2012-2013 Annual Report from Roshan Institute for Persian Studies at UMD

Jun 1, 2013

Roshan Institute for Persian Studies (RIPS) at the University of Maryland at College Park reported a high level of academic and cultural programming during 2012-2013. Under the leadership of its new Director, Dr. Fatemeh Keshavarz (Roshan Institute Chair in Persian Studies), RIPS enjoyed strong enrollment in Persian Studies, awarded its first graduate fellowship, and offered a number of distinguished programs.

This past spring, thanks to the diligent efforts of Dr. Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali, founder and President of Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, working in conjunction with the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at UMD, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama visited the university on May 7. Events included a large public presentation for 15,000+ attendees, a lunch at the president’s residence for VIP guests, and a special presentation hosted by the Institute on “A Meeting of Two Oceans: Dialogue on Sufism and Buddhism” with more than 600 attendees.

These events engaged the university community and brought increased attention to the major role of the Roshan Institute in contributing to the intellectual and cultural life on campus. Other events during the year included “An Evening With Rumi: Persian Mystical Poetry and Music,” a reading by poet Hushang Ebtehaj, the Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series featuring Professor Carl W. Ernst, William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, RIPS’s first Iranian film festival, Festival Cinema Invisible, and International Women’s Day Celebration with writer Shahrnush Parsipur.

RIPS looks forward to another year rich in top-notch programming in 2013-2014.

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Grant to East West Center: Voices of Afghanistan

May 3, 2013

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is happy to announce a grant to East West Center in support of the performing arts project, “Voices of Afghanistan”. This project illustrates that Afghanistan is home to an impressive array of musical genres. Each is distinct, yet they all share a vibrancy and depth indicative of their importance in the larger fabric of society. The lasting significance of the ghazals (Sufi poetic songs), folk songs, and traditional melodies to be performed reflect their ability to speak to our very human need for love, grace, and transcendence.

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Grant to Persepolis Fortification Archive Project

Apr 5, 2013

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute is pleased to establish a Summer Fellowships Program at University of Chicago in connection with Persepolis Fortification Archive Project. The Persepolis Fortification Archive Project is a new phase in recording and distributing the information that brings about these changes, using electronic equipment and media alongside the conventional tool-kits of philology and scholarship. 

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