Omid Tofighian

Omid Tofighian
Born
Tehran
EducationPhD
Alma materLeiden University
Era21st century Philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
InstitutionsUniversity of Sydney
ThesisMyth and philosophy on stage in Platonic dialogues (2010)
Doctoral advisorFrans de Haas

Omid Tofighian (Persian: امید توفیقیان) is an Iranian-Australian philosopher and Honorary Research Associate at the University of Sydney. He is known for his research on ancient Greek philosophy and his translation of the award-winning book by Kurdish-Iranian asylum seeker Behrouz Boochani, No Friend But the Mountains from Persian into English.

Education and career

Tofighian graduated with a combined honours degree in philosophy and religious studies at the University of Sydney, and earned his PhD at the Leiden University in the Netherlands. He has worked as a university teacher at the Abu Dhabi University, in the UAE, was a visiting scholar at K.U. Leuven in Belgium[1] and later became an assistant professor in philosophy at the American University in Cairo.

As of 2021 Tofighian works as a Honorary Research Associate for the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sydney. He is also a faculty member of Iran Academia as well as campaign manager for the "Why Is My Curriculum White? - Australasia" campaign.[1][2] As an activist, he advocates for asylum seekers and refugees in Australia.[1]

He has published works on Greek philosophy and mythology,[3] adopting an interdisciplinary approach.[4]

Tofighian's translated asylum seeker Behrouz Boochani's No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison, which was sent to him one WhatsApp message at a time, from Persian to English, leading to its publication in 2018.[5][6][7][8] Writing about the process of working with Boochani on the translation (which took five years[9]), Tofighian wrote:[10]

Behrouz and I had a mutual understanding; in fact, the translation team embodied a kind of collective intention or shared agency. Our literary and philosophical interpretations evolved throughout the process.

Awards and recognition

He and colleagues were awarded the “Living Together Safely” grant by the federal Attorney-General's Department Grant from 2015 to 2016. In 2016 he was awarded the Dean's "Commendation for Excellence in First Year Teaching for Writing: Style and Method (WRIT1000)" at Sydney University, in the same year being nominated for the university's Faculty Overall Teaching Award.[1]

Tofighian's translation of Boochani's No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison won Australia's richest literary prize, the Victorian Prize for Literature, as well as the Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction, awarded by the Wheeler Centre, on 31 January 2019.[11][12] The book later won further awards, including a special award at the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards,[13]

Publications

Author

  • Macpherson, R., Tofighian, O. "Preparing and Developing School Leaders in the Middle East: Mediating Westernization with Indigenous and Evidence-based Practice and Theory of Educative Leadership". In Jacky Lumby, Gary Crow and Petros Pashiardis (Eds.), International Handbook on the Preparation and Development of School Leaders, (pp. 383–409). New York: Routledge. (2008)
  • "Contemporary Liminal Encounters: Moving Beyond Traditional Plots in Majidi's Baran". In Asghar Seyed-Gohrab and Kamran Talattof (Eds.), Conflict and Development in Iranian Film, (pp. 103–116). Leiden: Leiden University Press. (2013)
  • Myth and Philosophy in Platonic Dialogues. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. 2016. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-58044-3. ISBN 978-1-137-58043-6.

Translator

  • Boochani, Behrouz (October 2018). No friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison. Translated by Tofighian, Omid. Picador Australia. ISBN 9781760555382.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Staff Profile". The University of Sydney. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  2. ^ Tofighian, Omid (5 October 2015). "To tackle extremism in schools we must challenge the 'white curriculum'". The Conversation. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  3. ^ Tofighian, Omid (2016). "Mutual Scaffolding: Unifying Myth and Philosophy". Myth and Philosophy in Platonic Dialogues. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 33–52. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-58044-3_2. ISBN 978-1-137-58043-6.
  4. ^ Tofighian, Omid (2016). "Where Does Myth Belong?". Myth and Philosophy in Platonic Dialogues. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 205–218. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-58044-3_8. ISBN 978-1-137-58043-6.
  5. ^ "Poetry and memoir win at Victorian Premier's Literary Awards". The University of Sydney. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  6. ^ Boochani, Behrouz; Tofighian, Omid (2018). "The Last Days in Manus Prison". Meanjin Quarterly (Summer 2018). Archived from the original on 9 March 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Omid Tofighian". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Omid Tofighian". Pan Macmillan Australia. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  9. ^ Tofighian, Omid (31 July 2018). "Writing from Manus prison: a scathing critique of domination and oppression". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  10. ^ Tofighian, Omid (15 August 2018). "Truth to power: my time translating Behrouz Boochani's masterpiece". The Conversation. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  11. ^ Ponniah, Kevin (31 January 2019). "Behrouz Boochani: Refugee who wrote book using WhatsApp wins top prize". BBC News. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2019". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  13. ^ Jefferson, Dee (29 April 2019). "History of Aboriginal archaeology wins Book of the Year at NSW Premier's Literary Awards". ABC Arts. Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. Retrieved 6 May 2019.

Further reading