Dissertation Award

The best Ph.D. dissertation on a theme of Iranian Studies is chosen based on several criteria, including imagination, novelty of approach, clarity in stating the problematic, methodological rigor, efficient and intelligent use of primary source material, quality of field work, among others.

The award for 2008 was conferred on Shahrokh Razmjou on November 12, 2008 with the following announcement.

November 12, 2008

The Foundation for Iranian Studies is pleased to announce that the Committee on Selection of the Best Dissertation of the Year on a Topic of Iranian Studies of the Foundation for Iranian Studies has chosen Shahrokh Razmjou’s dissertation "Ritual Practices at Persepolis," submitted to the Faculty of Archeology, the Birkbeck College, University of London, as the recipient of the Foundation's annual Ph.D. dissertation award for the academic year 2007-2008.

In making its decision, the Committee, following the criteria established by the Foundation’s Board of Directors, noted that Dr. Razmjou has made an "exceptional contribution to the field of Iranian Studies" by, among other achievements, "stating clearly the study’s problematic and theoretical framework ... using successfully a rigorous methodology to bring together a significant array of primary and secondary sources, including architectural structures, sculptures, iconography, archeological evidence, and an impressive number of discovered texts in several languages, especially Elamite, to identify new and significantly different and hitherto largely unknown or otherwise little understood religious functions performed at Persepolis ... adducing new and potentially path breaking evidence that strongly suggests Persepolis was primarily a religious site and that also brings new light to the understanding of the early and later Achaemenids in relation to Zoroastrianism and Mazdaism ... enriching the existing body of textual source and archeological evidence that has expanded scholarly knowledge of the Achaemenid Iran beyond the early classical writings ... opening a productive intellectual path to further the study of ancient Iranian and other civilizations by exemplifying new patterns of collecting, analyzing, and theorizing information obtained from varied archeological and historical sources."

The committee also cited Thomas Welsford's dissertation "Loyalty, Welfare and Selfhood in Early Modern Central Asia: The Tûqây-Tîmûrid Takeover of Greater Mâ Warâ al-Nahr, 1598-1605" submitted to the History Faculty of the University of Oxford, and Nasim Vahabi-Fatemi’s dissertation "Les écrits des enfants de la guerre: des pays-bas à l’Iran, en passant par la Bosnie et l’Irlande" submitted to the Department of French and Comparative Literature, University of Paris X-Nanterre, with honorable mention for high scholarship, originality, clarity, and significant contribution to the field of comparative Iranian studies.

Notice of the awards will appear in the Foundation’s interactive web, MESA and ISIS newsletters and journals, in Iran Nameh, and in various Persian language and other academic publications.

Gholam Reza Afkhami
Chair
Ph.D. Dissertation Awards Committee

To see a list of the recipients of the Foundation's award over the past years, Click here.