Event

The Middle East Film Festival has been CANCELLED due to the circumstances surrounding COVID-19. It is important to the Middle East Center that we respect and prioritize the health and safety of our community.

See here for Penn's COVID-19 response guidelines.

In this talk we will put the narratives of the Mongol Campaigns in the West and the establishment of the Ilkhanate under scrutiny, with a focus on the career of the thirteenth century mathematician, Nasir al-Din Tusi. By re-examining the role of Tusi in high scholarly circles and their relationship to high administration of the Mongol campaign and the early Ilkhanate, we aim to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the establishment of the Maragheh observatory complex.