Pegah Shahbaz: Tracing Zoroaster in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Philosophy of Transcendentalism

Join host, Yasamin Jameh, on how Persian literature and Zoroastrianism influenced the preeminent 19th century American poet and philospher, Ralph Waldo Emerson.  
The 40th episode of Parse is an excerpt of a presentation given by Dr. Pegah Shahbaz on how Persian literature and Zoroastrianism influenced Ralph Waldo Emerson’s philosophy of Transcendentalism, a highly popular movement in early 19th century United States. Transcendentalism believed in the inherent goodness of people and nature. It held that while society and its institutions have corrupted the purity of the individual, people are at their best when truly self-reliant and independent. This lecture as part of THE Zoroastrian Studies Symposium in honour of Ervard Dr. Jehan Bagli which took place at U of T on September 9th 2023. 
Shahbaz is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Her area of interest is the systems of knowledge transmission in the Persianate World. She completed her Ph.D. in Persianate Studies at the University of Strasbourg with a specialization in Persian prose narratives in India. 
Pegah Shahbaz’s ongoing research project is focused on the study of fourteenth-century historiographies of the Buddha in the Persian language. 
To watch the full talk, click here: ⁠https://youtu.be/y0KCYcYhx4U?si=aIdZ6D11I04GY6Vm&t=1760⁠