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Institutionalizing Iranian Studies:
A Conference Dedicated to Dr. Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali
for Her Lifetime Contributions to Iranian Studies
9:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 13, 2025
Massey College
4 Devonshire Place, Toronto, ON M5S 2E1
Registration Link for In-Person Attendance
Zoom Registration:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/Y1rqDrZESryQ6LUgw-ZoDg
Conference Program
9:00-10:00 am
Registration, breakfast, and musical performance
10:00-10:10 am
Opening Remarks
Mohamad Tavakoli
Professor and Inaugural Director, Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies, University of Toronto
10:10-10:40 a.m.
The Role of the Association for Iranian Studies and Its Journal in Promoting Iranian Studies as an Interdisciplinary Academic Field
Ali Banuazizi
Research Professor of Political Science at Boston College
10:40-11:10 a.m.
Teaching Persian language in North America: Innovations, collaborations, challenges, and Visions
Azita H. Taleghani, University of Toronto
Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi, University of Chicago
11:10-11:30
Intermission
11:30-12:00 p.m.
The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Center for Persian Studies at École Pratique des Hautes Études-Sorbonne
Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi
Professor and Director, Centre Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali d’études persanes, École Pratique des Hautes Études-Sorbonne
12:00-12:30 p.m.
TBA
Louvre Museum
12:30-1:00 p.m.
Empowering Scholarship, Inspiring Growth: Mission-Driven Leadership in Advancing Persian Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill
Claudia Yaghoobi
Roshan Distinguished Professor and Director, Center for the Middle East and Islamic Studies, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
1:00-2:300 p.m.
Lunch
2:30-3:00 p.m.
Iranian Studies in Geneva: Emerging Perspectives
Negar Habibi
Mossadegh Foundation Lecturer of Iranian Studies, Université de Genève
3:00-3:30 p.m.
The Roshan Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Persian and Iranian Studies at the University of Arizona
Kamran Talattof
Professor and Chair, Roshan Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Persian & Iranian Studies, University of Arizona
3:30-4:00 p.m.
Decoupling Persian and Iranian Studies: A Perspective from the University of Washington
Aria Fani
Assistant Professor and Director of Persian and Iranian Studies, University of Washington
4:00-4:30 p.m.
Intermission
4:30-5:00 p.m.
De-Provincializing Iranian Studies
Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi
Faculty Affiliate, University of Toronto; Former Professor and Director of Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies, Princeton University
5:00-5:30 p.m.
Persian Studies from Inward Gaze to Global Spread
Fatemeh Keshavarz
Professor and Program Chair, Roshan Institute for Persian Studies, University of Maryland
5:30-6:30 p.m.
Discussion, Closing Remarks, & Musical Performance