PERSIPHONY Newsletter of The Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park No. 2: Spring 2007
A Spring Song by Sa`di of Shiraz Trees are blossoming, nightingales drunk with joy the world is young again, friends gathered in merry-making. There as grass is trampled under the feet of joy and so many folks nobles and the rabble alike rise up to join in the dance behold my beloved of the assembly, always pulling at my heart, this day adorned in the loveliest of garbs! Then here, in the private recesses of my mind, grows a rosebush before whose stature the world’s tallest cypress falls prostrate and when you question that cypress, “but you bear no fruit!” he responds, “oh yes, free spirits often come empty-handed.” Part of Abbas Kiarostami’s Nowruz gift to CPS. For more visit: http://www.languages.umd.edu/persian -- click on play
A Message from the Dean It is a pleasure to write a few lines about the progress made by the Center for Persian Studies (CPS) at the University of Maryland. Under the dedicated leadership of Professor Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, the Center has engaged in a rich variety of activities ranging from the hard work of developing new courses and curricula to a large number of lectures and exhibits and other events. I am particularly heartened to hear that a number of students have made progress in what will become a minor and ultimately a major. Indeed, enrollments in PERS courses are very robust. As we develop program in Persian Studies at Maryland, it is, of course, crucial to secure financial support to supplement that provided by the University and the State. In this regard I have been pleased to acknowledge gifts such as the $100,000 endowment received from Dr. Jamshid Amouzegar in support of an undergraduate scholarship in Persian studies and $30,000 from Dr. Akbar Ghahary of the Persian Cultural Foundation to support a major international conference on the poet Rumi, as has Mr. Jamshid Ansari of Ahoora Foundation. Mr. Fred Farshay has made several contributions in support of the Center. We are working hard to make possible gifts to
the University Library in all areas of Persian Studies and support the Library’s efforts to find funding for necessary expenses such as cataloguing. Such contributions make exciting new cultural and academic events possible on our campus. In April I was delighted to attend the exhibit “Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography from Iran” that was hung in our Art Gallery from April 2 to the 29th. Likewise, the splendid series of lectures on the theme of “The Political Culture of Martyrdom in Iran and the Middle East”, delivered by Professor Ali Banuazizi, which attracted very significant audiences from all parts of the campus and the surrounding community, had been made possible by an endowment established in 2005 by the Persian Heritage Foundation (PHF) in the name of Professor Ehsan Yarshater, acknowledged dean of the Iranian Studies the world over and Editor-in-Chief of the monumental reference work, The Encyclopaedia Iranica. Finally, it is especially auspicious that the new Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of Maryland will be Professor Nariman Farvardin, currently Dean of the A. James Cark School of Engineering. Nariman is one of many members of the faculty, who, like many of our students in a variety of fields, come from a Persian background. James F. Harris, Dean College of Arts and Humanities
PERSIPHONY
No.2: Spring 2007
Newsletter of The Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park
A Message from Professor Mike Long, Director, SLLC
First Undergraduate Scholarship in Persian Studies We take special delight in announcing the establishment of the Ulrike and Jamshid Amouzegar Endowment for an annual undergraduate scholarship at the University of Maryland. Dr. Amouzegar, a prime minister of Iran in the 1970s, has established this crucial award with the express aim of fostering Persian Studies at the academic level, and we at the Center for Persian Studies (CPS) feel confident that his initiative will encourage other similar award endowments for meritorious undergraduates who may be interested in making Persian Studies a more central part of their curriculum and their career but who may face difficulties in doing so. As specified in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Dr. Amouzegar and Dr. Brodie Remington, UMD’s Vice-President for University Relations and President of the UMCP Foundation, the funds in the endowment “shall be used to provide scholarships for freshman and sophomore students who are seeking a double major, major or minor in Persian Studies at the University.” To be eligible, applicants must speak, comprehend, read and write the Persian language at an advanced level.” This would be inclusive of all variants of the language, such as Dari and Tajiki, as well as Persian, the standard language of modern Iran. We encourage all those who may know such candidates to nominate them for this unique award and to spread the word about this type of endowment. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Amouzegar for having directed his giving toward the University of Maryland and for the confidence he has shown in our Center. Through this scholarship Dr. Amouzegar’s record of service to his country and his well-known personal attachment to the Persian language and Iranian history will inspire those capable and dedicated young men and women who may be interested in being academically trained in the fields of humanities and social sciences, as they relate to Persianspeaking societies and will help keep alive the tradition of teaching and research into the Persian and Iranian worlds in the coming decades and generations.
Since its founding in 2004, the Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland has quickly become a vibrant intellectual and cultural center for Persianspeaking communities in the eastern USA and internationally. Hardly a week goes by without at least one visit by a prominent expert on topics in Persian art, history, language, literature, music, film, religion, culture or politics. University of Maryland faculty and students, and members of Persian communities in greater Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and beyond are regularly treated to public lectures, literary readings, art exhibitions, musical recitals, academic conferences and more, always of the highest quality. The International Conference on the Iranian Constitutional Movement in September, 2006, was an excellent example, drawing leading scholars from several countries. The week-long series of lectures in March, 2007, on ‘Martyrdom in the political culture of Iran and the Middle East’ by Boston College’s Professor Ali Banuazizi -- the first in the biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series, generously funded by the Persian Heritage Foundation of New York -- was extremely well received by large audiences. The upcoming conference (September 28-30, 2007) on the Persian mystic poet, Rumi, is another. The atmosphere at these and other events is welcoming and stimulating, and more and more students and their families attend. Less visible, but also of vital importance, is the steadily growing number and diversity of undergraduate courses in Persian language, literature, and culture courses available from CPS faculty. A current example is ‘Islam in the Modern Age,’ being offered this semester by Dr. Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi. This dimension of CPS’ activities enriches the college experiences and lives of hundreds of Persian heritage and non-heritage students. Much of the credit for CPS’ rapid success goes to its founding Director, Professor Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak. His reputation as one of the foremost Persian literary scholars alive today has helped to attract eminent artists and scholars from diverse fields to College Park. The strong personal and financial Continued on page 3
Peace Corps, the UMD and the CPS: A Celebration As part of the festivities marking the 150th anniversary of the University of Maryland and the 45th anniversary of the Peace Corps, and to welcome Nowruz and spring, the CPS hosted a celebration at the UMD’s Alumni Center on March 29, 2006. The event recognized and honored the Peace Corps and the volunteers who served in Iran and Afghanistan in the past four decades. Established by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961, the Peace Corps boasts of more than 900 UMD graduates among its past volunteers who have served in countries around the world. For 2006, the University ranked number 15 among comparably sized universities in sending 53 graduates into Peace Corps service. The March 29 event began at 2 p.m. in the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center and featured a bazaar and several speakers discussing cultural exchanges between the Persian diaspora and the region. About 200 guests, mostly UMD students and members of the Iranian American community learned about the Peace Corps from former volunteers who spoke of their experience as volunteers and answered questions regarding their countries of service. Peace Corps Deputy Director Jody Olsen, herself a peace corps volunteer and a former President of the UMD Alumni Association, welcomed the featured speakers, including former ambassador John Limbert, Mr. James and Mrs. Pamela McCloud, and Mr. Peter Russell. Jody Olsen then presented
a certificate of appreciation to the CPS in recognition of its services to the university and the communities surrounding it and for its contribution to bringing about mutual understanding among cultures and countries in critical times such as we live in. The event culminated in a reception where President Mote spoke about the partnership of UMD and Peace Corps as well as the establishment in 2004 of the Center for Persian Studies at UMD. The CPS would like to thank President Mote, Peace Corps Deputy Director Ms. Jody Olsen and her colleagues Ms. Lynn Kneedler and Mr. Bartel Kendrick. We also appreciate the help we received from our
colleagues, particularly Mr. Ali Abasi and Ms. Nahal Akbari, as well as our wonderful community volunteers, among them Mr. and Mrs. Mohammad and Najmieh Batmanglij, Firoozeh Dianat, Fereshteh Darya, Hirad Dinavari, Manzar Rassouli, Ahmad Nadimi, Mansoureh Pirnia, Nikoo Paydar and Narges Bajogli. Above all, we express our gratitude to all the speakers who shed light on the activities of the Peace Corps, on the possibilities of cultural cooperation between the Persian world and the United States NGO community, and who raised the interest of UMD students in the spirit of selfless service that has been a hallmark of the Peace Corps for over forty years.
Continued from page 2
support of prominent Persian philanthropic foundations and Persian community members has made many of the events possible. More information about the CPS, its activities, faculty and staff, are to be found in this, the second issue of the Center’s Newsletter, Persiphony. On behalf of the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, I look forward to many more.
Mike Long Professor of SLA, and Director, SLLC
UMD President Dr. C. Dan Mote shares a laugh with Peace Corps Deputy Director Jody Olsen and Dr. Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak
PERSIPHONY
No.2: Spring 2007
Newsletter of The Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park
Lifetime Achievement Award for Afghan Poet
New CPS Colleagues Dr. Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi
Mr. Raziq Faani, esteemed poet of Afghanistan now living in California, received a much deserved recognition for his services to Afghan society and Dari literature on Saturday, December 2, 2006. The event, which brought together about 200 expatriate members of the Afghani-American community living in the DC urban area, was organized and hosted by Afghan Communicator (AC) of New York [www.afghancommunicator.com], a non-profit organization with the mission to highlight Afghan culture and civilization. AC Director Mr. Rameen Mushrif opened the meeting by stressing the importance of poetry in Afghan culture and recounting the career of Ostad Faani. CPS Director also spoke at the meeting on the Centrality of Afghanistan to the Persianspeaking world and therefore to the UMD’s Center for Persian Studies. On hand were several luminaries of the Afghan community abroad, including renowned poet Wasif Bakhtari, Professor Rawan-Farhadi, Mr. Latif Nazemi, and Mr. Fourmuli. It was with great regret that we learned of the passing of Faani a few months later on Sunday April 22, 2007 in San Diego, California. We extend our condolences to our Afghan students and community members, and take solace in the assurance that Ostad Faani’s place is in the pantheon of Persian poets is secure and that his work will be studied by future generations of Afghans and other Persian speakers and students of Persian literature around the world.
Lecturer, Islamic Studies Dr. Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi joined the CPS last fall as lecturer in Persian Studies. From 1992 to 2005 he was professor of Islamic law and Persian language at the International Islamic University of Malaysia and Fatih University of Turkey. Born and educated in Iran, Dr. Kazemi received his bachelor’s degree in law from Tehran University and served as a judge for five years before transferring to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1968. As a Diplomat, Dr. Kazemi traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East. In 1980, Dr. Kazemi joined McGill University where he got his Ph.D. in “Islamic Institutions” in 1991. He has taught at McGill University and Tehran University for many years and is the author of Religious Authority in Shi’ite Islam (1996), Shi’ite Ulama and Political Power (2004) and Facing One Qiblah(2005). He has published more than 50 scholarly articles in academic and cultural journals. Dr. Kazemi has a passion for Sufi music and culture and enjoys a good game of chess.
eral years at Georgetown University, Middlebury College and Catholic University of America, where he was chosen as Instructor of the Year in 2005-2006. He has also taught Persian at the Middle East Institute and the Diplomatic Language Service. Mr. Esmaili has traveled in Europe and South America. Mohamad’s passion is learning foreign languages, teaching, and traveling. He also enjoys going to museums, watching foreign movies, and soccer. His hobbies are playing tennis, backgammon and bacci ball; his favorite Spanish wine and cheese are Tempranillo and Manchego.
Sahar Allamezade
Research Assistant Sahar Allamezade was born and educated in Iran and lived there until the age of 18. She moved to the University of Maryland in 2006 as a graduate student of Comparaitve Literautre and a Reseach Assistant at the CPS. In June 2002 she obtained her Master’s degree in Victorian Literature from Buckingham University and was admitted to the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the autumn of 2003. After obtaining her Master’s degree Sahar Mr. Mohamad Esgot a job in a law firm in London dealing with hundreds of Iranian immigrants and maili asylum seekers. Living in London provided Lecturer, Persian Sahar with the opportunity and the posLanguage sibility to indulge herself in her favorite art Mr. Mohamad Esmaili form which is the theater and the ballet. She joined the CPS last fall has also been an active member of the Inas lecturer in charge of stitute of Contemporary Arts in London. Persian language teaching. He holds two Her passion for Persian literature has Master’s Degrees in Spanish Linguistics and guided her steps from an early age when Spanish Literature from Georgetown Unishe won the second place national award versity and Middlebury College, respectively, for young writers in Iran. She is determined and is fluent in Persian, English, Spanish to continue studying in that field and is and French. His fields of interest and rehopeful that completing her studies might search are applied linguistics and phonology. be considered as a small contribution to a Mr. Esmaili currently teaches Elementary, better understanding of the culture and litIntermediate and Advanced level Persian erature of Iran. courses at the CPS, and has taught for sev-
Gearing up to Recognize Undergraduate Achievements Iranian Scholar of Islamic Texts at the UMD
The Greater Washington D.C. area has benefited greatly by the inaguration of the academic center at the University of Maryland College Park, the Center for Persian Studies. The center has a well rounded staff including friendly and approachable professors specializing in Persian Literature, linguistics, and religious and cultural studies, whom both students and interested individuals in the community can take advantage of. I am a German Studies Major in my junior year, and I began taking classes offered by the Persian Center in an attempt to discover more about the Persian Culture. Indeed this is a complex undertaking for which the Persian Center has become my home base. The center and its staff have been a resource for both heritage and non heritage students with links to community discussions, afternoon conversations with professors, fun cultural activities, to other local research and educational support centers, and it has hosted significant lectures which have helped to shed light onto some of the hot social and political concepts of the world-wide Persian Community. Its presence at the University of Maryland has added to my personal and educational experience here, and I look forward to enjoying more classes and activities they will offer during my final year at the university. Robert Stewart Persian Language Undergraduate
On Friday, February 2, 2007 distinguished literary scholar and textualist Dr. Nasrollah Pourjavady delivered two lectures at the CPS, one in English, the other in Persian. Titled “Literary Contests in Persian Literature: a Forgotten Genre,” and “zaban-e hal dar adabiyyat-e farsi” dealt with an important but little noted genre in classical Persian literature where natural or inanimate objects, such as the sun and the moon, spring and autumn, or heart and head, debate one another on their merits, importance or benefits to prove their superiority over their interlocutor. Over the last three decades or so, Dr. Pourjavady, perhaps the most prolific scholar-editor of Sufism and Sufi literature in Persian, has brought numerous old Persian manuscripts to the attention of the literary community by editing and publishing them in accurate and appealing editions. He has also served as editor-in-chief of two leading post-revolution scholarly Journals in Iran, Nashr-e Danesh and Ma`aref.
At CPS, we are getting ready to award the first annual Hossein Amirsaleh student essay award, designed to recognize outstanding scholarship by UMD undergraduates. Instituted in 2005 with an endowment from the Amirsaleh family in the name of Iranian-American industrialist and philanthropist Mr. Hossein Amirsaleh, this annual award consists of a citation and a monetary prize of $1,000. At this time, six papers have been submitted for consideration by various UMD professors and we are looking forward to a richer crop of first-rate papers coming out of this semester’s course offerings. SLLC Director Professor Michael Long will appoint the 2007 committee in May and we will announce the award in June. We encourage all UMD undergraduates taking the growing number of courses related wholly or in substantial part to the modern countries of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, as well as Iranian and Persianspeaking diaspora communities, to acquaint themselves with this unique and prestigious opportunity for early recognition as budding scholars on our campus. Please check the CPS web site at http://www.languages.umd. edu/persian/Academic_Philantrophy.php
A Tale of Two Visits
Over the past year, renowned Iranian satirist and political commentator Seyed Ebrahimn Nabavi has paid two visits to the CPS, first on April 20th, the second on November 11th. Nabavi first came to the attention of Iranian readers in the 1990s when he joined the reform movement and aimed his devastating satires at hard-line Iranian politicians. Driven into exile in 2001, he has now added the Iranian expatriate community to the objects of his satire, often taking the Iranian-American community to task with great hilarity and provoking much laughter and more thought in our heritage students. Of his own background and education, he says: “my father was a lackey of the old regime and I was arrested and incarcerated on charges of collaborating with him!”
PERSIPHONY
No.2: Spring 2007
Newsletter of The Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park
Iranian is Writer-in-Residence at UMD’s Writers’ House Ezzat Goushegir, Iranian playwright, fiction writer, poet and critic, is Writer-in-Residence for Spring Semester 2007 at the University of Maryland’s Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House. The Writers’ House [www. writershouse.umd.edu], a unique living-and-learning program that offers students a literary center for the study of creative writing across cultures and languages, shares the UMD’s Dorchester Hall with another living-and-learning program called Global Communities [www. globalcommunities.umd.edu]. With classrooms, lecture spaces, and staff offices housed under the same roof, the program allows UMD students to hone their skills through peer revising workshops, colloquia, and lectures led by visiting writers. The program’s goal is to create a strong writing community on the College Park campus; it is open to all majors, freshman to senior. Goushegir, who lives and works in Chicago and divides her time between writing and teaching at DePaul University, Illinois, has published four works in Persian and two plays in English. Most recently, her play “Medea was Born in Fallujah” was published in Witness Magazine (2006). As part of her contract at the
University of Maryland, Goushegir teaches a creative writing course to a group of undergraduate students and leads weekly discussion sessions on literature with all interested individuals and groups on the UMCP campus. Last February the Writers’ House hosted a reception and reading by Goushegir in Dorchester Hall. This was an electrifying event, “a great reading,” according to Program Director Johnna Schmidt. In a message to Goushegir, Schmidt wrote: “I really appreciated the way you shaped the reading, with something of a slow, melancholic start, then the genre busting insert of the play-within-the-novel (that was an extraordinary moment - so unexpected in the context of these readings) and then the hysterical imagined sex scene at the end ... so funny. It was masterful how you controlled pacing and mood throughout the reading”. Goushegir was born in Iran and received her bachelor’s degree in playwriting and dramatic literature from College of Dramatic Arts in Tehran. She immigrated to the United States in 1986 where she received her MFA from the University of Iowa. In 1990 she was a Fellow
Writer in the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program and in 1992 she was invited to the Second Conference of International Women Playwrights in Canada. In addition to plays, her work includes two collections of short stories, And Suddenly the Panther Cried: Woman (2001) and The Woman, the Room, and Love (2004). Her other works include Migration in the Sun, a collection of poems, and Metamorphosis and Maryam’s Pregnancy (2005), two plays in a single volume. Goushegir’s plays have been produced by a variety of theater companies and two of her plays, Maryam’s Pregnancy and Behind the Curtains, have won important awards, such as a Richard Maibaum Award a Norman Felton Award. Goushegir is also a regular contributor to literary journals and her writing has appeared in publications in Iran, France, Germany, and Canada. For more on Ezzat Goushegir visit: www.ezzatgoushegir.com.
UMD Students Discuss the CPS By Roxana Hadadi
When senior finance major Behrad Behbahani applied to the University of Maryland four years ago, he expected to undertake a schedule full of classes about business policy and investments. But toward the end of his freshman year, when he heard the university would be opening the Center for Persian Studies – and that it would be headed by renowned Persian academic Dr. Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak – Behbahani jumped at the first chance to diversify his course load. “I could not wait to register for a Persian class,” Behbahani explained. “I was very happy hearing the news, because I felt it would be another foothold that Iranians would have in the community.” Both for Persian students like Behbahani and non-Persians alike, the Center for Persian Studies (CPS), during its nearly three years of existence, has become a cultural resource unlike any other at the university. A welcoming environment, an engrossing curriculum and engaging professors, all combine to make CPS a place where all students can receive an intriguing introduction to Persian culture – and feel at home while doing it, students said. Created in fall 2004, the CPS is the first full-fledged academic center focused on the Persian-speaking cultures in Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia; however, the center also includes the study of the Persian-speaking diaspora in other communities around the world. According to CPS’s mission statement, the Center has three goals: to establish an academic program in Persian language and literature; to enhance the capacity of the university to examine Persian-speaking cultures; and to strengthen the relationships between the university and surrounding communities. To meet these goals, CPS offers a wide variety of courses on everything from Persian literature (such as PERS452: Modern Persian Literature) to Iranian history (such as PERS251: Modern Iran) to a full slate of Persian-language courses, comprising six levels of Persian, Elementary PERS 101 and 102, Intermediate 201 and 202, and Advanced PERS 301 and 302.
Behbahani, who has taken six classes offered by CPS during his time at the university, said each course was demanding academically, but incredibly rewarding. “I was interested in taking these classes because I have a great interest in my native culture and always want to know as much as I can about it,” Behbahani explained. “I have found every CPS class that I have taken absolutely interesting; all my classes but one have been taught by Dr. Karimi himself and the vast amounts of knowledge the professors have make the classes so enjoyable. I definitely have learned a lot from these classes, and they have really added to my education here at this university.” Sophomore Art History and French major Neda Khalili agreed with Behbahani. “I have taken two CPS classes, and I was interested in taking the classes for self-enrichment and a closer connection to my background,” she said. “I most certainly find the classes, the teaching material, and the professors engaging, and I think that some of the Persian classes I have taken are some of the best classes I have been in at Maryland.” Another advantage to the courses offered by CPS is the close, communal atmosphere, said junior government and politics and criminology and criminal justice major Mandana Yousefi. “Because the classes are so small, I feel like in CPS I am getting a completely different education than that of Maryland’s as a whole,” Yousefi said. “Within your first week of the semester, you meet the head of the Center. I immediately felt the passion for teaching CPS had. … Persian class, as difficult as it can be, is worth it, because they make it fun.” But the most important and beneficial aspect of CPS, students said, is the diversity it adds to the university community – and the home away from home it provides for Persian students. “I think the CPS has made more people on campus aware of the Iranian community; moreover it has made the campus more cultured as a result of its numerous lectures, conferences, even comedy shows that focus on all the different aspects of Persian culture,” Behbahani said. Similarly, Khalili said the CPS gives non-Persian students the opportunity to learn more about an area of the world they may not be familiar with. “I feel like the CPS adds to the whole
diversity element of the school; that people are opening up and learning about a different culture than what has traditionally been studied, such as French, Spanish, Chinese, or Italian culture,” she said. “And by doing this, we are slowly but steadily building a more open-minded society. Junior history major Adam Fried, who applied to the university as a transfer student mainly for the opportunity to enroll in courses offered by CPS, agreed with both Behbahani and Khalili. “CPS adds a great deal to UMD’s cultural environment,” he explained. “It provides a venue for students to actually learn about an area of the world that is often misunderstood and misrepresented in various forms. CPS is a great place that provides students, both Persian and not, with an environment to learn about Iran and its history as well as to meet other students with similar interests.” Not only does CPS give non-Persian students the opportunity to learn about the subject at hand, but it also provides Persian students with a cultural center – a sort of home away from home – whose relevance is undeniable and irreplaceable, Yousefi said. “I know [CPS] strengthened my identity in this school,” she said. “After taking courses in CPS, I no longer feel as someone who just checks off the ‘other’ box for race. Latin students have the Spanish Language Program, Jewish students have the Jewish Center, and so on. They all have places whose sole purpose is to promote knowledge of their culture. Now that I have that, I feel like I finally belong at a school.”
Roxana Hadadi sophomore journalism and sociology major
PERSIPHONY
No.2: Spring 2007
Newsletter of The Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park
The Iranian Constitutional Movement Conference
A First-Ever Iran-related International Gathering at UMCP On the occasion of the Centenary of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and to mark the 150 Anniversary of the University of Maryland, the International Conference on the Iranian Constitutional Movement was held September 21-24, 2006. Organized and hosted by the Center for Persian Studies (CPS) and supported by a number of organizations active in the US, including the Iranian American Bar Association, the Ahoora Foundation, the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, and the Persian Cultural Foundation, the gathering constituted the first Iran-related academic event on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. It brought together over 20 leading historians working on Iranian and Middle-Eastern Studies in various
American, Canadian and European Universities, including Yale, Columbia, NYU, Stanford, and the University of Toronto. The Conference opened Thursday night with a reception hosted by Dean Nariman Farvardin of the UMD’s Clark School of Engineering and Mrs. Hoveida Farvardin. A small number of community leaders and UMD’s Iranian-American faculty, staff and students met the participants who had who had traveled from near and far to participate in this scholarly event. In welcoming the guests, both Dean Farvardin and ARHU’s Dean James F. Harris stressed the timeliness of the gathering and thanked the CPS for organizing the Conference. The academic portion of the conference got underway with a message from President C. D. Mote.
A View of the Audience at the Conference
In it, the UMCP President also emphasized the timeliness and crucial importance of such gatherings, and thanked the College of Arts and Humanities, the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, and the CPS. Dean Harris and SLLC Director Professor Michael Long also spoke at the opening ceremonies, welcoming the guests and wishing the participating scholars success in their deliberations. The Conference had been conceptualized as a forum for the exchange of ideas among three generations of active scholars, not just on the Constitutional Revolution of 1906, but also, in light of recent developments in Iran and the Middle-East, as a way of foregrounding contemporary Iran’s continuing pursuit of constitutionalism and the establishment of the rule of law. This was reflected in the thematic foci of the conference sessions, entitled “Iran’s Constitutional Revolution: A One Hundred Year Retrospective,” “Reporting, Remembering and Refashioning the Revolution,” “Conceptualizing, Interpreting and Implementation of Rights and Powers under the Constitution,” and “The Constitutional Revolution: CrossBorder Influences and Comparative Perspectives.” A total of 20 scholarly presentations addressed these broad thematic areas, shedding light on many hitherto unexplored aspects of Iran’s history in the past one hundred years. Negotiations are underway to determine the feasibility of publishing the conference proceeding as part of a publication series envisioned by the CPS.
Professor Abbas Amanat speaking on “Memory and Amnesia in the Historiography of the Constitutional Revolution” Because of the intimate and intricate connections between the Iranian Constitutional Movement and the modern tradition in Persian literature, and due to the presence of many literary figures and scholars of Persian fiction, a special session had been envisioned to focus on relationships between literature and history. Entitled “Fictionalizing History,” this session, held on Saturday afternoon, featured internationally recognized Iranian novelist Shahrnush Parsipur, whose works have been translated widely into English and form part of the curriculum in many American universities, including UMCP. The well-attended session, envisioned as an “In conversation” session, proved particularly popular with UMCP faculty and students. It brought considerable interest to the epistemological and pedagogical implications of approaching history through works of fiction and the diverse ways in which imaginative authors incorporate themes and events of local, national or international history in their work. Because film plays an increasingly important part in the university classroom, an episode of Parsipur’s electrifying novella Women without Men was also screened and became an integral part of the ensuing conversation. Directed by celebrated Iranian-American artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat, “Zarrin” features a daring portrayal of life in a Tehran brothel in the mid-twentieth century. A gala banquet celebrating Iran’s Constitutional Revolution and the constitutionalist movements it has spawned was held in conjunction with the conference on Friday night. About 200 guests, consisting of
notable community leaders and invited scholars, came together with UMCP faculty, staff and students interested in Iranian and Middle-Eastern Studies. The guests were treated to a sit-down dinner and a musical performance by HAALE, an Iranian-American musician and vocalist, whose music is a hybrid of traditional and folk music of Persia and a range of contemporary American musical traditions, including jazz, rock and psychedelic. Sponsored in part by members of the audience, the banquet was attended by Dean Farvardin and Dean Harris, as well as such prominent scholars as Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of the monumental Encyclopaedia Iranica, and noted IranianAmerican industrialist Dr. Akbar Ghahary. A special feature of the Conference was a photo exhibition titled “Once upon A Time Iran.” Sponsored by the Persian
Iraninan-American Singer, Haale, Performing with her Band www.haale.com
Cultural Foundation of New Jersey, this constitutional era photo exhibition went a long way in bringing alive Iranian life at the beginning of Iranian modernity for the new generations of Iranians, among them many members of UMCP’s Iranian Students’ Foundation and the Persian Cluster at the Language House. In addition, several area publishers and booksellers presented their holdings, among them many of the books authored by scholars presenting at the conference. Lively author-meets-reader encounters and the ensuing book-signing rituals brought aspiring students into direct contact and conversation with the authors whose works have been a staple of courses since the establishment of the CPS at the University of Maryland. Finally, several area non-profits, such as the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) [www.niacouncil. org] and the Children of Persia [www.childrenofpersia.org], displayed their literature to conference participants. In addition to all its impressive scholarly implications, the Conference on the Iranian Constitutional Movement demonstrated the profound synergies that can result from university-community partnerships. In this case, it provided reasonable assurances that the CPS will continue to enjoy substantial and significant community support in its activities for years to come. And as President Mote noted in his message, the conference went a long way toward showing that “The University of Maryland continues to serve as a hub of educational and scholarly activity in the State of Maryland and the greater Washington D.C. area.”
PERSIPHONY
No.2: Spring 2007
Newsletter of The Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park
Future Events 10
The International Conference on Rumi September 28-30, 2007
With help from the Persian Cultural Foundation, www.persiancultural.org, and the Ahoora Foundation, the CPS has been able to secure substantial funding to hold an International Conference on the Persian mystic poet, Jalal ad-Din Balkhi, known in the West as Rumi. The Conference, which will be held September 28-30, 2007 on the campus of the University of Maryland, has been envisioned as an arena to explore Rumi’s poetry and vision, as well as his continued relevance to our world. Based on a centuries-old tradition of mysticism within the intellectual currents of the Persian-speaking world, Rumi developed a transcendental vision of the human condition that has through the centuries grown far and wide beyond his birthplace, environment and native language. In the past thirty years or so, his poetry and his vision have taken the United States and other Western cultures by storm. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has declared 2007, the 800th anniversary of the poet’s birth, as the International Rumi Year. The Conference will bring together about 20 leading Rumi scholars and notable artists from all over the world. It will be thematically and historically organized, with an emphasis on Rumi as a poet and his two major works, The Spiritual Couplets and The Divan, as its twin focal points. Thus, the first session, which will explore the background to Rumi by examining the historical growth of mystical visions within the intellectual currents of his age, will be followed by several sessions on Rumi’s life and works, and will end in an exploration of his ideas in modern times. The Conference will be conducted in English, except in the artistic events slated for the evening hours and a single panel where textual scholars will discuss the history and social life of Rumi’s works and his impact through the many generations of
Persian-speaking readers in Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and elsewhere. Where Rumi’s poetry is recited, English translations will be provided for the benefit of the audience. Funding permitting, Conference proceedings will be published subsequently, either in entirety or in substantial part.
Judaeo-Iranica Conference at the UMD, Fall 2008 An international interdisciplinary Conference is envisioned for fall 2008, sponsored and organized jointly be the Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies and the Center for Persian Studies (CPS). The Conference, convened by Dr. Houman Sarshar, a wellknown authority on the Jews of the Iranian world, will bring together scholars from a broad range of academic fields of inquiry to explore the roots of Jewish presence in that world and what it means to be JewishIranian in the modern world. With an express purpose of expanding the existing boundaries of Jewish-Iranian studies, the Conference will offer a context that transcends the limitations of specific themes or particular historical periods. As such, the Conference will welcome studies on previously unexamined or under-explored historical and cultural contributions of Iranian Jewry to Persian and/or Jewish cultures; inquiries pertaining to the concept of religious purity (tahārat) and impurity (nejāsat), forced or voluntary conversions, and considerations of the role of Iranian Jews in 20th-century Iran will be particularly welcome, as will explorations of contemporary Iran-Israel relations. The aim of this academic gathering will be to fill some of the lingering gaps in our knowledge about Iranian Jewry, ultimately to enrich both fields of Iranian and Jewish studies. Funding permitting, Conference proceeding will be published in a volume edited by the convener. All presentations will be in English. More information will be posted in October 2007 on the web sites of the Center for Persian Studies and of the Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies at [www.jewishstudies.umd.edu].
Podcasting Persian in the heart of the US By Seyed Jazayeri The University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP) is among the very few universities in the U.S. that has a Persian radio channel. Called Radio College Park, [www. radiocp.com]. It is run by a group of Iranian students at the university. RCP is an online radio service – also referred to as podcast. It is a method for delivering audio files on the Internet. Podcasts can be easily downloaded to computers or portable mp3 players. A group of graduate students of the university initiated the idea of having an online radio nearly two years ago. Afshin Sepehri, the co-founder of RCP and a university alumnus, says the group was looking for a medium through which they could reach the Iranian community at the university and thought that an online radio was the best medium for linking university students and Persian-speaking audiences around the world.
Soon the idea found its way to other Iranian graduate students and their student group, the Iranian Graduate Students Foundation (IGSF), www.igsfumd.org, lent its support to the idea. RCP broadcast its first program on June 24, 2005. Since then, the RCP has produced more than 100 audio programs. Sepehri and his group used very basic and minimal equipments to record and prepare the programs. All they needed was a laptop, some microphones and a sound-editing software package. RCP’s weekly programs are usually about 40 minutes long and cover a variety of topics about culture, art and society, with an emphasis on Iranian culContinued on page 9
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ture. The radio has listeners from different parts of the world, most notably the North America and Iran. The costs associated with production of an online radio are totally covered by the Iranian students of the university who work for RCP voluntarily, according to RCP’s administrators. Students who contribute to RCP spend their free time to produce remarkable programs for the station. Nassim Abdi, an education major and one of the RCP’s contributors, says the voluntary activity is an opportunity for Iranian students to come together in common purpose. In addition to weekly audio programs, other contents such as photo features and audio books are available on the RCP website, says Shabnam Tafreshi, a computer science graduate student and a member of RCP. According to RCP administrators, the audio-books section is a very popular part of the website where Internet users can find audio files of a variety of books read in the Persian language. Since its establishment, RCP has continued to provide weekly programs without interruption and is considered the oldest Persian podcast on the Internet. RCP has also drawn significant amounts of attention from other Persian Media around the world. According to an online survey conducted last year by the Internet magazine 7-Sang, http://www.7sang. com/languages/english, RCP was the second best Persian podcast on the Internet. Other news organizations also frequently cover programs produced by RCP. The RCP’s website has more than 1000 listeners for every weekly radio program and more than 1700 listeners for every audio book program.
Seyed Jazayeri, Senior Student of Journalism
First Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series Marks a First for UMCP
Martyrdom in the Political Cultures of Iran and the Middle East
Dr. Ali Banuazizi, Professor of Social Psychology at Boston College and former MESA President, was first Ehsan Yarshater lecturer in Persian studies at the University of Maryland. In a fascinating series of three lectures in English with one summative one in Persian, given over a week-long stay, he shed much-needed light on an imperfectly understood human impulse that has given rise to a vexing issue in our world. The prestigious biennial lecture series has been made possible by a generous endowment established by he Persian Heritage Foundation of New York in honor of the most celebrated living scholar of Iranian Studies in the world. The event brought to the UMCP campus an outstanding expert in an area of Persian, Iranian and Islamic studies relevant to current issues of international interest for a weeklong stay and a series of academic lectures in English and one lecture in Persian for the benefit of the Persian-speaking community in the area. In addition, Dr. Banuazizi held a
series of very fruitful meetings with UMCP faculty and students, particularly graduate students in the emerging area of expertise on our campus, as well as experts from the greater urban community surrounding the University. Dr. Banuazizi’s lectures placed this topic of intense relevance in its various religious and historical contexts. The three lectures, held in the week of March 5-9, 2007, explored the theological meanings of martyrdom in the sacred traditions of Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. On that basis, Professor Banuazizi argued that the current surge of jihadi movements in many parts of the Muslim world represents the most extreme exploitation of the concepts of martyrdom and jihad for purely political objectives under a pietistic, puritanical Islamic guise. The ready resort to terrorist tactics by groups of modern-day assassins has done incalculable damage to the contemporary image of Islam around the globe, he concluded. This, he said, demonstrates the dangers, in the extreme, of using religion as political ideology. By examining the social, cultural, and psychological dynamics through which martyrdom acquires its symbolic power, the lectures provided a rich backdrop that highlighted the fluidity of the concept as well as the fascinating diversity of the interpretive acts it has undergone through an eventful history of many millennia. The result was a better understanding of a textured tapestry of religious thought amazingly rich, colorful and layered. The analysis of some of the ways in which the powerful symbolism of martyrdom has been used to advance political and social objectives across time and space proved nothing short of an eye-opening intellectual tour-de-force. For a synopsis of the lectures, visit this link: http://www. languages.umd.edu/persian/pdfs/Outline of Banuazizi Lectures.pdf
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PERSIPHONY
No.2: Spring 2007
Newsletter of The Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park
Let Me Tell You Where I’ve Been: New Writing by Women of The Iranian Diaspora 12
The CPS hosted a book-reading and signing event Thursday, November 2, 2006 at UMD’s Atrium Hall in the Stamp Student Union. Dr. Persis Karim, associate professor of English and comparative literature at San Jose State University, and contributing author and editor of Let me tell you where I’ve been: New Writing by Women of the Iranian Diaspora gave a talk and read selections from the book and shared the experience of exilic existence and diasporic expression with an enthusiastic audience of 100, mostly second generation Iranian-Americans. As the latest among a small but growing corpus of expatriate Iranian writing in English, the book has had a resounding success in bringing to light an aspect of creative writing largely unknown to those outside the community of Persian-speaking expatiates. Karim began by reading poems in which fruits and vegetables associated with Iranian culture, such as pomegranates and eggplants, assume a cultural significance way beyond the culinary delight they are known for. She then discussed some of the themes the book treats, gender inequities, sibling rivalries, and intergenerational relations, among many others. Literature, she argued, becomes a vehicle for expressing much tension that cannot be resolved either within exiled communities or between them and the larger societies that surround them. She concluded that the over 50 poets, fiction writers and essayists represented in this collection expand our view of the up-and-coming Iranians with hyphenated identities, known internally as “the second generation”. Dr. Karim’s talk was received warmly, especially where she spoke about the power of literature to allow ways of perceiving cultural difference that lie beyond the stereotypes through which we often see cultures different from our own. Let me Tell You Where I’ve Been is a welcome addition to a growing corpus of émigré literature in America as well, as the writers here make palpable the challenges of inte-
gration and communication this generation faces. In the words of one reviewer, “One writes about a woman’s relationship with her chador. Another remembers her desire, as a young girl, to distance herself from the “old-world values” espoused by her parents. A woman who sought refuge in Germany
conveys the longing she felt to return to her birthplace by detailing a market scene and how the taste of raw walnuts made her feel at home again.” Especial thanks are due to the speaker and to our colleague Nahal Akbari for effectively organizing this event.
The Center for Persian Studies acknowledges with thanks the support and assistance of the following charitable organizations and community leaders: The Foundation for Iranian Studies, Bethesda, MD The Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Washington, DC The Persian Heritage Foundation, New York The Persian Cultural Foundation, Clifton, NJ The ILEX Foundation, Boston, MA The Iranian American Bar Association Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, Washington, DC Dr. and Mrs. Gholamreza and Mahnaz Afkhami Dr. Cyrus Amir-Mokri, Esq., Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, LLP, New York Mr. and Mrs. Mahyar Amirsaleh, Group USA, Secaucus, NJ H.E. Dr. Jamshid Amouzegar, Chevy Chase, MD Mr. Jamshid Ansari, Ahoora Foundation, Plano, Texas Professor Arjang Assad, Robert H. Smith School of Business, UMD Professor Shaul Bakhash, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA Mr. and Mrs. Saeed and Fereshteh Darya, Potomac, MD Professor Olga M. Davidson and Prof. Gregory Nagy, Harvard University Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC Mr. Fred Farshay, Stanley Martin Commercial, Bethesda, MD Dean Nariman and Mrs. Hoveida Farvardin, A. James Clark School of Engineering, UMD Dr. Akbar Ghahary, President of Safascorp, Garfield, NJ Ms. Noosheen Hashemi, The H.A.N.D. Foundation, Menlo Park, CA Mr. and Mrs. Babak Hoghooghi, Potomac, MD Mr and Mrs. Reza and Fariba Jahanbani Ms. Mona Khademi, Washington, DC Mr. Abbas Kiarostami, Tehran, Iran Mr. Fred Korangy, President, logicTree, Bowie, MD Mr. and Mrs. Hassanali and Taraneh Mehran, Potomac, MD Dr. Elahe Mir-Djalali, Washington, DC Ms. Shirin Neshat, New York Professor Ehsan Yarshater, The Encyclopaedia Iranica, New York, NY Special Thanks to the Following UMCP Organizations and Colleagues: The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business The Iranian Students’ Foundation (ISF) The Iranian Graduate Students’ Foundation (IGSF) Radio College Park The Persian Cluster at the UMD’s Language House Dr. Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi, Mr. Mohammad Esmaili, Mr. Ali Abasi, Ms. Nahal Akbari, Mr. Seyed Ahmadabadi, Mr. Kiavash Parvan, Ms. Anousha Shahsavari, Ms. Sahar Allamezade, Ms. Nasim Abdi-Dezfooli, Ms. Nazanin Khavari, Mr. Seyed Jazayeri, Ms. Roxana Hadadi
For me, the Center for Persian Studies has been the heart and soul of my experience here at the University of Maryland. Soon after beginning my undergraduate studies in 2003, I discovered a deep love for Iran and its culture. At that time, however, the university offered very few courses on the Middle East in general and none focusing specifically on Iran. I had begun looking to transfer colleges when the creation of the Center for Persian Studies was announced in the spring of 2004. Over the past three years, the Center has been an invaluable resource for me. I was fortunate enough to find a wonderful friend and mentor in the director, Dr. Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak. With his encouragement I began studying the Persian language and its literature in addition to Iran’s history and culture. My interest has only grown over time, and this fall I will begin pursuing my Master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies. Mila Johns CPS Alumni
Leading Political Dissident Visits UMD Iran’s leading investigative journalist and world-famous oppositional figure Akbar Ganji visited the University of Maryland on March 12, 2007. The visit, the result of joint sponsorship by CPS and the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at the University of Maryland’s prestigious Robert H. Smith School of Business, was a first for the University. It was also the first time Mr. Ganji sat for a free-wheeling, unscripted exchange with a group of leading community members and intellectuals residing in the area. Author of several books, including the best-selling Dungeon of Ghosts, in which he implicates former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani and other leading conservative figures in the “serial murders” of five writers and intellectuals in 1998, Ganji opened the meeting with a 15-minute statement before giving the floor over to comments and questions from the audience. A dozen individuals from among an audience of over 150 asked questions, expressed their political views and shared their concerns with the speaker and each other. Mr. Ganji, who as a young man supported the Islamic revolution and entered the ranks
of its functionaries, has come to believe that the current political system in Iran has failed to respond to the aspirations expressed through the revolution of 1978-83, that the way forward lies through the total separation of the mosque from the state, and that the change must proceed through non-violent means. In recent years, Ganji has been imprisoned twice; he went on a long and grueling hunger strike the second time. This action attracted world-wide attention and thousands of world political figures and intellectuals wrote to Iranian authorities demanding his release. He is now touring the US and says that he would like to return to Iran. The event was moderated by CPS Director and Professor Arjang Assad, Senior Associate Dean at the School of Business. Mr. Ganji spoke in Persian while interpretive services made the content of his talk available to all. Below, the news of the event, as printed in the March 13th issue the Diamondback, the University of Maryland’s Student-run daily paper.
Base Line of Courses Offered by CPS In partial fulfillment of the vision enunciated for the Center for Persian Studies (CPS), as we approach the end of our third year, we have established a base line of the courses offered regularly every academic year in the foreseeable future. All additional courses may come about as the Persian Studies major makes its way through the various university committees, as the UMD expands its present curriculum, or as more funding becomes available, either as part of the envisioned internationalization of UMD or through external funding. A total of twelve courses will be offered regularly each year, eleven with the PERS rubrics and one with the SLLC rubric, as described below. These include six Persian language courses where the principal learning object is the teaching of the Persian language to all interested students, both graduate and undergraduate, whether from a Persian speaking background, typically familiar with the language to an extent or with no previous exposure to the language. The latter group will be placed in elementary Persian courses (PERS 101 and PERS 102), proceed to intermediate level (PERRS 201 and PERS 202) in their second year, and eventually move up to the advanced level courses (PERS 301 and 302) in their third year. The former group – i.e., those with some previous exposure to the Persian language – will be put through a series of formal and/or informal tests and placed in the level most appropriate for them. Of the remaining six courses, four will be offered every year in the English language with content directed at Persian studies, as follows: PERS 251 – Modern Iran PERS 353 – Iranian Life in Literature and Film PERS 371 – Introduction to Persian Literature in Translation PERS 441 – Islam in Iran. One course, PERS 452 – Survey of Persian Literary Texts, will be a regular offering in Persian literature conducted in Persian. Only those with total native fluency and the ability to read and write in Persian are admitted to this course where the language of instruction will be Persian; however, course content varies from year to year. Other Persian literature courses conducted in Persian will be offered on an ad hoc basis as independent study or special topics (PERS 399, PERS 499, SLLC 889-2901, etc.), as warranted. The last remaining course, Islam and Democracy in the Modern Age, is offered regularly under SLLC 499a – Special Topics in World Cultures.
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PERSIPHONY
No.2: Spring 2007
Newsletter of The Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park
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The Creative Impulse and Its Enemies: Two Panel Discussions on Iran’s Current Literary Scene Thanks to a generous grant from the Persian Cultural Foundation (PCF) of New Jersey, the CPS enjoyed the presence of three prominent Iranian writers in our area on Wednesday April 25, 2007. Moniro Ravanipor, Shahriar Mandanipour and Babak Takhti. Along with UMD’s Writer-in-Residence Ezzat Goushegir, they participated in two events and discussed the state of creative writing and literary publishing in today’s Iran. The first event, hosted by the Library of Congress’s Iranian World Division, took place in the main auditorium of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building from 1-2:30 PM; the second was held 7-9:30 PM in Tyser auditorium at the UMD’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. The two events had much in common, as they were both conducted in freewheeling In-Conversation style exchanges that shed light on the creative process as envisioned and practiced by each and the problem of censorship that all creative minds face in Iran at the present time. Internationally acclaimed novelist Moniro Ravanipor, author of numerous novels and several short story collections, centered on the cultures of the Persian Gulf littoral coast, led the discussion by focusing on her own writing in relation to the restrictions that the ideological state in Iran imposes on creativity. In today’s Iran, she reminded the audience, when you ask how someone is doing, they answer back with a question
of their own: “and how are you doing?” thus avoiding all probes into their personal life. Babak Takhti, who is a publisher as well as a writer of short stories and who has daily dealing with state authorities, said that his work is marked by a deep desire for dialog simply because the state’s censorship apparatus seems intent on stifling the emergence of free give-and-takes among Iranian citizens. For his part, Shahriar Mandanipour, who has authored nine works of fiction and who, in 1998, received the Golden Tablet award for best fiction of the past 20 years in Iran and in 2004 won the Mehregan prize for the best children’s story, stressed that, in spite of severe censorship literary creativity goes on; in fact, he opined, censorship seems to make Iranian writers more crafty and more adept at delving into new depth in their fictional worlds. Mandanipour distinguished between “bureaucratic censorship” and what he terms “censorship in the field”. Whereas the first is routine, the second aims at eradicating the human spirit of inquiry and exploration. Ezzat Goushegir, the only panelist who lives outside the country and who has written plays, poems and stories both in English and Persian, highlighted other challenges to writing. “When I left Iran”, she said, “I felt I had so much to say.” Life in exile, however, affects the creative process negatively in that writers lose their readers and therefore their reason for writ-
ing. This situation, combined with everyday exigencies of life, wreaks havoc on the peace of mind needed for creativity. In the question and answer period that followed, issues of web publishing, Iranian government’s attempts at blocking and filtering web sites set up by expatriate Iranians, and the rather disheartening issue of Iranian readership of contemporary literature, as reflected in statistics on low publication and circulation, were discussed rather extensively. The panel discussion ended at 9:30, but informal interactions between speakers and their audience continued for another half hour. The Center for Persian Studies wishes to thank the participating authors and the audience for these rare occasions where readers and writers meet up close and exchanges views in an unencumbered way. We also would like to express our gratitude to the UMD’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, and in particular to the School’s Senior Associate Dean Dr. Arjang Assad for his unflagging support of this and other CPS events. Dr. Assad gave of his time most generously by agreeing also to make available his superb interpretive services at the event. Last, we would like to thank the Persian Cultural Foundation and its President Dr. Akbar Ghahay for sponsoring this and many other events that CPS organizes for the benefit of our students and community members.
Persian Visions
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CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY FROM IRAN The first major exhibition of contemporary Iranian photography in the U.S. came to the UMD in April 2007. Consisting of over sixty works of artistic photography and eye-popping video installations by twenty of Iran’s most celebrated visual artists, the exhibition proved a huge hit for our students and lovers of art from all over the region. Characterized by a predominance of personal perspectives and a refreshing view of contemporary Iran through private, individual sensibilities, even when addressing public concerns, each picture seemed worth many thousands of words. Organized and presented by the UMD’s Art Gallery in conjunction with the Center for Persian Studies, the exhibition was on view from April 2 through April 29, 2007. The following words from the press release issued in advance of the event seemed to capture its spirit through the following excerpt: “Iran has distinguished itself with the spectacular quality and international presence of its film and visual art. Given the backdrop of attention increasingly focused on the art and culture of Iran, and now on the political crisis in that part of the world, an exhibition of this kind is most timely. The perspective of these artists contradicts the way many foreign photographers use the medium - which is to represent Iran and its people as purely exotic.” In expressing their individual visions of the world, the artists offered a look at their country’s private and public realms. They did so, now through self-portraits and family photographs exploring female identity, now drawing on the rich heritage of Persian literature for their subject matter, now focusing on family histories through portraits that captured the subtleties and
nuances of family life in modern-day Iran. In some works the veil seemed to receive acknowledgment as a sign of culture, while in others veiled figures seemed to serve as a demand that the viewer look harder and think harder about what can be revealed through the veil. The ultimate message, that artists cannot entirely surmount the physical and cultural distance between Iran and the United States, seemed to be balanced off against a manifest desire to build artistic bridges that, while allowing for differences, may lead to a greater awareness of other ways of being and seeing. Persian Visions was developed by Hamid Severi for the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran, and Gary Hallman of the Regis Center for Art, University of Minnesota and toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C. This exhibition is supported in part by grants from the ILEX
Foundation; the University of Minnesota McKnight Arts and Humanities Endowment; and the Department of Art, the Regis Center for Art, University of Minnesota. A fully-illustrated catalogue with an essay by Robert Silberman, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Art History, published by International Arts & Artists accompanied the exhibition. To the over 2,000 individuals who visited the Persian Visions art exhibition over the 27 days it was held at the UMD, Persian Visions presented nothing less than an alternative view of Iran as a society with great artistic capabilities and marked Iranian artists as a social group that is politically aware and artistically vibrant, harbingers of great changes in their culture and country.
Persian Cluster, Year 2 By Rouzbeh Shams, PC Mentor
The establishment of the Center for The Persian Studies (CPS) in the fall of 2004 increased the opportunities for Persian-speaking students at University of Maryland considerably. These opportunities include an increasing number of courses related to Persian language and literature and Iran’s culture and history as well as the many seminars, conferences, lecture series and other events which students attend to meet and hear many world renowned scholars of Iran and the Persian world. In addition, exactly a year after the opening of CPS, with the help of Dr. Phoenix Liu, the director of the Language House Immersion Program, a new Persian Cluster was added to the other eight language clusters in the University of Maryland’s Language House in St. Mary’s Hall. The Language House Immersion pro-
The Center for Persian Studies 1220 Jimenez Hall University of Maryland College Park, MD, 20742 USA 301.405.1891 TEL 301.314.9752 FAX Persianstudies@umd.edu www.languages.umd.edu/Persian
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gram is a living and learning program in which students live with other students studying the same language. This environment extends language learning out of the classroom setting, and provides the opportunity for constant conversations in the language as well as deeper insights into the culture. Each language is assigned a mentor who is responsible for organizing weekly meetings and activities to further involve students into the language and culture. As the mentor of the Persian Cluster, I have striven to make our apartment not only a cultural environment for the students in the cluster, but also for other Iranians on campus. The Persian Cluster is also closely involved with the activities of the Center for the Persian Studies. This semester we have nine students, including myself.
Members of Persian Cluster II Top to buttom, left to right: Rouzbeh Shams, Behrad Behbahani, Amir Farhangi, Ali Shabestari, Saam Bozorgmehr Mona Ghias, Meena Jafari, Neda Khalili, Behnaz Razavi