Portland State received $150,000 earlier this month from the Persian Aligned Righteous Strategic Astute Community Foundation (PARSA CF), a grant aimed at revamping Portland State’s Persian/Iranian Studies program.
PARSA CF is a six-year-old philanthropic organization dedicated to preserving Persian arts and culture while creating leaders in the Persian/Iranian community by offering fellowships and awards.
Portland State received $150,000 earlier this month from the Persian Aligned Righteous Strategic Astute Community Foundation (PARSA CF), a grant aimed at revamping Portland State’s Persian/Iranian Studies program.
PARSA CF is a six-year-old philanthropic organization dedicated to preserving Persian arts and culture while creating leaders in the Persian/Iranian community by offering fellowships and awards.
The organization announced the results of the 2010 Mehrgan Grant Cycle on July 5. Twelve North American universities were awarded a total of $2.4 million; Portland State received one-sixteenth of the total award funds.
“PSU is the largest university in Oregon, home to more than 10,000 Iranian-American families,” PARSA CF said in a newsletter. “The grant is intended to enhance the Middle East Studies program with Persian/Iranian Studies, and plant the seeds for a more established Iranian Studies program in the future.”
“On campus at the present time, Persian is taught as a language and some classes are offered on Iran and the Persian world,” said Grant Farr, the associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “But these classes are insufficient, and we hope this grant is the first step in offering a greater variety of classes and programs on this area of the world. It has a very long history and a strong and proud culture and literature.”
Anousha Sedighi, who is the director of the Persian program at PSU, agrees with Farr on the inadequacies of the current Persian/Iranian Studies program and believes the PARSA CF grant is a step in the right direction.
“Currently, I am the only tenured Persian language faculty member,” Sedighi said. “We also have a part-time adjunct faculty member who teaches Iran-related studies. For the departments concerned with other regions of the Middle East, there are more tenure-track faculty, which means there are more courses about those areas.”
With the arrival of a visiting Iranian scholar, funded by the PARSA CF grant, more Persian/Iranian Studies courses will be available to students. The scholar-in-residence will be at Portland State for two years.
“Raising awareness about Iran is a necessary task in the light of today’s politics,” Sedighi said. “For instance, we offer no courses related to the history of Iran, and knowing more about the history of Iran will help students to have a better understanding of today’s Iran-U.S. complications.”
Sedighi originally proposed that PSU hire two tenure-track Persian scholars specializing in the social sciences using Portland State’s “Matching Funds Policy,” but unfortunately that policy no longer exists and the PARSA CF grant wasn’t enough to secure an additional tenure-track faculty member.
Although it cannot fund new permanent faculty, the grant will achieve major program improvements. “It will enable us to promote
cultural awareness about the region through community activities, new courses, lecture series and research,” Sedighi said.
The Mehrgan Grant will also fund a Persian resident artist, who will teach two Persian music courses during the upcoming winter and spring terms. The resident artist of the 2012–13 academic year will offer four courses.
I have BA degree in the field of music and MA and PhD degrees in the field of “research on art” and the subject of all of my researches has been about Persian music(in MA thesis,philosophy of Persian music). And my specialized instrument is santoor and my master is one of the greatest masters of santoor, that is Majid Kiani. Currently I am lecturing at Art University of Tehran. I am willing to apply for another PhD degree in the field of Persian studies in the United States concentrating Persian Music(especially with the subject of: Relation between Persian music and perennial philosophy including the illumination philosophy of Sohravardi which is revival of ancient Iran’s philosophy_this research can show the philosophic and spiritual worthiness of Persian music to the western and Iranian who live in the United States) and 150000 dollars award of PSU will enable me to do this.I will be expecting your answer.
In addition, if you know any academic job opportunity in the field of Persian music, I would be grateful if you inform me.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Pezhman Radmehr