Professor Christine VAN RUYMBEKE
- Ali Reza and Mohamed Soudavar Professor of Persian Studies
Contact
About
Christine van Ruymbeke is the Ali Reza and Mohamed Soudavar Professor of Persian Studies. She has obtained her PhD at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (1997) and joined Cambridge in 2001 after having taught several years at her Alma Mater.
Research
Research interests
- Classical and pre-modern Persian Literature
- Kalila and Dimna
- Ferdowsi
- Nezami Ganjavi
- Anvar-e Sohayli and the Herat literary style
Christine works on Classical (Medieval and Pre-Modern) Literature written in Persian with a preference for narrative, non-mystical prose and poetry. She has a special interest in the poetry of the twlefth-century Nezami of Ganja and is currently working on a critical literary analysis of his Haft Paykar (the Seven Images). She has also published extensively on the Persian versions of Kalila and Demna, and especially on the Timurid rewriting, the Anvar-e Sohayli, the subject of a 2016 monograph.
Forthcoming publication:
"An Emperor accused of Sexual Transgression? What is really happening between Bahram Gur and his musician slave girl?", in A. Seyed-Gohrab (ed.), in Embodied Encounters: Ethics of Gender and Sexuality in Persian Literary and Religious Traditions, Leiden University Publications, Leiden, 2026 (forthcoming).
Teaching and supervision
Professor van Ruymbeke teaches Intermediate (MES15) and Advanced (MES35) Persian Literature at Undergraduate Level. She emphasises reading the original Persian texts and their analysis and interpretation with a special attention to showing their continued relevance in our 21st century lives and thoughts.
*Prof van Ruymbeke will be on sabbatical in 2025/6 and 2026/7. She will therefore be unable to accept any postgraduate students for supervision from MT2025 - ET2027.*
Prof van Ruymbeke welcomes approaches from potential graduate students with research interests relevant to hers. She requests that prospective students email her to discuss their proposed projects before sending in their applications.