Iranian Studies Celebrates Decennial
Iranian Studies Celebrates Decennial
"Ten years ago, when a generous endowment by Hamid and Christina Moghadam enabled Stanford University to launch the Iranian Studies Program, there was not a single course on modern Iran offered here. The mandate of our program was, from its inception, an interdisciplinary study of modern Iran.
We began by concentrating on courses on Iranian society, politics and religion. With Bita Daryabari’s generous donations we were able to expand into cultural domains, and offer new courses on Iranian cinema, theater, and literature. We also helped expand the university’s offerings in Persian languages. Today, four faculty members, teaching in different domains and disciplines at Stanford, are supported by the Iranian Studies Program.
Ten years ago, our activities were limited to our meager offerings and a handful of lectures — all focused on modern politics and society. In the course of the last eight years, we have sponsored 285 events with some of the world’s most renowned scholars and artists from Iran, or working on that country’s culture and society. More than 45,000 people have attended these events."
~Abbas Milani (excerpt from 2016 Director's Note)
