Heer Across the AGes

In this powerful evening, Ayesha Nadir Ali will trace the mythic evolution of Heer, one of South Asia’s most enduring archetypes of the feminine. Through traditional and folk compositions, Ali will take us on a journey in which Heer’s story moves from early folkloric narrations in Hindu/Persian literature to timely social commentary. The performance will include selections from Damodar’s classic text and Waris Shah’s epic verse, as well as compositions by avant-garde Punjabi poet Najm Hosain Syed, to reveal the shifting spiritual, cultural, and poetic dimensions of Heer, set to ragas and melodies shaped by centuries of oral tradition.
 
Following the performance, Ali and Monica Mody will be in conversation to discuss how, in a world that is captured by violence and conflict, the mythic terrain we share with those separated from us through borders—physical or otherwise—could offer new pathways of remembering and peace. 
 
Friday, August 1, 6:45pm-8:45pm
Barrett Center, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 801 Ladera Ln, Santa Barbara, CA 93108

Free and open to the public. Tickets: https://extension.pacifica.edu/heer-across-the-ages/

Ayesha Nadir Ali is a researcher, classical vocalist, and scholar of South Asian music. She has co-authored and edited two books on the families of Ragas with Ustad Parvez Paras, one of Pakistan’s most senior classical musicians. Her first book, Todi ki Riwayat (2019), explores the Todi family of raags, while her second, Kanra ki Riwayat (2024), examines the Kanra family of raags. Her research reflects a deep commitment to preserving and documenting classical music traditions. As a vocalist, Ayesha’s repertoire spans classical, semi-classical, and folk traditions. She initially trained in dhrupad under the late Ustad Hafeez Khan of the Talwandi gharana, one of Punjab’s oldest dhrupad lineages, and is currently studying khayal gaeki under Ustad Parvez Paras. A passionate exponent of folk and Sufi poetry from South Asia, she has extensively studied, written about, and performed these traditions. Her recorded works feature prominently in collections of classical and folk music from Punjab. Beyond her musical career, Ayesha is also a mathematician. She studied at Rutgers University and the University of Maine, later serving as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), and has been teaching at the Lahore School of Economics for over fifteen years.

Dr. Monica Mody is Assistant Professor and Chair of the Mythological Studies MA/PhD Program at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her areas of specialization include decolonial, indigenous, and women of color paradigms and epistemologies; Anzaldúan frameworks; earth-sourced and feminist spirituality and ritual; poetry, divination, oracular speech, and arts-based research; and nondual embodiment, in conversation with ancestral lineages from South Asia. Her books include Wild Fin (Weavers Press, 2024), Bright Parallel (Copper Coin, 2023), and Kala Pani (1913 Press, 2013). Other creative and academic work have been widely published and presented in journals and edited books, at international and US-based conferences, and through invited talks. Her doctoral dissertation, on decolonial feminist consciousness in South Asian borderlands, was awarded the Kore Award for Best Dissertation in Women and Mythology conferred by the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology. She has further been a recipient of Cultural Integration Fellowship’s Integral Scholarship, the Sparks Prize Fellowship (Notre Dame), the Zora Neale Hurston Award (Naropa), and a TOTO Funds the Arts award. Dr. Mody is affiliated with the Doctoral Program in Visionary Practice and Regenerative Leadership at Southwestern College Santa Fe and with the Women’s Spirituality Program at California Institute of Integral Studies, and offers public classes at Morbid Anatomy. 

Presented by Pacifica's Mythological Studies Program
Co-presented with Pacifica Extension and the Office of People, Culture, and Belonging