Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Events

Jalinous Lecture Series

Scents and Sensibility: the Persian Garden Experience
September 27, 2024 ● 2:00 PM (EDT) via Zoom

man-made pond in middle of curated garden with trees and structure
Image: Chehel Sotoun, M.A. Borghei, 2017 (Source: commons.wikimedia.org, cropped & edited for color)

The Persian Studies Program is looking forward to its first webinar this fall in the Jalinous Lecture Series, Scents and Sensibility: The Persian Garden Experience, on Friday, September 27, 2024, at 2:00pm via Zoom. This webinar will feature a discussion with

  • Dr. Farshid Emami — Assistant Professor, Department of Art History, Rice University
  • Dr. Sahar Hosseini — Assistant Professor, Department of History of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh
  • Ms. Margaret O. Squires — Visiting Lecturer, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK

and will be moderated by Dr. Sussan Babaei, Professor of Islamic and Iranian Arts
The Courtauld, University of London.

A Q&A will follow the presentation with questions from the audience. Attendees may submit questions ahead of time by emailing them to persian@georgetown.edu.

RSVP to receive the Zoom link via email.

This event is funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Images: Safavid Courtiers Leading Georgian Captives (16th century); Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

On Friday, May 3, 2024, the Persian Studies Program hosted its final Jalinous Lecture Series webinar of the academic year, Weaving Nature: The Art of Carpets and Textiles in Iran. This webinar included a discussion with Carol Bier, author, historian, and research scholar of Textile Art; Dr. Nazanin Munroe, Director of Textiles at City University of New York; and moderated by Sumru Krody, senior curator at The Textile Museum Collection in Washington, D.C.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

images of Iranian cultural icons and text: "Persian Studies Program Presents 20th Edition of the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Lecture Series

On February 26, 2024, the Persian Studies Program celebrated its 20th edition of the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Lecture Series. In collaboration with the Georgetown Global Medieval Studies Program and the Georgetown Humanities Initiative, the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Lecture Series of the Persian Studies Program hosted a visit with Dr. Dick Davis, who spoke on Nezami’s 12th century masterpiece of Persian poetry, Khostow and Shirin.

Dick Davis, faculty emeritus from The Ohio State University and fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, is “widely acknowledged as the leading translator of Persian literature in our time” (The Washington Post). Dr. Davis’ latest work is a translation of Nezami Ganjavi’s Khosrow and Shirin, the story of Iranian prince Khosrow’s love for the Armenian princess Shirin. This is a tumultuous tale in which the exigencies of politics and warfare intertwine with no less powerful forces of erotic desire and the quest for personal and spiritual fulfilment.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Images L to R: still image from Lor Girl by Abdolhossein Sapanta (1933); still image from Ballad of Tara by Bahram Beizai (1979); poster image from Abi and Rabi by Ovanes Ohanian (1933); and still image from The Report by Abbas Kiarostami (1977)

On Friday, December 8, 2023, the Persian Studies Program hosted its final event in the Fall 2023 Jalinous Lecture Series, Iranian Cinema: 123 Years of History. This virtual event featured a discussion with Dr. Golbarg Rekabtalaei, historian, author, and Associate Professor in the Department of History at Seton Hall University; Ehsan Khoshbakht, filmmaker, film curator, writer, and critic; and Dr. Pedram Partovi, historian, author, and Associate Professor in the Department of History at American University.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

On Friday, November 17, 2023 the Persian Studies Program hosted its next event in the Fall 2023 Jalinous Lecture Series, An Interview with Pulitzer Prize winning Playwright Sanaz Toossi. This virtual event featured a discussion with Sanaz Toossi, American playwright and screenwriter, and Pulitzer Prize Winner for Drama in 2023 for her play, English; and Tara Bahrampour, Washington Post staff writer and the author of To See and See Again: A Life in Iran and America.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Buzurmihr Explains the Game of Backgammon (Nard) to the Raja of Hind, Folio from the First Small Shahnama (Book of Kings), ca. 1300, Iran. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

On Friday, October 13, 2023, the Persian Studies Program hosted its first event in the Fall 2023 Jalinous Lecture Series, Games People Play: The Legacy of Games of Ancient Iran from Polo to Backgammon. This event featured a discussion with panelists Dr. Houchang Chehabi, Professor of History and International Relations at Boston University; Dr. Willem Floor, Author and Iranologist; and Tara Kangarlou, Global Affairs Journalist, and author of Heartbeat of Iran: Real Voices of a Country and its People.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Images L to R: Detail, Shapur I Meets Mehrak’s Daughter painted by Agha Mirak c. 1520-30 / folio 5278, private collection; Detail, Qapdafeh Recognizes Sekandar, folio 4410, Topkapi Palace Museum; Detail, Rudabeh Lets Down Her Hair for Zal, c. 1590, British Library; Detail, Nashin-Ravan Greets the Khagan’s Daughter, Attributed to Dust Mohammed, c. 1525-30 / folio 633v, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Detail, Homay Crowns Darab, British Library. (All images from The Lion and the Throne: Stories from the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, Vol. I, Mage Publishers, 1997.)

The Persian Studies Program hosted its next virtual lecture in the Jalinous Lecture Series, The Shahnameh: Epic Poem, Heroic Women on Friday, April 14, 2023. The lecture featured a discussion with Dr. Nahid Pirnazar, lecturer of Iranian Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and editor of Women in the Shahnameh by Dr. Khaleghi Motlagh; and Tara Kangarlou, global affairs journalist and author of Heartbeat of Iran: Real Voices of a Country and its People.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Images, l to r:: Sepideh Mehraban, Installation Shot, This Is Not Propaganda, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town; Jinoos Taghizadeh, Rock Scissors Paper, courtesy Aaran Gallery, Tehran; Sheida Soleimani, Noono-
namak (bread and salt), courtesy of Denny Dimin Gallery, NYC.

The Persian Studies program hosted the first Spring 2023 event in our Jalinous Lecture Series on Friday, January 27, 2023, Voices of Resistance: Iranian Art Today, featuring a discussion with Sepideh Mehraban, artist, South Africa; Sheida Soleimani, artist and Faculty in the Department of Fine Arts at Brandeis University, Massachusetts; Jinoos Taghizadeh, artist, Germany; and moderated by Pamela Karimi, architect and Faculty in the Department of Art History at UMass at Dartmouth.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

photograph of Forough Farrokhzad
Photography courtesy of Encyclopedia Iranica

On Friday, November 18, 2022, the Persian Studies program hosted the next event in our Jalinous Lecture Series, Forough Farrokhzad: Iconic Iranian Poet (1934-1967), featuring a discussion with Dr. Farzaneh Milani, scholar, author, poet, translator, and educator; and Tara Kangarlou — global affairs journalist, author, and adjunct professor.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Watch the recorded presentation.

“Untitled” from the series “Home” / 2017 / Courtesy of the artist ©Gohar Dashti

On Friday, September 30, 2022, we began the 2022-2023 Jalinous Lecture Series with our first webinar, Imagination and Identity: Contemporary Iranian Women Writers of the Diaspora. This lecture featured a panel discussion by Dr. Jasmin Darznik, author of The Good Daughter, Song of a Captive Bird, and The Bohemians; Marjan Kamali, author of The Stationery Shop and Together Tea; and moderated by Dr. Persis Karim, the Neda Nobari Distinguished Chair of the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State University.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

On Friday, April 29, 2022, the Persian Studies Program hosted its last event of Spring 2022 in the Jalinous Lecture Series, Kiarostami: Imagination and Existence in Film. The event included a discussion with panelists Jean-Michel Frodon, Associate Professor of Film at Sciences-Po Paris; Mehrnaz Saeede-Vafa, Professor of Cinema and Television Arts at Columbia College Chicago; and film critic Godfrey Cheshire; and was moderated by Richard Peña, Professor of Film and Media Studies at Columbia University.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

colored stripes in bright and pastel colors

On Friday, March 18, 2022, the Persian Studies Program hosted its next presentation in the Jalinous Lecture Series, Celebration and Ceremony: Zoroastrianism and Nowruz, Easter, and Passover, featuring a panel discussion with Dr. Jamsheed Choksy, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, Indiana University; Dr. Jason Sion Mokhtarian, Associate Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University; Dr. Maria Doerfler, Assistant Professor of Late Antiquity in the Department of Religious Studies at Yale University; and moderated by Dr. Neda Bolourchi, Associate Director and Postdoctoral Associate in the Middle Eastern Studies Program at Rutgers University.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This presentation was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

The Ardabil Carpet (detail), Iran 16th C., Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Safavid Textile (detail), Iran 17th C., LACMA

On Friday, February 11, 2022, the Persian Studies Program hosted a webinar on Magnificent Design: Persian Influence in Textile Arts, featuring panelists Fuchsia Hart, DPhil candidate at The Khalili Research Center, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford; Dr. Nazanin Hedayat Munroe, Director of Textile Technology at CUNY/NYC College of Technology New York; and Dr. Nader Sayadi, A.W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and moderated by Carol Bier, historian, scholar, and former Curator at the Textile Museum in Washington DC.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Shah Tahmasp of Persia receives Humayun Padishah of India, Chehel Sutun Palace, Isfahan, Iran, 1660.

On Friday, December 3, 2021, the Persian Studies Program hosted a webinar on Yalda and Yuletide: Persian Influence on Winter Celebrations, featuring panelists Professor Anna Krasnowolska, Professor of Iranian Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Jagiellonian University, Poland; and Dr. Khodadad Rezakhani, Senior Researcher, Department of Area Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Sylvia W. Önder, Teaching Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Anthropology here at Georgetown University.

Link available upon request – persian@georgetown.edu .

This event was part of the Jalinous Lecture Series and funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies

On Friday, October 29, 2021, the Persian Studies program hosted a webinar on Pioneers: Iranian Americans in Science Today, featuring panelists Dr. Mona Jarrahi, Professor of Physical and Wave Electronics at the University of California, Los Angeles; and Dr. Pardis Sabeti, Rhodes Scholar and Professor at Harvard University & Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Board Institute of MIT and Harvard, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The discussion was moderated by Ramtin Arablouei, co-host and co-producer of the NPR podcast Throughline.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was part of the Jalinous Lecture Series and funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Photo credits (L to R, clockwise): Iranian Nurse 1950s, Helene Fuld Health Foundation; Philip Boucas, Medical Students in Tehran in 1970s,  WHO; Diagram of Brain According to Avicenna (England, 13th C.), Cambridge University Library; Postage Stamp Bearing Likeness of  Avicenna/Ibn Sina, Poland.

On Friday, September 17, 2021, the Persian Studies program hosted a Zoom webinar on Avicenna featuring a discussion with Hakima Amri, Ph.D., Director of the Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences Graduate Program at Georgetown University and co-author of Avicenna’s Medicine; and Willem Floor, Ph.D., Iranologist and author of books including but not limited to Studies in the History of Medicine in Iran; and moderated by Georgetown University alumna Sheva Tabatabainejad.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was part of the Jalinous Lecture Series and funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

On April 23, the Persian Studies Program hosted its final event in the Jalinous Lecture Series for 2020-2021, The Canticle of the Birds, a panel discussion of the famed poem by the Persian 12th-century Sufi poet Attar. Our panel featured Dr. Leili Anvar, Professor in Persian Language and Literature at the Institut National des Langues et Civilsations Orientales (INALCO); Dr. Michael A. Barry, Professor Emeritus at Princeton University; and Ms. Wendy Jehlen, Artistic Director and Founder of ANIKAYA; and was moderated by Dr. Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland.

Watch the recorded presentation.

View the Bibliography from the Canticle of the Birds virtual presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

On January 22, 2021, the Persian Studies program hosted a Zoom presentation about the influence of medieval Yazd architecture and its impact on modern climate lessons. The presentation featured panelists Dr. Susan Roaf, architect, and Professor at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, and Mr. Hossein Amanat, architect, from Azadi (Shahyad) Tower Monument, and was moderated by Dr. John McNeill, Professor at Georgetown University.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

In November we welcomed three guest panelists and a moderator to discuss Evolution or Disconnection in Contemporary Iranian Art. The discussion featured Dr. Maryam Ekhtiar, curator in the Department of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Dr. Talinn Grigor, Chair of the Art History Program at the University of California, Davis; and Ali Banisadr, contemporary Iranian-American artist; and was moderated by Dr. Layla Diba, author, scholar, and independent curator.

Watch the recorded presentation.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Read the news story about our first presentation in the 2020-2021 Jalinous Lecture Series, which featured Persian rug specialist Safoura Zoroofchi in discussing the history and heritage of Persian rugs. This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Watch the recorded presentation.

The Georgetown University Persian Language and Culture Program and the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies presented an exclusive screening of the documentary film Sardari’s Enigma about Abolhosssein Sardari, the Iranian diplomat who saved hundreds of Iranian Jews in Paris in 1942. Following the screening was a panel discussion on Sardari and on Christian and Jewish Polish refugees in Iran during World War II. Panel participants included scholars, historians, authors and the filmmaker herself with NPR’s Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep.

On Tuesday, February 19, 2019, historian and author Dr. Ida Meftahi visited to discuss Lalehzar, Tehran’s “Champs-Élysées” under Allied occupation from 1941 to 1945. This lecture was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

On November 3, 2018, the Persian program hosted an exceptional workshop on Persian Tapestry with Iranian artist and art professor Shahrzad Gharazi. She discussed her work and led a weaving demonstration. You can view her work on Instagram  and Pinterest.

On February 27, 2018, we welcomed designer, Persian carpet, and crafts specialist Safoura Zoroofchi, founder of Nar Collection, a design house focusing on high-quality handcrafted fashion accessories inspired by Persian art and culture.

Persian Poetry Week

Image: “A Ruffian Spares the Life of a Poor Man•􀀅 Folio 4v from a Mantiq a/-Tayr (Language of the Birds), Farid al-Din “Attar, ca. 1600, Isfahan, Iran, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

During the week of October 16-19, 2023, the Persian Studies program celebrated the poetic works of Attar. Abu Hamid bin Abu Bakr lbrahim is a 12th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic. He is buried in Nishapur and is therefore referred to as Attar of Nishapur or Farid ad-Din Attar.

Find more information about Attar here in the Encyclopaedia Iranica.

We began our celebration on Monday with a special music workshop with visiting artist Behfar Bahadoran. On Tuesday, we listened to the talk, “Conversation of the Birds” by Attar. We ended our event on Thursday with a presentation of five Persian poets, featuring students from the Persian Studies program’s Iranology class.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Between Monday, October 17, and Wednesday, October 19, 2022, the Persian Studies program celebrated the works of Rumi. Who is Rumi? Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī is a 13th-century Persian poet and mystic, and the best-selling poet in the United States.

image of Persian poet Rumi

On Monday, October 17, the program showed a documentary on Rumi’s life and works. On Wednesday, October 19, we hosted a live music workshop with Jalal Kimia, leader of the Rumi Daf Ensemble.

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

From October 12 to 14, 2021, the Persian Studies program hosted its annual Persian Poetry Week, featuring the life, legacy, and works of Hafez.

On Tuesday, October 12, Professor Azin Behzadi discussed “Hafez Translation Around the World.” On Wednesday, October 13, we had three events, including a workshop on Hafez Poetry and Music with musician M. Behfar Bahadoran, the Art and Musical Director at the Iranian American Community Center. Other events included a Hafez Persian poetry game and an Introduction to Hafez Poetry Forms. On Thursday, October 14, Professor Sayeh Salour hosted an English Fortune Telling with Hafez Poetry event.

These events were funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

The Persian Studies Program hosted its 2nd annual Persian Poetry Week from October 26 to 28, 2020. Events featured presentations on Forough Farrokhzad by Professor Sayeh Salour and Persian translator Dr. Martin; Ferdowsi & Shahnameh for Kids by Arsia Rozegar, author of Shahnameh for Kids; and Persian Poetry in Different Languages by Persian Studies Program students and alumni and coordinated by Professor Azin Behzadi.

From October 22-27, 2019, we celebrated Persian poetry with presentations about Rumi and other Sufi poets, Hafez, Persian women poets, and Sa’adi of Shiraz. This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Event flyer for Persian Poetry Week, including schedule of events and photos of included poets.

Iranian Film Festival

The Persian Studies program invites community members to attend the annual Iranian Film Festival, featuring the following films:

Asghar Farhadi: A Hero (2021)
Monday, November 13, 5:00 PM

Asghar Farhadi: The Past (2013)
Tuesday, November 14, 3:30 PM

Negar Azerbaiyjani: Facing Mirrors (2011)
Tuesday, November 28, 2:00 PM

Saeed Roustaee: 6.5 Meters (2019)
Wednesday, November 29, 4:00 PM

All presentations will take place in ICC 227.

image of film poster for "The Day I Became a Woman"

The Persian Studies program invites community members to attend the annual Iranian Film Festival, feature the following films:

Shiraz Rimer: The White Balloon
Monday, November 14, 4:15 PM

Bailyn Prichett: The Day I Became a Woman
Tuesday, November 15, 4:30 PM

image of girl holding toy

Bahar Hassantash: The Lizard

Kayla Zamanian: The Color of Paradise
Thursday, November 28, 12:30 PM

Maddox Angerhofer: Marriage, Iranian Style
Monday, November 21, 4:15 PM

image of the film poster for "The Lizard"

Brennan George: Where Is the Friend’s House?
Tuesday, November 22, 4:00 PM

All presentations will take place in ICC 227!

Between November 17 and December 4, 2020, the Persian Studies program hosted the virtual viewing and discussion of six Iranian films:

  • Khook – Pig from director Mani Haghighi
  • Marmulak – Lizard from director Kamal Tabrizi
  • We Are All Together from director Kamal Tabrizi
  • What’s The Time In Your World from director Safi Yazdanian
  • The Salesman from director Asghar Farhadi
  • Hamoon from director Dariush Mehrjui

This event was funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Persian Nowruz Week

Persian minor students and faculty

Annually, students in the Persian Studies program set up a haft seen table in the ICC Galleria to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year around March 20th. This is an opportunity to share Nowruz traditions with the entire Georgetown community. Students explain what Nowruz is, discuss the symbolism behind each item on the haft seen table, and share traditional sweets with fellow students, staff, and faculty passing by.  

On Saturday, April 13, 2019, the Roshan Institute of Persian Studies and Georgetown Persian Language and Culture Program presented a documentary showing of The Spirit of Nowruz, followed by a Q&A and book signing by Mr. Farzin Rezaeian, a documentary producer. This event was part of the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Lecture Series. and was co-sponsored by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Persian Corner

The Persian Program hosts Persian Corner (Happy hour, Persian style!), a little piece of Iran, where we chat in Farsi, read poetry, tell jokes, share news, watch videos, listen to music, and play traditional Persian games like takht-e nard (backgammon) and hokm (card game). You can come for a few minutes or stay the whole time! Come participate in conversational Persian spoken by speakers of all backgrounds. We enjoy tasting Persian tea and traditional sweets accompanied by music, dance, and handicrafts. This event is open to Georgetown students, faculty, and staff.

Funded in part by the Shahrzad and Farhad Jalinous Endowed Fund for Persian Culture and Language Studies.

Read our April 2021 newsletter.

Read our March 2021 newsletter.

Read our February 2021 newsletter.

Read our January 2021 newsletter.

Read our November 2020 newsletter.

Read our October 2020 newsletter.

Read our September 2020 newsletter.