Jamsheed Choksy :: Faculty
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Professor, Central Eurasian Studies Education
PhD, Harvard University, 1991 |
Research Interests and Professional Activities
My research broadly covers the development of societies, especially sectarian communities, in Central Asia, the Near East, and South Asia studied through interdisciplinary approaches involving history, religious studies, anthropology, archeology, language, literature, and numismatics. I focus specifically on Iranian and Persian Studies, Zoroastrianism, Islam, and Manichaeism. I have conducted fieldwork in Iran, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka among other countries. I have served on fellowship evaluation and selection committees for the American Councils for International Education, Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute of Harvard University, Canada Council for the Arts, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Center for Arabic Study Abroad of Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University, IREX, and Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I have functioned as a nominator for the MacArthur Fellows Program, been consulted by UNESCO, United States Department of Education, and the National Geographic Society, and cited in print, broadcast, and television media reports on contemporary, historical, and religious questions.
Courses Recently Taught
- Prophets, Poets, and Kings: Iranian Civilization
- Introduction to the Ancient Near East
- Gender, Religion, and History: Images of Women in Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Zoroastrian Cultures
- Old Iranian Languages: Avestan, Old Persian
- Middle Iranian Languages: Pahlavi, Parthian, Manichean
- Advanced Persian: Classical Persian
Publication Highlights
Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 2007), Associate Editor.
"Iranians and Indians on the Shores of Serendib (Sri Lanka)," in Parsis in India and the Diaspora, ed. J. Hinnells and A. Williams (London: Routledge, 2007), pp. 183–212.
"Despite Shahs and Mollas: Minority Sociopolitics in Premodern and Modern Iran," Journal of Asian History 40, 2 (2006), pp. 129–184.
"The Enigmatic Origins of the Tokharians," in Atash-e Dorun—The Fire Within: Jamshid Soroush Soroushian Memorial Volumes, vol. 2, ed. C. G. Cereti and F. J. Vajifdar (Bloomington: 1st Books Library, 2003), pp. 107–119.
Evil, Good, and Gender: Facets of the Feminine in Zoroastrian Religious History (New York: Peter Lang Publishers, 2002).
Conflict and Cooperation: Zoroastrian Subalterns and Muslim Elites in Medieval Iranian Society (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997). New Persian (Farsi) translation as Setiz va Sazesh: Zartoshtiyan-e maqlub va mosalmanan-e qaleb dar jame-ye Iran-e nakhostin-i sadeha-ye Islami (Tehran: Qoqnus Publications, 2002).
"Dualism of the Feminine in Manichaeism: The Mother of Life and the Demoness of Concupiscence," Third International Congress Proceedings of the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute (Bombay: K. R. Cama Oriental Institute, 2001), pp. 301–308.
"Doctrinal Variation within Zoroastrianism: The Notion of Dualism," Second International Congress Proceedings of the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute (Bombay: K. R. Cama Oriental Institute, 1996), pp. 96–110.
"An Emissary from Akbar to ‘Abbas I: Inscriptions, Texts, and the Career of Amir Muhammad Ma‘sum al-Bhakkari," with M. Usman Hasan, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, third series, 1, 1 (1991), pp. 19–29.
Purity and Pollution in Zoroastrianism: Triumph over Evil (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989).
"A Sasanian Monarch, His Queen, Crown Prince, and Deities: The Coinage of Wahram II," American Journal of Numismatics, second series, 1 (1989), pp. 117–135.
"Loan and Sales Contracts in Ancient and Early Medieval Iran," Indo-Iranian Journal 31 (1988), pp. 191–218.
"Sacral Kingship in Sasanian Iran," Bulletin of the Asia Institute, new series, 2 (1988), pp. 35–52.
Selected Awards, Fellowships, and Honorary Memberships
- United States of America National Council on the Humanities (2008–2014), nominated by the President of the United States of America (January 2008) and confirmed by the US Senate (March 2008).
- American Philosophical Society Sabbatical Fellowship (2006–2007).
- American Academy of Religion Individual Research Grant (2005–2006).
- Cosmos Club, Washington, DC (elected Member 2003–).
- Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford (2001–2002).
- Explorers Club, New York City (elected Fellow 2000–).
- Government of India Research Fellowship Lecturer, Bombay, India (1998).
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1996–1997).
- American Academy of Religion Individual Research Grant (1995–1996).
- Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, Indiana University (1995–1996).
- Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, London (elected Fellow 1994–).
- National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, and Member of the School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (1993–1994).
- Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship, and Visiting Assistant Professorship, Department of History, Stanford University (1991–1993).
- Foundation for Iranian Studies Best Dissertation Award (1991–1992).
- Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows, Harvard University (1988–1991).
- American Council of Learned Societies and Social Science Research Council Travel Grant (1989).
- North American Zoroastrian Congress Scholar Excellence Award (1988).
- American Numismatic Society Fellowship (1987).
