling Library at Yale,” invited talk at The National Library of Iran, Tehran, Iran. September 2018.
“Ghāsem-e Ghani and His Qājāric Documents,” invited talk at University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, October 2018.
- “Mystical Hermeneutics: The Dialectic of Mystical Experiences and the Qurʾān,” Presented at The Eighth International Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society, University of California at Berkeley. April 2018.
Awards and Honors:
- McGill’s Graduate Research Enhancement and Travel Awards (GREAT Awards), Fall 2022.
- Association of Iranian Studies (AIS) Travel Grant, 2022.
- McGill’s Graduate Research Enhancement and Travel Awards (GREAT Awards), Summer 2022.
- Winner of 3MT (Three-minute Thesis) Competition at the University of Tehran, 2019.
- University of Tehran Fellowship Award for research leave, 2017.
- Winner of the best student book of the year in Iran for Laṭāyif al-Maʿnavī min Haqāyiq al-Mas̲navī, 2017.
Email: behzad.borhan [at] mail.mcgill.ca (Behzad Borhan)
Supervisor: Prashant Keshavmurthy
