UBC History is pleased to welcome Visiting Professors Dr. Asma Qadri and Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Farid.
Sayyid Muhammad Farid earned his Ph.D. in Persian Language & Literature from the University of Tehran, Iran in 2001. He is Professor in the Department of Persian Language & Literature and the Director for the Centre for Iqbal Studies at the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. He has been a visiting scholar at UBC since February 2023. In 2010, Dr. Farid published a book based on the manuscript of a Persian poet from the Mughal era in Iran. To date, he has published 42 research papers, 13 of which were published from Tehran, Iran. Many of these papers are about the histories of the Mughal Era. He has lectured at various international conferences in Kazakhstan, India, Iran, and Pakistan.
While at UBC, Dr. Farid is collaborating with Dr. Anne Murphy (UBC History) to pursue scholarly publications in 2024. He hopes to bring his research on the influence of Persian histories in the era of Ranjit Singh to Sikh communities in Canada and in other countries.
Asma Qadri is a Professor in the Institute of Punjabi and Cultural Studies at the University of Punjab, Lahore, where she teaches classical Punjabi literature. She has published widely on Punjabi literature, and has produced 25 books and 40 research articles on folklore, classical Punjabi Sufi poetry, Punjabi devotional poetry, and Sikh literature. Most recently, she has published extensively on the work of Punjabi poet, critic, and playwright Najm Hosain Syed (b. 1936). She has travelled widely since 2013, most recently visiting Canada, the U.S., Australia, and the UK, and has presented papers at national and international conferences.
Dr. Qadri hopes to engage with Punjabi-speaking audiences on the shared cultural traditions of the Indian and Pakistani Punjabs, and to bring together the Punjabi Diaspora of both Punjabs to understand their common culture. While at UBC, she will be working with Dr. Anne Murphy to translate the work of Punjabi poet and writer Najm Hosain Syed into English.
