ASPS Newsletter

ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF PERSIANATE SOCIETIES
No.13, March 2005

Editorial Notes
News of the Association
Travel Fellowship Program
Studies on Persianate Societies
Elections
Member News and Announcements
Previous ASPS Newsletters

Editorial Notes

www.persianatesocieties.org

Members are invited to send announcements and items of professional interest (and any change of address) to me by email. The deadline for the next issue is September 15, 2005. Calls for papers and other time-sensitive news of professional meetings, if submitted promptly, will be posted on the website. Suggestions for future panels or programs to be sponsored by ASPS may be sent at any time to either of the following:

Dr. Alice C. Hunsberger <alicehunsberger@hotmail.com>
Dr. Rudi Matthee <matthee@juno.com>.

Prof. Rudi Matthee visited India in early April. In Delhi he was the guest of Prof. Mansura Haidar of Jamia Millia Islamia. He gave a talk there on Safavid relations with Iraq. He also visited Hyderabad, a city of six million people situated in the Deccan. Founded in the late 16th century by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the fourth ruler of the Qutb Shahi house, a Twelver Shi'i dynasty of Iranian origin, Hyderabad has long been a center of Indo-Persian culture in the subcontinent. The specific goal of Matthee's visit to Hyderabad was to meet local scholars engaged in the study of its Persianate past and to explore the possibility of establishing a chapter of ASPS there. His local host was Dr Vasant K. Bawa, President of the Centre for Deccan Studies.[Please see the separate announcement regarding the Centre's journal, Deccan Studies.]

A number of scholars participated in a seminar entitled “The Scope and Prospects for Persianate Studies in South India”. Included were Dr Zaib Hyder ( Osmania University), Prof  Rahmat Yousufzai ( University of Hyderabad), Dr Fakhre Alam Azmi ( Anwarul Uloom College) and Dr Asfiya Kausar ( Salar Jang Museum). Dr Matthee spoke on the work and aims of ASPS.

The travel fellowship program is currently waiting for a decision on renewal by OSI. Until that time ASPS is not accepting any applications for Travel Fellowships.

Qualifications: Upon announcement of available funding, applicants who are Iranian and engaged in teaching or research in the humanities or social sciences, and have a formal invitation or acceptance of a paper from an academic institution or sponsors of a conference in the United States, may submit (1) a letter explaining the research, the title of the paper, and details of the conference; (2) a letter of acceptance from the conference, and; (3) a curriculum vitae, to:

Dr. Colin Mitchell
Dept. of History
6135 University Ave.
Dalhousie University
Halifax , Nova Scotia, CANADA
(902) 494-2788
c.mitchell@dal.ca

Please Note : The Travel Fellowship will only reimburse against original receipts for expenses including travel, lodging, meals, and conference registration, up to a limit of $3,000. Those who receive Travel Fellowships agree to write a report of their travel and to submit a copy of the paper delivered.

Studies on Persianate Societies 2 (2005/1384) has been edited and will shortly go to press. It will be out at the end of summer 2005, and will be mailed by the publisher directly to all ASPS members in the United States, Europe and Japan.

We have set the annual Institutional subscription at the low level of $75 to make the journal widely available at libraries and university centers. It goes without saying that we critically need your support at this stage. Please make sure your library subscribes. Subscription forms should shortly be available on the publisher’s website (manoharbooks.com) and that of ASPS.

Saïd Amir Arjomand, Editor-in-Chief

Elections

The following have been elected to the ASPS Board of Directors:

Colin Mitchell and Jaleh Shaditalab. Congratulations and welcome to the ASPS Board.

Member News and Announcements

Member News:

The new book, Islamic Central Asia: Religiosity and Society, by Prof. Jo-Ann Gross was presented at the Oriental and Written Heritage Institute of the Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan on November 26, 2004 in an event organized by Dr. Lola Dodkhudoeva of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, who is an active member of ASPS, Tajikistan. Many ASPS members participated in this presentation and more than 30 participants were from different scientific centers of Dushanbe. Dr. Dodkhudoeva made the opening re marks, followed by historian Prof Haknazar Nazarov of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, who discussed Prof. Gross’ book and research. Dr. Bahriddin Aliev, secretary of ASPS in Tajikistan, introduced ASPS and its goals to attendees and distributed the ASPS newsletter. He then talked about Prof. Gross’ research and his collaboration with her. Dr Zuhra Ahrori, a descendent of Khoja ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar, discussed Islamic Central Asia: Religiosity and Society and the virtues of her father and grandfather, who continued the traditions of their grandfather Khoja ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar. Prof. Rohat Nabieva of Tajik State National University, Dr Pulodovoa Sh. of Tajik State National University, and Mrs. Oisha Homid of Tajik Language Foundation discussed the importance of Prof. Gross’ book and thanked her for her achievements.

Dr Aliev Bahriddin
Secretary of ASPS in Tajikistan

* * *

 John Perry ’s new publication, A Tajik Persian Reference Grammar, has appeared (Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section 8, Uralic & Central Asian Studies, Vol. 11. Leiden: Brill, 2005; hardback, ISBN 90 04 14323 8. 524 pp, € 95, US$ 133). This is the first comprehensive reference grammar of Tajik, the Persian of Central Asia, to appear in English. It describes the modern literary language, with examples of colloquial and dialect usage, from the early Soviet period (1920s) up until Tajikistan’s independence after 1991. Grammatical examples, taken from a variety of literary sources, are given in both the Cyrillic and Perso-Arabic scripts. Complete verb paradigms, a grammatical index, and parallel word-indexes in both writing systems make it easy to find particular points.

Another volume of interest in the same series is Vol. 9, An Historical Atlas of Central Asia, by Yuri Bregel (2003). For further particulars please visit the Publisher’s website at http://www.brill.nl

* * *

Azadeh Kian-Thiébaut ’s new book,"La République islamique d'Iran: de la maison du Guide à la raison d'Etat," has been published by Editions Michalon, Paris.

* * *

Afsaneh Najmabadi's Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity has been published by University of California Press at Berkeley, 2005.

* * *

The Society for the Promotion of Persian Culture (SPPC) in Indianapolis and Series Editor Mahmoud Omidsalar announce the imminent publication of the fourth volume in their facsimile reproductions of important Persian manuscripts. This will be the oldest complete manuscript of the Shahnameh (British Library No. Add. 21.103). For this series, see the website (http://www.sppcindiana.org/)

* * *

Shahla Haeri has been awarded a Research Associateship at the Women’s Studies in Religion program at Harvard Divinity School for the academic year 2005-2006.

* * *

The Afghanistan Digital Library at New York University is a project to locate, catalog, digitize, and distribute on electronic media and the internet all works published in Afghanistan between 1871 (the date of the first known publication) and 1930. This group of some 600+ known titles is extremely rare yet enormously important to the history of state and society in Afghanistan. The current state of the project may be seen on the internet at http://afghanistandl.nyu.edu. The project director, Robert D. McChesney, has located about 60% of the known works and obtained permission from the owners of these works to digitize them. Anyone interested in the project may obtain a copy of the bibliography that Prof. McChesney has compiled and a list of works that have yet to be found by writing him at: R. D. McChesney, The Afghanistan Digital Library, Dept. of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University, 50 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012 or by email: rdm1@nyu.edu.

* * *

In November 2004 Edward Thomas spent three weeks in Kabul, which was his entry point into the Persianate world more than 50 years ago. If members would like a copy of his observations and impressions paper, please request one by email:
edwardthomas@prodigy.net

* * *

Following the publication of his book The Hêrbedestân and Nêrangestân, vol. III: Nêrangestân, Fragard 2, ed. and translated by M. Kotwal and Philip Kreyenbroek (Paris: Association pour l'avancement des etudes iraniènnes, 2003), and his invitation to Qom on the occasion of that publication, ASPS requested that Prof. Kreyenbroek contribute a note about his visit to the Center for Religious Studies in Qom.

Comparative Religion in Qom

While Islamic cultures are increasingly depicted in western media as dangerously narrow-minded and "fundamentalist", some trends in the Islamic Republic of Iran are clearly moving the other way. During my recent visit to Iran I was privileged to be invited to Qom, to discuss Zoroastrianism with representatives of the Center for Religious Studies (Markaz-e Motaale'aat va Tahqiqaat-e Adyaan va Mazaaheb). Founded in 1996, the Center aims to carry out research on various religious traditions. It also offers tuition to graduate students in the fields of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. The Center has a remarkably well-stocked library (ca. 23,000 books), and publishes the quarterly Haft Aasmaan, as far as I know the first academic journal on comparative religion in Persian.

My discussions with the Center staff on questions of Zoroastrianism, mysticism and comparative religion could equally have taken place in some progressive academic institution in the West. All members of staff appeared to be under 50 years old, and most were clearly much younger. The scholars I met were very knowledgeable and obviously highly trained. They showed a keen and open-minded interest in a wide range of academic topics connected with religion. Unusual in such discussions, they were not afraid to move from the abstract to the concrete and the personal. Their sense of humor made the visit all the more memorable.

Philip G. Kreyenbroek, University of Göttingen

* * *

Mansura Haidar’s recent publications are the following:

 Medieval Central Asia: Polity, Economy and Military Organization (Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century) . Delhi: Manohar, 2004;

Sufis, Sultans and Feudal Orders: Professor Nural Hasan Commemoration Volume. Delhi: Manohar, 2004; and

Indo-Persian Asia Relations: From Early Times to the Medieval Period. Delhi: Manohar, 2004.

* * *

The editor of the Tajik journal Nomai Pazhuhishgoh, Dr. Mas'ud Qosimi, publishes articles mainly in the field of Iranian linguistics, literature, and folklore. For publication or subscription inquiries, please contact Dr. Bahriddin Aliev at aliev_bt@hotmail.com

* * *

Volume 2 (July-December 2004) of Deccan Studies, a new journal published in Hyderabad, India, includes two articles by ASPS members,  “Sister Shi’a States? Safavid Iran and the Deccan in the 16 th Century", by Colin P. Mitchell, and "The Hyderabad Connection in the Hoseyn-e Kord", by Rosemary Stanfield-Johnson.  

The executive editor of the journal is Dr. V. K. Bawa.

All correspondence can be sent to:

Dr. V. K. Bawa
Shanti Bagh
703/3 Road No 12
Banjara Hills
Hyderabad 500 034, India

Email: deccan_studies@yahoo.co.in .

* * *

Recent Publications in Polish:

- Oriental Languages in Translation. Języki orientalne w przekładzie, ed. by Anna Krasnowolska, Barbara Mękarska, Andrzej Zaborski; Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow Branch, Publications of the Oriental Committee, Vol. 24, Polish Academy of Sciences Press, Cracow 2002, 258 pp, ISBN 83-88549-50-2.

(Conference materials with 8 contributions on Iranian issues: 5 in English, 3 in Polish with English summary)

- Abolqasem Ferdousi, Księga Królewska. Szahname, tom I, przełożył z oryginału perskiego Władysław Dulęba; wstęp, przypisy, opracowanie filologiczne i literackie Anna Krasnowolska, Zakład Wydawniczy „Nomos”, Kraków 2004, LXXVIII + 320 pp + 7 miniatures from Czartoryski collection, ISBN 83-88508-60-1.

(The Royal Book. Shahname, I, translated from the Persian original by W. Dulęba; introduction, notes, philological and literary editing A. Krasnowolska)

- Jadwiga Pstrusińska, O tajnych językach Afganistanu i ich użytkownikach, Księgarnia akademicka, Kraków 2004, 166 pp, ISBN 83-7188-757-4

(On Secret Languages of Afghanistan and their Users; no summary in any international language)

- Marek Jan Olbrycht, Aleksander Wielki i świat irański, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, Rzeszów 2004, 412 pp, illustrations, maps, annexes, contents in German, ISBN 83-7338-134-1.

(Alexander the Great and the Iranian World)

* * *

Conferences and Exhibitions:

The Iran Heritage Foundation and Oxford University announce The Iranian Constitutional Revolution 1906-1911: Centenary Conference , Oxford,6–9 July 2006.

Organisers: Prof. Abbas Amanat, Prof. Houchang Chehabi, Dr. John Gurney, Mr. Farhad Hakimzadeh, Dr. Vanessa Martin, Prof. Mohammad Tavakoli-Targhi.

The Conference Committee proposes to organise panels on the following subjects, and is open to innovative ideas:

The coming of the Revolution; Ideologies and identities; Es­tablished organisations and institutions; New organisations and institutions; The Arts; Women; Ethnicity and the making of identity; Religious minorities: Religio-ideological groups; The regions; Global dimensions; The Revolution and memory; Perspectives and narratives.

Prospective participants should send an abstract of 300 words (in digital form, using Microsoft Word) by 1st January 2005 to Farhad Hakimzadeh farhad@iranheritage.org It is anticipated that papers will last 25 minutes. For further information, visit the conference site at

<http://www.iranheritage.org/mashrutehconference>

* * *

The 11th Annual Conference of the Central and Inner Asia Seminar (CIAS 2005) will be held at the University of Toronto in Canada on May 12–14, 2005. The proceedings of the conference will be published in Toronto Studies in Central and Inner Asia, Volume 7; the papers from CIAS 2004 should be available in time for this year's conference.

This year's theme will be “Traders and Trade Routes of Central and Inner Asia, Then and Now.” Proposals for papers of 20 minutes’ duration (title, a one-page summary, and a short c.v.) should be sent by December 1, 2004, to Profs. Gillian Long or Michael Gervers at

gillian.long@utoronto.ca or gervers@chass.utoronto.ca

For further information, see

www.utoronto.ca/deeds/cias/cias.html

* * *

The European Society for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS) announces its 9th Conference, on Central Asia: The Local, the Regional and the Global, to take place on 12-14 September 2005, at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. The event will be co-organized by the Institute of Oriental Philology of the Jagiellonian University and the Foundation “Institute for Strategic Studies.”

The theme for the conference is the interconnection of local, regional and global trends throughout time and space. Proposals for panels and papers relating to all aspects of humanities and social sciences on Central Asia should be sent, by 31 October 2004, to the address below. Only English language electronic submissions will be accepted (Microsoft Word).

Please contact the Organizers in advance for details of the format for submissions and other requirements, or see the full announcement on the ASPS website.

ESCAS IX
Institute of Oriental Philology
Jagiellonian University
Al. Mickiewicza 9/11
31-120 Krakow, Poland

Fax: 04812 4226793/E-mail: escas9th@vela.filg.uj.edu.pl

* * *

20th Annual Middle East History and Theory Conference,
University of Chicago ( May 13–14, 2005)

This year, through the organization of panels and the keynote address by Marilyn Booth (U.I.C. Champaign), the conference will focus on the role of literature and literary imagination in the writing of history. We encourage work that addresses or problematizes the divide between literary narratives, popular history, and academic history. Papers that tackle other themes and issues are welcome, as usual.

Graduate students are particularly urged to participate: both individual papers and pre-arranged panels can be accommodated. The deadline for the submission of a one-page abstract and curriculum vitae is FEBRUARY 28, 2005. Working papers must be received by APRIL 3. Please specify if audio/visual facilities are needed when submitting papers to:

Marya T. Green Mercado (mgreen1@uchicago.edu)

The conference website can be reached at: http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/mehat/conference.html

* * *

Central Eurasian Studies Society Sixth Annual Conference
September 29-October 2, 2005 Boston University, Boston, MA, U.S.A.

The Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) invites PAPER and ROUNDTABLE proposals for the Sixth CESS Annual Conference. The event will be hosted by Boston University.

Please note that this is an abbreviated version of the Call for Papers . Please visit the CESS website http://cess.fas.harvard.edu/CESS_Conference.html for full details, or request a text version of the full Call for Papers by sending an email to
<CESSconf@fas.harvard.edu>.

Paper and roundtable proposals relating to all aspects of humanities and social science scholarship on Central Eurasia are welcome. The geographic domain of Central Eurasia extends from the Black Sea and Iranian Plateau to Mongolia and Siberia, including the Caucasus, Crimea, Middle Volga, Afghanistan, Tibet, and Central and Inner Asia. Practitioners and scholars in all humanities and social science disciplines with an interest in

Central Eurasia are encouraged to participate. The language of the conference is English.

Deadline for Submission of Paper and Roundtable Proposals: April 1, 2005. Notification of acceptance: by June 1.

BEST PAPER GRADUATE STUDENT AWARD: There will be an award in the amount of $500 given to the best graduate student conference paper submitted to the Awards Committee for consideration. See the CESS awards webpage for details, or contact the Awards Committee Co-chair, Dr. Uli Schamiloglu <uschamilwisc.edu>.

Contact Information:

The Co-chairs of the Conference Committee are:
Dr. Laura Adams ( Princeton University; lladams2@earthlink.net)
Prof. Thomas Barfield ( Boston University; barfield@bu.edu)

Correspondence should be directed to:

CESS 2005 Annual Conference
c/o Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus
Harvard University
615 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge , MA 02139 USA
tel.: +1 / 617-496-2643
fax: +1 / 617-495-8319
e-mail: CESSconf@fas.harvard.edu

Full information about CESS 2005 in Boston is found on the conference webpages:
Main conference website:
http://cess.fas.harvard.edu/CESS_Conference.html
Full information about hosting and location at Boston University:
http://www.bu.edu/cess

* * *

2nd Conference on Literary Translation in Iran at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, in association with Imam Reza University:

Literary translation from the perspective of Persian language and literature ( Mashhad, Iran, September 26- 27, 2005)

Subthemes:
* Language of literary translation and language of literary writing in Iran: similarities, differences and mutual effects
* Position of literary translation in the national literature of Iran
* Criteria for criticism of literary translation
* Cultural function of literary translation in Iran  
* The effects of reader-based and culture-based theories of translation on the practice of translation in Iran

Deadline for submission of article abstracts: June 18, 2005.
Deadline for submission of articles: August 20, 2005.

Note: The abstract/summary should not be less than 700 words.
For more information, please contact the chairman of the conference,
Dr. Ali Khazaee Far <khazaeefar@yahoo.com>

* * *

Sixth Biennial Conference on Iranian Studies

Organized by the International Society for Iranian Studies (ISIS),   the Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF),   and the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) 3-5 August 2006 , at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London The conference will take place immediately after the Centenary Conference on the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, which will be organized by the Iran Heritage Foundation and the University of Oxford and held 30 July– 2 August 2006 at Oxford [see ASPS Newsletter No. 13, and <http://www.iranheritage.org/>]. 

The Programme Committee welcomes contributions in all fields of Iranian studies, especially new areas of investigation and/or novel approaches to traditional fields. Those wishing to submit a proposal for a pre-arranged panel should provide four abstracts and the name of a discussant in their proposals. The primary language of the conference will be English, but proposals for papers in Persian will be considered as well. Up-to-date information on the Sixth Biennial Conference will be available at www.iranianstudies.net and at www.iranheritage.org.

The deadline for the submission of proposals is October 1, 2005. Abstracts must be limited to 250-300 words. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to:  isislondon@hotmail.com . 

Confirmation will be sent by e-mail.  Please also send a paper copy of the abstract to:

Professor H. E. Chehabi
Programme Committee Chairman
Department of International Relations
Boston University
152 Bay State Road
Boston , MA 02215 USA

The conference will be held at SOAS, and participants should contact the Iran Heritage Foundation (info@iranheritage.org) if they require an invitation in order to obtain a visa for entry into the UK or if they wish to make arrangements for accommodation at student halls of the University of London. 

* * *

The Art and Material Culture of Iranian Shiism: July 7-8, 2006, Oxford, UK

Despite the numerous studies of Iranian art and material culture, covering architecture, object studies, flat art and photography, very little work has been published on the subject of Shiite art per se. This interdisciplinary conference aims to address this problem by bringing together historians, art historians, numismatists, anthropologists and folklorists in order to try and identify what is specifically Shiite in the art and material culture of Iran.

The conference will cover Iran from earliest Islamic times until the 21 st century, but expects to focus on four main periods: Safavid, Qajar, Pahlavi and post-Revolutionary Iran. It will also include Iranian Shiism as it has spread to other areas of the Islamic world, in particular India and East Africa.

Call for papers: titles of papers and abstracts should be sent to Professor James Allan at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford OX1 2PH, UK, or to Pedram Khosronejad pedram.khosronejad@orinst.ox.ac.uk

The deadline for submission of abstracts is July 1, 2005.

* * *

The World of Achaemenid Persia
A Conference at the British Museum, London.

Dates:
29 September – 1 October 2005.

Organised by:
The British Museum and the Iran Heritage Foundation. 

Conference committee:
John Curtis, Farhad Hakimzadeh, Sam Moorhead, St. John Simpson, Nigel Tallis.

This conference is organised in conjunction with the exhibition The Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia at the British Museum (see announcement above).

The Conference Committee is soliciting proposals on suggested themes (see the website) which it is hoped will be a useful guide for those offering papers. Prospective speakers should indicate in which section their paper belongs.

Prospective speakers should send a 250-300 word abstract by 15 May 2005 to Farhad Hakimzadeh, Iran Heritage Foundation, <farhad@iranheritage.org>. Please submit abstracts in digital form using Microsoft Word. Papers should not be longer than 25 minutes. The preferred language of the conference is English. Please also provide your audio visual requirements.

Publication of papers:
The organisers intend to publish the papers presented at the conference in a volume of proceedings. All papers submitted should therefore be of publishable quality and constitute new work.

Enquiries:
All enquiries to be addressed to: Iran Heritage Foundation, 5 Stanhope Gate, London W1K 1AH; 44 20 75846949 (tel); 44 20 75846709 (fax); <farhad@iranheritage.org>.

Link for event details:
For additional information on this event please see the website at http://www.iranheritage.org/achaemenidconference

* * *

Line and Letter: Examining a 16th-century Shirazi Manuscript, an exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia: Rosenwald Gallery, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, 6th floor, 3420 Walnut Street on March 23 - May 23, 2005

Opening reception: March 23, 5:30 - 7:30, with recitation of poems of Nizami in Persian and English.

* * *

The Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia , an exhibition at the British Museum, London. This is the largest exhibition on Achaemenid Persia ever assembled and will include some of the most famous and iconic pieces from that period. A loan of about 80 objects from Iran will be supplemented by important material from the Louvre and from the British Museum’s own collection.

The exhibition will run from 8 September 2005 – 8 January 2006.

* * *

 PERSIAN SUMMER COURSES

2005 Eastern Consortium in
Persian and Turkish

Summer Program
at The Ohio State University
June 20 to August 12, 2005

Application deadline: April 4, 2005.

Intensive instruction in both introductory and intermediate Persian and Turkish. The emphasis in all courses will be on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The target proficiency level for the introductory courses will be Novice High, and for the intermediate courses Intermediate High. Each course will provide up to 15 quarter hours of graded undergraduate credit.

Some financial aid will be available from the Consortium to qualified graduate and professional applicants. In addition, Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies ( FLAS) Fellowships and other sources of financial support may also be applied. Consortium applicants who are graduate or professional students, and who attend universities which do not offer Summer FLAS Fellowships, may apply for a Summer 2005 FLAS Fellowship from The Ohio State University (application deadline: February 4, 2005). On-campus housing at nominal rates will be available.

For further information, contact:

Stafford Noble, Consortium Coordinator
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
The Ohio State University
300 Hagerty Hall
1775 College Road
Columbus , OH 43210-1340

Phone: 614-292-7758
Fax: 614-292-1262
E-mail: noble.3@osu.edu
Web: http://nelc.osu.edu/programs/ptcn0406/announce.htm

The Eastern Consortium in Persian and Turkish is a cooperative arrangement of the Title VI National Resource Centers of Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, New York, Ohio State, and Princeton Universities and the Universities of Michigan and Pennsylvania, with special support from the College of Humanities at The Ohio State University

* * *

Advanced Persian Summer Course
10 June -15 July
University Towers , Austin (TX)

The 13th Annual RIRI Advanced Persian Course at University Towers in Austin (TX) meets six hours most class days, offers a totals of 180 hours of instruction, and places equal emphasis on listening, reading, and speaking. Each class hour treats a different sort of Persian or skill; e.g, conversations on job-related subjects, listening to recorded broadcasts, monologues, and (telephone) conversations, reading newspapers, reading prose fiction, and practicing dictionary and Persian website use. Proficiency/performance-based course materials include RIRI Persian Newspaper Syllabus, RIRI Persian Fiction Syllabus, RIRI Persian Dictionary Syllabus, Persian Listening: A Self-study and Classroom Guide (2005), and Persian Grammar: Topics Modules (2006). In addition to cited materials, course participants receive copies of the most up-to-date Persian-Persian, Persian-English, and English-Persian dictionaries, and audio CD and DVD recordings of course texts.

The tentative daily class schedule is: (1) 8-8:50 am Study Hall/Review, (2) 9-9:50 Dictionaries, Computers, and Technical Texts, (3) 10-10:50 Newspapers, (4) 11-11:50 Conversation, (5) 1-1:50 pm Persian Fiction and Iranian Culture, (6) 2-2:50 Listening, and (7) Persian Language Topics.

Persian is the language of communication in and outside of class, except for optional use of English in the afternoon Persian Language Topics session. On six afternoons, course participants watch Iranian feature films for which they prepare in listening and conversation classes. The course also involves Persian-only lunch tables, three Persian/Iranian cooking lessons, and a field trip to Iranian-American businesses in Houston.

Upon successful completion of the course, participants receive a certificate signed by course faculty (all of whom are experienced language teachers with advanced degrees in relevant fields) and a letter by Course Director Michael Hillmann, stating that the Course is equivalent to three, three-credit, third- or fourth-year university Persian courses. Universities routinely accept that letter as sufficient documentation for giving a student equivalent credit at his or her university. Participants in the RIRI Advanced Persian Course have come from Columbia University, The University of Chicago, Harvard University, Indiana University, The University of California at Los Angeles, The University of Texas at Austin, and elsewhere.

Summer 2005 RIRI Advanced Persian Course classes take place at University Towers, a residential and office complex, located in mid-town Austin three blocks west of the campus of The University of Texas. Course participants also reside at University Towers and take their meals at the University Towers Food Court. Each course participant has a private bedroom and bathroom in a furnished, two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment, with a free wireless connection to the Interet and the Persepolis Institute website.

For more information about the 2005 RIRI Advanced Persian Course, including course fees, a tentative course calendar, information about Austin, and a pre-course packet, contact:

Persepolis Institute, Inc.
P.O. Box 8016
Austin , TX 78713, USA
512-458-2924 (tel/fax)
PersepInstitute@aol.com
mchllmann@aol.com

* * *

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Summer Residential Immersion Programs in Arabic and Persian
11 June– 06 August 2005

UW-Madison announces the 2005 session of its two summer residential immersion programs in Modern Standard Arabic and Persian. These programs are open to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students of Arabic and Persian at both the elementary and intermediate levels (first and second year). Participants will agree to use their language of study (be it Arabic or Persian) exclusively throughout the entire eight-week program.

We are happy to announce that the North American Association of Summer Sessions (NAASS) chose our Summer Arabic Immersion Program as the recipient of the Creative and Innovative Program Award of Merit for 2004. Now with the addition of Persian to our program we hope to build upon last year's achievements.

Our programs feature a variety of out-of-class activities. Students take meals with their instructors, watch films and television programs in their language of study, take field trips to cultural sites, and participate in their choice of athletic and artistic activities coordinated by staff fluent in the language of study.

This summer we are offering two levels of Arabic and Persian: elementary (first year), and intermediate (second year). Those with no background in the language for which they are applying should apply for the elementary level, while those with one year of university-level Arabic/Persian study or its equivalent are encouraged to apply at the intermediate level. Both levels offer eight UW-Madison semester credits.

Admission to the program will be selective. Applicants will be accepted on a rolling basis until the program is filled. Apply early for the best chance of admission. See the program website for further details and to download an application:
http://global.wisc.edu/apip/

Summer Arabic & Persian Immersion Programs
UW-Madison Global Studies
301 Ingraham Hall
1155 Observatory Drive
Madison , WI 53706

Telephone: (608) 265-2631
Fax: (608) 265-2633
Email: global@intl-institute.wisc.edu

* * *

Other universities advertising summer programs in Persian are:

Georgetown University
http://summerschool.georgetown.edu/

University of California , Berkeley
http://neareastern.berkeley.edu

* * *

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