Decennial: Director's Letter

Decennial letter written by Iranian Studies director Dr. Abbas Milani

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. This year, we celebrated the graduation of three students receiving certificates or minors in Iranian Studies—now part of of Stanford’s Global Studies Minor. To date we have eight affiliated alumni and several more students enrolled.

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. We also have an active presence on social media. Some of our lectures and presentations have been viewed more than 30,000 times.

In the course of the last two years alone, with support from Hamid and Christina Moghadam, Bita Daryabari, and Shidan and Mehran Taslimi (who have established the Amin Banani Memorial Fund) we have launched the Stanford Festival of Iranian Arts to highlight the rich culture of Iran through lectures, performances and workshops.

In the same period, Hamid and Christina have generously supported the launch of two new initiatives: Iran 2040 to inquire into the issues facing the Iranian economy, and Science and Society: Frontiers of the Mind, a joint program between Iranian Studies and the Laboratory of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology at Stanford University Medical School.

Ten years ago, Stanford’s libraries had just begun expanding their holdings on modern Iran, determined to make Stanford a premier place for research on modern Iran. In the course of the last few years, donations of libraries and private papers have helped Stanford achieve its goal. The private papers of Houshang Golshiri now at Stanford are, arguably, the most important collection of a major artist housed outside Iran. We are in the process of helping the library digitalize the collection—yet again a first of its kind. Only last year, Iranian Studies was instrumental in securing for Stanford the papers of Ardeshir Zahedi, the Iranian ambassador to the U.S. under the Shah. The 94 boxes of his private papers will henceforth make the Hoover Archive, where they are placed, an indispensable center for research on Iran’s foreign policy.

Ten years ago, there were no programs to help students pursue their research interests on Iran. We now have a small but growing fund to support student field work, and—thanks to a generous donation by Hassan and Mahvash Milani—in the future we will be able to offer scholarships and fellowships to students working on Iran in any field.

While our success has been made possible through the financial support of the Iranian Diaspora, the realization of the program itself and our ability to expand our goals have only been possible because of the support of Richard Saller, Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford, and the Directors of Stanford Global Studies—from Professor Judy Goldstein, our first director, to Professor Norman Naimark, our most recent director.

Helping launch this program, the gift of enjoying Hamid and Christina Moghadam’s trust and support, the generosity of Bita Daryabari, and the support of many more in the community—particularly the Taslimi brothers and their establishment of the Amin Bani Memorial Fund—have been, for me, an ennobling and humbling experience. Great as our accomplishments have been, I am convinced the best is yet to come.

- Abbas Milani