SSPIZS Annual Report 2022-23 now available
The SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies' annual report for 2022-23 is now available.
The report covers all of the activities undertaken by the institute in the last academic year, including teaching, events and our Zoroastrian summer school.
Message from the co-chairs
As Co-Chairs of the Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies, we are pleased to share the end-of-year report for 2022-23 with you.
The highlight of the past year was the first lecture event in memory of Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry on Tuesday, 13 June 2023 in SOAS’s Khalili Lecture Theatre. Justice Rohinton Nariman delivered a fascinating lecture on ‘The Sassanian Empire: A Fire That Was Extinguished’, speaking freely and without notes. The lecture was followed by a reception in the Foyer of the Khalili Lecture Theatre. We were delighted to welcome our donor and patron, Shapoor Mistry, both at the lecture and at the meeting of the SPIZS Advisory Board on 12 June 2023. In the evening of 12 June, SOAS’s director Professor Adam Habib entertained Advisory Board members and other dignitaries, including Lord Karan Bilimoria, Ron Khalifa and Zerbanoo Gifford with a dinner at the National Liberal Club.
SSPIZS Co-Chair, Dr Sarah Stewart, decided to retire at the end of this academic year. She has been instrumental in setting up the Institute and we are sorry to see her going. The SSPIZS and the Department of History, Religions and Philosophies held a farewell party in her honour on 6 July 2023 to pay tribute to her as a valued colleague. Dr Mariano Errichiello, one of our former PhD students, has been appointed as the second Shapoorji Pallonji Lecturer. He started at SOAS on 1 September 2023.
Over the past academic year, the Institute has continued to flourish as a hub for teaching and research in Zoroastrianism. We have a vibrant and enthusiastic undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral community of about thirty students and young scholars. The Shapoorji Pallonji Institute provides a natural hub for them to meet and socialise with each other in person as well as through social media.
As you can see from the updates of the two talented recipients of scholarship awards, their progress through the Master’s and PhD programmes has benefited greatly by the generous funding from Mr Shapoor Mistry, the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe and the Kamran Djam scholarships, for which they are extremely grateful. This support makes a crucial difference to some of our most deserving students, who otherwise might not have had the opportunity to benefit from a SOAS education. Scholarships such as these enable us to attract the best global candidates who can thrive in the intellectually vigorous and inspiring environment offered by SOAS.
We were delighted to run our summer school again this year in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute in Rome and to teach such a lively and engaged group of students from all over the world.
Thank you once again on behalf of the Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies and the wider SOAS community for your continued support.
