Projects

Winner of an AAR Collaborative International Research Grant

This collaboration between the University of Konstanz and Imam Khomeini International University will look at medieval Christian and Islamic mysticism under the particular aspect of Sehnsucht – a German term for a kind of longing, one historically associated with both love and suffering. We will examine, first, the metaphysical “longing” in both traditions that emerges from medieval forms of Neo-Platonism, focusing specifically on the figures of Ibn Arabi in the Islamic tradition and Meister Eckhart in the Christian tradition. We will then move to an investigation of the more literary manifestations of longing, suffering, and love in the works of Jalal al-Din Rumi and Heinrich Seuse. The research side of the project aims at producing co-authored publications on the above topic and organizing a related international workshop. The teaching side aims at setting up a continuing exchange between Qazvin and Konstanz, in which the collaborators will co-teach seminars on related topics.

• Griffioen, Amber - Project leader
• Zahedi, Mohammad Sadegh - External project leader

• Department of Philosophy