Women and Local Pilgrimage in Iran: Insights from Letters to a Saint

Annual lecture series featuring Anne Betteridge,  director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Arizona.

Pilgrimage to local shrines has long been important to many women in Iran. This presentation outlines the pattern of visits to local shrines in the city of Shiraz, discusses the role of women in local pilgrimage, and explores what it is that women seek in visiting shrines. Insight into what women seek is drawn in part from letters sent to Shah Cheragh, an important local saint, in 1976. The presentation concludes with remarks about the place of shrines in contemporary Iran. 

Free and open to all ASU students, staff, faculty and the public. Organized and moderated by Souad T. Ali, founding chair, ASU Council for Arabic and Islamic Studies. Sponsored by the College of Liberal Ars and Sciences, the Council for Arabic and Islamic Studies and the School of International Letters and Cultures. 

Photo credit: By DAVID HOLT [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons