Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is delighted to announce fellowship awards for outstanding students studying Persian language, linguistics and culture at UH Manoa. Two Roshan Institute Fellowships in Persian Linguistics, Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics will be awarded to qualified students who have been admitted to the College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature for doctoral study in Linguistics or Second Language Studies starting in 2014-2015. Several Roshan Institute Fellowships for Persian Language and Culture are also available for excellent graduate students currently enrolled in Persian language and culture courses.

We would like to congratulate Roshan Institute Chair in Persian Studies, Fatemeh Keshavarz, who was named December’s “Poet of the Month” by Grace Cavalieri. Dr. Keshavarz was interviewed by poet and playwright Grace Cavalieri, where she spoke candidly about her early introduction into poetry and Classical Persian literature, UMD’s Persian Studies program and read some of her own poetry.

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute would like to congratulate Dr. Talinn Grigor on her forthcoming book entitled Contemporary Iranian Art: From the Street to the Studio (London, Reaktion Books) and is delighted to support its publication through a grant to Brandeis University. This book is the first single-author, art historical study on contemporary Iranian art and visual culture since the 1979 revolution and explores the multiple aspects of artistic production. Dr. Grigor is a former Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute Fellow and currently Associate Professor of Art History at Brandeis, where she teaches art and architecture.

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Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is delighted to announce a grant to Dr. Hossein Omoumi and Documentary Educational Resources, Inc. for the production of “Classical Persian Music. Hossein Omoumi from Isfahan to Irvine” and related outreach efforts. Dr. Omoumi is an internationally recognized musician specializing in the ney and an accomplished vocalist, and currently holds the Maseeh Professorship in Persian Performing Arts at UC Irvine. His contributions to the teaching, understanding and enjoyment of classical Persian music are numerous and invaluable. The documentary, together with the educational curriculum developed by Dr. Omoumi, will enhance the appreciation and awareness of Persian culture, music and poetry by students, musicians, and the general public.

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Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is delighted to renew its support of the Iranian Culture and Art Club of Fresno this year. The ICAC Fresno is a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 with the goal to promote and preserve Iranian culture, arts and traditions in Fresno and San Joaquin Valley in California. Its cultural and educational activities include Persian language and dance classes, lectures and performance series, and celebration of Iranian holidays, such as Noruz and Yalda.

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The Louvre Museum’s new galleries for Islamic Art recently welcomed distinguished guests, The Honorable Neil Abercrombie, Governor of the State of Hawaii, and his wife, Dr. Nancie Caraway; and Dr. Michael V. Drake, Chancellor of the University of California, Irvine, and his wife, Brenda Drake. Both visits were led by Yannick Lintz, director of the Department of Islamic Art. The Louvre’s collection includes many treasures of Persian art, whose study, publication, exhibition and related educational activities are made possible through the support of the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Fund.

(© Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Raphaël Chipault)

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We would like to welcome Naciem Nikkhah, Lecturer in Persian Language, to San José State University. She currently teaches beginning Persian and advises the Persian Students Association, in addition to her research on the art of the Iranian Diaspora and Persian language and literature. We would also like to congratulate the recipients of Roshan Institute Fellowship, Scholarship and Assistantship in 2013-2014: Hamed Sorourifar; Khaled Ali, Christopher Suard and Michelle Belmessieri-Hogg; and Ume Naqvi and Ritu Sristava, respectively.

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is delighted to share the news from the Persian and Iranian Studies Program. The inaugural Friends of Persian Studies Fundraiser held on October 19 featured Persian music, dance and poetry readings. On November 16, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, in collaboration with the Persian and Iranian Studies Program, hosted the sold out event “An Evening of the Music of Iran” with a performance by the Daneshvar Ensemble. Other activities included a poetry night in celebration of Mehregan and a lecture by Professor Abbas Milani (Stanford University). We would also like to congratulate Daniel Hadidi who received a Mary Gates Leadership Grant for his work as co-president of the Persian Circle, and Kayhan Nejad, who began his M.Phil. in Persian literature at Cambridge University.

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Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is delighted to announce its support of the Persian Culture Program Series at the Honolulu Museum of Art in 2014. The March editions of Bank of Hawaii Family Sunday and ARTafterDARK will celebrate Noruz with a multitude of activities, demonstrations and performances for the education and enjoyment of children, families and adults. The Honolulu Persian Film Festival, scheduled in September, will feature documentaries and short films revealing the richness and diversity of Persian culture and society. Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute congratulates the Honolulu Museum of Art for its efforts to share Persian culture with a broad audience on the island.

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