About the course:

Rumi and Hafez are the most celebrated poets of Medieval Iran’s mystical tradition. This course is designed for intermediate and advanced students of Persian as well as readers who are interested in discovering Rumi’s and Hafez’s mystical poetry in English translation.

Each session will be devoted to in-depth comparative analyses of ghazals by both authors, with a strong emphasis on both the grammatical and stylistic specificities of their poetry and the socio-political, philosophical, and spiritual context of 13th-century Anatolia and 14th-century Shiraz.

We will also compare the Persian critical editions of the original texts with both medieval manuscripts and authoritative English translations.

About the instructor:

Domenico Ingenito is Associate Professor of Iranian Studies and premodern Persian Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles, Bahari Fellow in the Persian Arts of the Book (Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford), core faculty member of the Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World, and former director of the UCLA Program on Central Asia (2016-2021). His research interests center on ancient and medieval Iran, Persian poetry, visual culture of Iran and Central Asia, gender and translations studies, and premodern manuscript culture. His most recent articles are: “Hafez’s ‘Shirāzi Turk’: A Geopoetical Approach (Iranian Studies)” and “‘A Marvelous Painting’: The Erotic Dimension of Saʿdi’s Praise Poetry” (Journal of Persianate Studies). His most recent book is Beholding Beauty: Saʿdi of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetry (Brill, 2020, reviews appeared in Iranian Studies, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Middle Eastern Literatures, Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies). His Italian translation of Forugh Farrokhzad’s collected poems, along with all original texts, will be published in 2023 by Bompiani. He is currently working on an English translation of a selection of Saʿdi’s poems (University of California Press) and a monograph on ancient Iranian kingship, poetic creativity, and homoeroticism in the context of late antique epic cycles and court poetry. Professor Ingenito co-leads the UCLA Afghan Scholars at Risk program, which aims to bring to campus scholars and writers who face repression in Afghanistan.

Course Details

Schedule: Mondays, 22 June - 7 September, 2026

Time: 9:00–10:00 AM (US Pacific), 12:00–1:00 PM (US Eastern), 6:00–7:00 PM (Central European)

Format: 12 online sessions

Tuition: $300 (payable in installments)

Class days and times may be adjusted in accordance with the request of enrollees.

Registered participants will receive full access to recorded session videos and all course materials.

Registration link: https://forms.gle/LLmHevpx1mvyjXhG6