Olga Merck Davidson — Curriculum
Vitae
Education
Teaching Experience
Public Lectures
Publications
Visiting Associate Professor, Middle Eastern Program, Wellesley College.
Education
A.B. Boston University (major in Classics).
special student 1975-76 Harvard University.
Ph.D. 1983 Princeton University (Near Eastern Studies).
dissertation title: "The Crown-Bestower and the Iranian Book of
Kings" (awarded the T. Cuyler Young prize by the Near Eastern Studies
Department, Princeton University).
Teaching Assistant, Harvard University, 1980-83 (Folklore and Mythology
107: "The Literature of the Fantastic," fall 1980; "Core
Curriculum" Literature and Arts C-14: "The Concept of the
Hero in Hellenic Civilization," spring 1981 and 1982; "Core
Curriculum" Literature and Arts C-29: "The Heroic Tradition
in Northern Europe," spring 1983).
Lecturer, College of the Holy Cross, 1983-85 (Special Studies Program:
"Mythology in Islam," fall 1983 and 1984; Department of the
Classics: "Greek Mythology," spring 1985).
Lecturer, Brandeis University, 1984-85, Department of Classical and
Oriental Languages and Program of University Studies ("Mirror of
Princes, Stories of Heroes" [full-year course]).
Lecturer, Brandeis University, 1985-87, Program of University Studies,
Humanities ("Mirror of Princes, Stories of Heroes" and "Divinity,
Kingship, and Humanity," both spring 1985; "Mirror of Princes,
Stories of Heroes" [full-year course], 1986-87).
Lecturer, Brandeis University, 1987-92, Program of University Studies
and Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (Humanities: "Mirror
of Princes, Stories of Heroes" [two sections, full-year course];
Near Eastern and Judaic Studies: "Beginning Persian" [full-year
course], starting in 1988-87; "Explorations in Islam" [full-year
course in Islamic literature], starting in 1990-91).
Lecturer, Brandeis University, 1992-94, Department of Near Eastern
and Judaic Studies (same as above, plus Beginning and Intermediate Arabic
[full-year course]).
Lecturer with rank of Assistant Professor, Brandeis University, 1993-94,
Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (Humanities: "Mirror
of Princes, Stories of Heroes," fall; "Beginning Persian"
[full-year course]; "Beginning Arabic" [full-year course];
"Intermediate Arabic" [full-year course]; "Explorations
in Islamic Literature: The Arab World," [fall])"Explorations
in Islamic Literature: The Persian World," [spring]).
Assistant Professor, Brandeis University, 1994-2000, Department of
Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Near Eastern and Judaic Studies "Beginning
Persian" [full-year course]; "Beginning Arabic" [full-year
course]; "Intermediate Arabic" [full-year course]; "Explorations
in Islamic Literature: The Persian World," "Explorations
in Islamic Literature: The Arab World," "Readings in Classical
Persian Literature," "The Woman's Voice in the Muslim
World," "Islam: Civilization and Institutions."
Associate Professor, Brandeis University, 2000-, Department of Women's
Studies.
Teaching half-time, while serving as Chair of the Board, Ilex Foundation.
Regular course taught at Brandeis: "The Woman's Voice in
the Muslim World."
Teaching Interests
Persian and Arabic languages and literatures; Women's Studies; Avestan,
Pahlavi, Sogdian; Sanskrit, Classical Greek and Latin languages and
literatures; Comparative Literature; Folklore; oral poetics.
Non-teaching Duties
Master of Currier House (jointly with husband Gregory Nagy), Harvard
College, 1986-1991.
Chair of the Concentration in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Brandeis
University, 1992-97.
Member of Governing Board, Woodcock Foundation, 1996-.
Elected member of the Council of the Iranian Association of Boston,
1997-.
Elected member of the Board of Trustees, Encyclopedia Iranica, 1998-.
Member of the Board of Advisors of the series Bibliotheca Iranica:
Intellectual Traditions Series, Mazda Publishers, 1999-.
Member of Advisory Council of the Department of Near Eastern Studies,
Princeton University, 1999-.
Chair of the Board, Ilex Foundation, 1999-.
1. "Rostam: the Persian Achilles" at College of the Holy
Cross, May 1982.
2. "Ferdowsi's Shâhnâma: the poet on his poetry"
at Harvard University, November 1982.
3. "Ferdowsi's Version of the literary genesis of the Book of
Kings" at the 17th Annual Middle Eastern Studies Association Conference,
Chicago, November 1983.
4. "Rostam and Sistân: An outsider or an insider in the
Iranian Book of Kings Tradition?" at the 18th Annual Middle Eastern
Studies Association Conference, San Francisco, December 1984.
5. "Aspects of Dioscurism in the Iranian Epic Tradition"
at Recent Works in Islamic Literature Conference, Philadelphia, March
1985.
6. "Formulaic Analysis of Samples taken from the Shâhnâma
of Ferdowsi," 19th Annual Middle Eastern Studies Association Conference,
New Orleans, November 1985.
7. "Context and Evocation in the Mucallaqa of Imr'alqays,"
196th Meeting of the American Oriental Society, New Haven, March 1986.
8. "Feasting and Fighting in an Indo-European Tradition,"
Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society, Baltimore, October
1986.
9. "Rostam, Esfandiyâr, and the Tradition of Haft Khwân,"
20th Annual Middle Eastern Studies Association Conference, Boston, November
1986.
10. "Traces of Parallelisms in Sogdian and Persian Narrative Traditions,"
197th Meeting of the American Oriental Society, Los Angeles, March 1987.
11. "The Concept of Premature and Immature Fatherhood in the Story
of Rostam and Sohrâb," 21st Annual Middle Eastern Studies
Association Conference, Baltimore, November 1987.
12. "Feasting and Fighting: Ultimate Occasions for Hero and Poet,"
at Yale University, January 1988.
13. "King and Hero in the Haft Khwân Traditions of Ferdowsi's
Shâhnâma," at Ohio State University, March 1988.
14. "Father-Son Dioscurism as a Model of Authority in the Shâhnâma,"
International "Eirene" Conference, Budapest, September 1989.
15. Chaired panel on literary methods as brought to bear on Arabic
literature, at 23rd Annual Middle Eastern Studies Association Conference,
Toronto, November 1989.
16. "Comparative Analysis of the Sohrâb and Rostam Narrative
Tradition," at Columbia University, February 1991; same paper given
at University of Pittsburgh, April 1991.
17. "Applications of Georges Dumézil's Comparative Studies:
The Persian Evidence," at Haverford College, October 1991.
18. "Persian Court Poetry" at Harvard University, Center
of Literary and Cultural Studies, October 1992.
19. "The Text Fixation of the Shâhnâma of Ferdowsi,"
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Faculty Seminar in History,
October 1992.
20. "Tensions between Genre and Historical Occasion in a Poem
by Rudaki," Society of Iranian Studies, Washington D.C., May 1993.
21. "Tensions between Genre and Historical Occasion in Classical
Persian Court Poetry," 27th Annual Middle Eastern Studies Association
Conference, Research Triangle Park, N.C., November, 1993.
22. "The Idea of "Book" and the Early History of the
Qur'ân" Brandeis Faculty Colloquium, November 17, 1994.
23. "Occasion and Genre in Persian Poetics," University of
Michigan, Department of Near Eastern Studies, January 1995.
24. "Memory as Evocation in Persian Poetry," Princeton University,
Department of Near Eastern Studies, March 10, 1995.
25. "Omar Khayyâm and Court Poetry," Center of Middle
Eastern Studies, Iranian Studies Seminar, May 1995.
26. "Women's Laments as Protest in the Iranian Traditions,"
Center of Middle Eastern Studies, Iranian Studies Seminar, October 1995.
27. "Conventions of Self-Praise in Iranian Epic: Esfandiyâr
and Rostam," jointly sponsored by two Departments of Near Eastern
Studies, University of North Carolina and Duke University, April 1996.
28. "Das Heldenepos als Rahmen für Sprechakte: Die rituellen
Ruhmreden im Schahnameh des Ferdowsi," paper delivered at the
conference: Sechstes Freiburger SFB-Kolloquium des Projektes A 5, "Neue
Methoden der Epenforschung," University of Freiburg, 28 June 1996.
29. "The Alexander Narrative in Ferdowsi," jointly sponsored
by the Departments of Near Eastern Studies and Classics, UCLA, March
13, 1997.
30. "Omar Khayyâm: the Man and the Myth," Middle
Eastern Literary Seminar, University of Pennsylvania, April 4, 1997.
31. "Conventions of Ritual Boasting in the Iranian Epic Tradition,"
Iranian Studies Seminar, Columbia University, May 7, 1997.
32. "Azâdâri-ye zanân be envâne ecterâd
dar Shâhnâme-ye Ferdowsi," [= "Women's
Lament in the Shâhnâma of Ferdowsi"], public lecture
at the Nashr-e Tarikh-e Iran, University of Tehran, Feb. 28, 1998.
33. "Sarâyandeh dar Shâhnâme-ye Ferdowsi"
= ["The Singer in the Shâhnâma"] International
Congress on Ferdowsi, held at Columbia University, June 26-27, 1998.
34. "The Poetic Heritage of Farr in the Shâhnâma,"
The Shâhnâma and the Continuity of the Iranian Tradition,
held at Harvard University, March 25-26th, 1999.
35. "Omar Khayyam: Genre and Occasion": for a panel at
the Colloquium "Literature and Rulership in Medieval Islam,"
organized by the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
(NELC) and the Center of Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) at Yale University,
as announced in the Bulletin of the Middle East Medievalists, on the
theme of Literature and Rulership in Medieval Islam, held on April 23
1999. Organizers of the panel: Louise Marlow of Wellesley and Beatrice
Gründler of Yale; the papers will be published in the proceedings
of this Yale Congress.
36. "La 'publication' des textes arabes sous forme
de lectures publiques dans les mosquées," at the new Bibliothèque
Nationale in Paris, in conjunction with the Centre National de Recherche
Scientifique. The occasion was a "table ronde" session of
an International Congress, held June 23-25 1999, celebrating the opening
of the new Library's research rooms.
37. "Une 'publication' non-canonique dans le monde
Perse classique: un poème de Rudaki" at the International
Colloquium celebrating the opening of the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina
in Egypt, November 28-30, 1999.
38. "Shicite Resonance and the Continuity of Ferdowsi's Shâhnâma,
"International Conference on Ferdowsi at the Center for the Great
Encyclopedia of Islam, Teheran.
39. "The Prose Preface of the Shahnameh: Narrative Strategies
for Framing Historical Contexts," Iranian Historiography Lecture
Series, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University.
40. "Imagined biographies and autobiographies : Ferdowsi and
Bahâr in exile"
at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique,
Sorbonne Nouvelle (Universite de Paris III),Institut National des Langues
et Civilisations Orientales, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, April
20-21.
41. "The Shâhnâma and the Caliph," Papers in
honor of Jerome C. Clinton, Princeton University, April 26 2002.
42. "The Lives of Homer and the Lives of Ferdowsi Compared,"
The Fifth Biennial Conference on Orality and Literacy in Ancient Greece,
"Oral Performance and Its Context," University of Melbourne,
July 1-5, 2002.
43. "From Mirrors for Princes to Humor for the Pulpit,"East
Studies Association (MESA) Annual Meeting 2002.
44. "The Dream as a Narrative Device in the Shâhnâma"the
Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Annual Meeting 2003.
45. "Life in the Beginnings" 2004 International Society for
Iranian Studies (ISIS) Fifth Biennial Meeting, on May 28-30.
46. "Models of Gift-Exchange and Practices of Hostage-Giving and
Hostage-Taking in Ghaznavid Texts," Middle East Studies Association
(MESA) Annual Meeting, 2004.
47. The Burden of the Buried: Alexander and the Dead in Persian Literature,
Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Annual Meeting, 2005.
Books
Poet and Hero in the Persian Book of Kings (Cornell University
Press: Ithaca, 1994).
Comparative Literature and Classical Persian Poetry, Bibliotheca
Iranica: Intellectual Traditions Series (Mazda Press: Los Angeles, CA,
2000).
Shâcer-o Pahlavân dar Shâhnâma (Tehran,
2000); Persian translation of Poet and Hero in the Persian Book
of Kings (Cornell University Press 1994).
Adabiyât-e tatbiqi-yo shâcer-e kelâsiki-ye fârsi(Tehran,
2002); Persian translation of Comparative Literature and Classical
Persian Poetry, Bibliotheca Iranica: Intellectual Traditions Series
(Mazda Press: Los Angeles, CA, 2000).
Articles
"Dolon and Rhesus in the Iliad," Quaderni
Urbinati di Cultura Classica 30 (1979) 61-66.
"Indo-European Dimensions of Herakles in Iliad 19.95-133,"
Arethusa 13 (1980) 197-202.
"The Crown-Bestower and the Iranian Book of Kings," Acta
Iranica 10: Papers in Honour of Professor Mary Boyce (1985) 61-148.
"Aspects of Dioscurism in the Iranian Epic Tradition,"
Edebiyât N.S.1 (1987) 103-115.
"Formulaic Analysis of Samples taken from the Shâhnâma
of Ferdowsi," Oral Tradition 3 (1988) 88-105.
"The Haft Khwân Tradition as an Intertextual Phenomenon
in Ferdowsi's Shâhnâma." In Honor
of Richard N. Frye: Aspects of Iranian Culture (ed. C. A. Bromberg,
Bernard Goldman, P.O. Skjærvø, A. S. Shahbazi), Bulletin
of the Asia Institute 4 (1990) 209-215.
"Women's Lament as Protest in the Persian Book of Kings,"
Women in the Medieval Islamic World (Gavin R. G. Hambly, ed.),
volume 6 in the series The New Middle Ages (Bonnie Wheeler,
series ed.; St. Martin's Press, New York, 1998) 131-146.
"The Text of Ferdowsi's Shâhnâma and
the Burden of the Past." Journal of the American Oriental
Society 118 (1998) 63-68.
"Epic as a Frame for Speech-Acts: Ritual Boasting in the Shâhnâma
of Ferdowsi," a chapter in a book edited by Hildegard L.C. Tristram,
Neue Methoden der Epenforschung, vol. 59 of ScriptOralia
(1998) 271-285.
"La 'publication' des textes arabes sous forme de
lectures publiques dans les mosquées." Des Alexandries
I: Du livre au texte (eds. L. Giard and Ch. Jacob; Paris 2001)
401-410.
"Some Iranian poetic tropes as reflected in the "Life of
Ferdowsi" traditions."Philologica et Linguistica. Historia,Pluralitas,Universitas.
Festschrift für Helmut Humbach zum 80 Geburstag (Maria Gabriela
Schmidt and Walter Bisang, eds.) WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier.
"Azâdâri-ye zanân be envâne ecterâd
dar Shâhnâme-ye Ferdowsi," Bukhara (2001)
Vol. 3, lead article.
"To Rebuild Afghanistan, Look Next Door," op-ed for The
New York Times, co-authored with Amir Shirazi, February 28, 2002,
printed also as "Bush should look next door to Iran," International
Herald Tribune, March 2-3, 2002.
"Une "publication" non canonique dans le monde perse:
un poème de Rudaki," Des Alexandries II (eds.
L. Giard and Ch. Jacob; Paris 2003), forthcoming.
"Haft Khwân," Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol
XI (Ehsan Yarshater, ed.), Bibliotheca Persica Press, New York, 2002.
"Myth and Sacred Narratives in Iran" Religions of the
Ancient World: A Guide (Sarah Iles Johnston, general ed.), Harvard
University Press, 2004.
"Persian/Iranian Epic," A Companion to Ancient Epic,"
(John Miles Foley, ed.), Blackwell Publishers 2005.
"Popular Literature," Medieval Islamic Civilization:
an Encyclopedia (Josef W. Meri, Editor) forthcoming 2006
"Folk Literature: Persian," Medieval Islamic Civilization:
an Encyclopedia (Josef W. Meri, Editor) forthcoming 2006.
Review of Samore, Gary ed. Iran's strategic weapons program: a
net assessment, International Affairs, vol 82, pp.400-1.
"The dream as a narrative device in the Shâhnâma,"
Dreaming Across Boundaries:The Interpretation of Dreams in Islamic
Land (Mohsen Ashtiany, Editor) forthcoming 2006.
Back to top
|
