Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute would like to congratulate former fellow, Kristian Peterson, on his new position as tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. Dr. Peterson successfully completed his Ph.D. degree in 2012 with a dissertation on “The Great Transformation: Contours of the Sino-Islamic Tradition.” Current Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute fellow, Jipar Duishembieva, continues to make progress on her dissertation on “Central Asian Intellectuals of Semirech’e Oblast of Russian Turkestan, 1905-1924.”

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is delighted to report that nine students received Roshan Institute Fellowships for Persian and Iranian Studies during academic year 2012-2013 at the University of Arizona. Fellowship recipients: Jason Watson, Marie Donovan, Mojtaba Ebrahimian, Zahra Karimi, Ana Ghoreishian, Farrah Jafari, Isra Yaghoubi, Kian Gordon Alavy, and Mehrak Kamalisarvestani carried out research projects on a variety of subjects ranging from Persian language and literature to music and humor. Roshan Institute Fellowships for Excellence in Persian Studies was established in 2003 in the School of Middle Eastern & North African Studies (formerly Department of Near Eastern Studies) and has distributed more than 40 awards since 2005.

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute would like to commend the recipients of Roshan Institute Scholarship for Excellence in Persian Studies at California State University, Fresno. Mayaprimaver Flores, Jagmeet Singh, Alison Natneil, Shayan Zoghi and Yufei Wang received awards for the academic year 2012-2013. This scholarship program was established in 2007 and supports outstanding undergraduate students taking Persian language and culture courses at CSU Fresno.

The University of Arizona is hosting its Spring 2014 Film Series between February and May. Featured in this selection are two Iranian films: “About 111 Girls” (2012) by Nahid Ghobadi and Bijan Zmanpira; and “My Tehran for Sale” (2009) by Granaz Moussavi.

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute would like to congratulate Dr. Afsaneh Najmabadi, Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University, for the publication of her latest book, Professing Selves: Transsexuality and Same-Sex Desire in Contemporary Iran (Duke University Press, December 2013). Dr. Najmabadi is the author of several other books; teaches in Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies; and leads the Women’s Worlds in Qajar Iran project, which received support from Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute.

The Musée de la Castre in Cannes has embarked on a major project to study, document and restore 150 paintings, miniatures and objects from its collection of Qajar artworks. The Museum has an exceptional holding of 350 Qajar-era pieces gifted by the Baron Lycklama at the end of the 19th century, many of which have been damaged during the Second World War. Following this initiative, carried out in partnership with the Department of Islamic Art of the Louvre Museum and the Institut national du patrimoine, the Musée de la Castre will display the restored works in a new gallery. A select number of pieces are currently on view in a special exhibition.