Presented By: Global Islamic Studies Center
GISC Event. Senses of Mourning: Moharram Performances in Shiʿi Iran from the Qajar to the Covid Era
Dr. Babak Rahimi, University of California, San Diego
Thursday, April 9, 2026, 5:00 PM
Location: 110 Weiser Hall (1st floor), 500 Church St, Ann Arbor, MI
RSVP: http://myumi.ch/79WRE
Join the University of Michigan Global Islamic Studies Center (GISC) on Thursday, April 9, 2026, in 110 Weiser Hall at 5:00 PM for a talk by Dr. Babak Rahimi (University of California, San Diego) on his new book Senses of Mourning: Moharram Performances in Shiʿi Iran from the Qajar to the Covid Era (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2026).
Through a tactile, affective, and sensory lens, this talk examines how devotional Moharram performances in Shiʿi Iran have changed over time. Dr. Rahimi analyzes Moharram in Iran through the five senses—sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste—highlighting how religious practices function as evolving embodied experiences. Senses of Mourning illuminates the changing embodied dimensions of religious practice and situates Moharram rituals within the broader sociopolitical and global transformations of Shiʿi Iran–an especially important site of study in the current time of conflict.
Meet the speaker:
Dr. Babak Rahimi is Professor of Culture, Religion, and Technology at the University of California, San Diego. He is also Director of the Program for the Study of Religion and Director of the Middle East Studies Program. Rahimi’s first monograph, Theater-State and the Formation of the Early Modern Public Sphere in Iran: Studies on Safavid Muharram Rituals, 1590–1641 C.E. (Brill, 2011), offers a historical-sociological exploration of the interplay between public rituals, state power, and social dynamics in the Safavid era.
His latest book, Senses of Mourning: Moharram Performances in Shi‘i Iran from the Qajar to the Covid Era (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2026), examines the role of sensory religion in Iranian historical contexts. Rahimi is also the editor of Theatre in the Middle East: Between Performance and Politics (Anthem Press, 2020) and Performing Iran: Culture, Performance, Theatre (I.B. Tauris, 2021). In addition, he co-edited Social Media in Iran (with David Faris, SUNY Press, 2015), The Wiley Blackwell History of Islam (with Armando Salvatore and Roberto Tottoli, Wiley Blackwell, 2018), and Muslim Pilgrimage in the Modern World (with Peyman Eshaghi, University of North Carolina Press, 2019).
His research focuses on the intersections of culture, religion, and technology, with particular attention to the historical and social contexts of early modern Islamicate societies and the Global South.
The University of Pennsylvania Press is offering a 30% press discount on Dr. Rahimi's book to our audience members and friends with the code PENN-RAHIMI30. Visit: https://www.pennpress.org/9781512828344/senses-of-mourning/ to purchase.
This event is brought to you by the University of Michigan Global Islamic Studies Center as part of our ongoing "Qahwah & Authors" series.
For more events from the Global Islamic Studies Center at the University of Michigan, please visit ii.umich.edu/islamicstudies.
*Accommodation: If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
Email: -- islamicstudies@umich.edu
Location: 110 Weiser Hall (1st floor), 500 Church St, Ann Arbor, MI
RSVP: http://myumi.ch/79WRE
Join the University of Michigan Global Islamic Studies Center (GISC) on Thursday, April 9, 2026, in 110 Weiser Hall at 5:00 PM for a talk by Dr. Babak Rahimi (University of California, San Diego) on his new book Senses of Mourning: Moharram Performances in Shiʿi Iran from the Qajar to the Covid Era (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2026).
Through a tactile, affective, and sensory lens, this talk examines how devotional Moharram performances in Shiʿi Iran have changed over time. Dr. Rahimi analyzes Moharram in Iran through the five senses—sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste—highlighting how religious practices function as evolving embodied experiences. Senses of Mourning illuminates the changing embodied dimensions of religious practice and situates Moharram rituals within the broader sociopolitical and global transformations of Shiʿi Iran–an especially important site of study in the current time of conflict.
Meet the speaker:
Dr. Babak Rahimi is Professor of Culture, Religion, and Technology at the University of California, San Diego. He is also Director of the Program for the Study of Religion and Director of the Middle East Studies Program. Rahimi’s first monograph, Theater-State and the Formation of the Early Modern Public Sphere in Iran: Studies on Safavid Muharram Rituals, 1590–1641 C.E. (Brill, 2011), offers a historical-sociological exploration of the interplay between public rituals, state power, and social dynamics in the Safavid era.
His latest book, Senses of Mourning: Moharram Performances in Shi‘i Iran from the Qajar to the Covid Era (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2026), examines the role of sensory religion in Iranian historical contexts. Rahimi is also the editor of Theatre in the Middle East: Between Performance and Politics (Anthem Press, 2020) and Performing Iran: Culture, Performance, Theatre (I.B. Tauris, 2021). In addition, he co-edited Social Media in Iran (with David Faris, SUNY Press, 2015), The Wiley Blackwell History of Islam (with Armando Salvatore and Roberto Tottoli, Wiley Blackwell, 2018), and Muslim Pilgrimage in the Modern World (with Peyman Eshaghi, University of North Carolina Press, 2019).
His research focuses on the intersections of culture, religion, and technology, with particular attention to the historical and social contexts of early modern Islamicate societies and the Global South.
The University of Pennsylvania Press is offering a 30% press discount on Dr. Rahimi's book to our audience members and friends with the code PENN-RAHIMI30. Visit: https://www.pennpress.org/9781512828344/senses-of-mourning/ to purchase.
This event is brought to you by the University of Michigan Global Islamic Studies Center as part of our ongoing "Qahwah & Authors" series.
For more events from the Global Islamic Studies Center at the University of Michigan, please visit ii.umich.edu/islamicstudies.
*Accommodation: If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
Email: -- islamicstudies@umich.edu
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