Iranian and Parsi Zoroastrians: Survival in the Old Countries, Challenges in the New World
FEZANA Invites you to
The 2026 Khorshed Jungalwala Memorial Lecture
Delivered by
Dr. Rashna Writer
Topic
Iranian and Parsi Zoroastrians:
Survival in the Old Countries, Challenges in the New World
Saturday, September 26th, 2026
10am PT, 12noon CT, 1pm ET
This lecture is organized under the aegis of the FEZANA Religion Education Commitee
Abstract
Zoroastrian identity was defined early, as foreign accounts of Iranians in Lydia and Cappadocia show. Over the past thousand years, both the Iranian Zoroastrians and the Parsis of India held firmly to doctrine and tradition. The Parsis stayed distinct amid India’s multitudes, and the Iranians endured centuries of persecution. Now, in the community’s second major diaspora, the two groups are meeting again in the West, revealing how differently each developed. Redefining modern Zoroastrian identity means coming to terms with that past. Western Zoroastrianism will not copy the Old Countries but form its own character, with far-reaching consequences.
About Dr. Rashna Writer
Dr. Rashna Writer is a political scientist with a doctorate in International Relations from the London School of Economics.
She began her career at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London. She later became Head of Global Risks at a leading UK consultancy, advising Lloyd’s of London syndicates on political, war, and terrorism risks. From 2008 to 2019 she was Senior Teaching Fellow at SOAS, University of London, teaching Zoroastrianism in the ancient and modern worlds. Her books include Contemporary Zoroastrians: An Unstructured Nation (1994) and The Reshaping of Iran from Zoroastrian to Muslim (2013). Her audiobook, The Story of the Zoroastrians (2021), is available at www.rashnawriter.com.
About the Khorshed Jungalwala Memorial Lecture
FEZANA established this lecture series to honor Khorshed Jungalwala’s work and dedication to the organization. Each lecture invites a recognized scholar to present at a seminar or conference hosted by a FEZANA Member Association. Scholars may be Zarathushti or non-Zarathushti and may come from anywhere in the world. FEZANA’s Religion Education Committee administers the series. Past lecturers include Prof. Kaikhosrov Irani, Prof. Almut Hintze, Prof. Prods Oktor Skjærvø, Prof. Jennifer Rose, Dr. Rastin Mehri, Prof. Jamsheed Choksy, Prof. Yuhan Vevaina, and Dr. Dan Sheffield.
About Khorshed Jungalwala
Born in Surat and raised in Poona, Khorshed F. Jungalwala studied law and political science and worked at the Bombay firm
Mulla and Mulla. She was a Licentiate of Trinity College of Music, London, in piano and voice. After marrying Dr. Firoze B. Jungalwala in 1968, she moved with him to the U.S. in 1971. In 1983 the couple co-founded the Zoroastrian Association of the Greater Boston Area. Khorshed organized the Gatha Conference in Houston and the International Avesta Conference in Boston, and she chaired FEZANA’s Publication Committee. She also led the revision of the WZO charter to make it a truly global body.
