Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute has provided grants to The International Society for Iranian Studies since 2002 to support its Biennial Iranian Studies Conference. These conferences are the largest world-wide gatherings of scholars, who are engaged in the various disciplines of this broad field, and include academic presentations as well as cultural events and networking opportunities.

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is delighted to announce a new grant to the International Qajar Studies Association in support of its Fourteenth IQSA Conference, which will be held on May 30-31, 2014 at the Iranistik Institute of the Otto-Friedrich University in Bamberg, Germany. The Conference Co-Chairs are Dr. Houchang Chehabi and Dr. Roxane Haag-Higuchi; keynote speakers are Dr. Homa Katouzian and Dr. Manoutchehr Eskandari-Qajar. In addition, a large panel of scholars from around the world will share their work on the theme of “Literature and Writing in Qajar Iran” with presentations ranging from Qajar newspapers and novels to travel literature. Select papers from the conference will be published in the 2014-2015 IQSA Journal next spring.

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute invites you to join Roshan Institute for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland and the Library of Congress in celebrating the opening of the exhibit “A Thousand Years of the Persian Book” on March 27, 2014. This special event will feature the lecture “Illustrating the Persian Book: The Happy Marriage of Literary and Visual Narrative” by Dr. John Renard (Saint Louis University), guided visits of the exhibit led by Hirad Dinavari (Library of Congress), and a panel discussion with Dr. Renard, Dr. Fatemeh Keshavarz (Roshan Institute for Persian Studies, UMD) and Dr. Amy Landau (Walters Art Museum). This event is free and open to the public.

The University of Toronto’s Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, Department of History and the Department of Historical Studies in conjunction with the Toronto Initiative for Iranian Studies and The Foundation for Iranian Studies have teamed up to present the Iranian Studies Seminar Series. Our distinguished seminars are designed to feature work from leading faculty members who are enganged in exploring various topics in the Iranian community and culture. Each seminar is uniquely created to provide insight and practical advice to those interested in this particular area of academia. With the rich content embeded into each of our seminars they are bound to spark inspirational ideas for future reasearch.

On March 28, 2014, Dr. Carl Ernst, William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will present the lecture “Anglo-Persian Taxonomies of Indian Religions.”

Congratulations to Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute Fellow and Grand Valley State University Assistant Professor of History Dr. Chad Lingwood on the publication of “Politics, Poetry, and Sufism in Medieval Iran. New Perspectives on Jāmī’s Salāmān va Absāl” (Leiden: Brill, 2014).

In his new book, Dr. Lingwood offers new insights into the political significance of poetry and Sufism at the court of Sulṭān Ya‘qūb (d. 896/1490), leader of the Āq Qoyūnlū. The basis of the study is Salāmān va Absāl, a Persian allegorical romance ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Jāmī (d. 898/1492), the great Timurid belletrist and Naqshbandi Sufi, dedicated to Ya‘qūb. Lingwood demonstrates that Salāmān va Absāl, which modern critics have dismissed as ‘crude’ and ‘grotesque,’ is a sophisticated work of political and mystical advice for a Muslim ruler. In the process, he challenges received wisdom concerning Jāmī, the Āq Qoyūnlū, and Perso-Islamic advice literature. Significantly, the study illustrates the extent to which Jāmī’s compositions integrated the Timurid and Āq Qoyūnlū realms.

An exhibition at the Library of Congress will explore the rich literary tradition of the Persian language over the last millennium, from illuminated manuscripts to contemporary publications. The exhibition will bring attention to the literary achievements of Iran and the greater Persian-speaking regions of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Central and South Asia and the Caucasus. The exhibition’s 75 items are drawn primarily from the outstanding Persian collection in the Library’s African and Middle Eastern Division. The Library’s Persian collection is among the most important in the world today outside of Iran. “A Thousand Years of the Persian Book” will open on Thursday, March 27 and close on Saturday, September 20, 2014.

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On March 15, 2014, the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s International Student Association presents its annual International Night on the theme of “A Voyage Through Paradise.” A booth on Iran will feature books, slideshow of pictures from Iran, videos on Persian cuisine and Persian poetry reading with music. Twenty some other cultures will be represented at International Night 2014. The event is free and open to the public.

An exceptional program of lectures and presentations on Persian art and culture will take place in Washington, D.C. from March to September 2014. These scholarly events are designed by Roshan Institute for Persian Studies at UMD and its Chair,