Middle East Studies Program
NEWS AND EVENTS
REGISTER FOR A PERSIAN LANGUAGE & CULTURE CLASS! LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE AND ENTER THE WORLD OF A BEAUTIFUL AND ANCIENT CULTURE!
check the Linguistics Department listing for times and locations
Related Events at Other Academic and Cultural Institutions
University of California, Berkeley, CMES
The Guardian Top 10 books based in Tangier
Middle East Studies Lecture, Performance & Film Series (and Recommended Events at Other Institutions)
Spring 2021
Thursday February 11, 5:00pm (Virtual)
An Evening of Persian Literature (bring a favorite poem or story to share)
Iran Heritage Foundation, Friday March 19, 17:30 London GMT (10:30am California time)
IHF Norouz 1400
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis will give a brief introduction to the history of Norouz, a festival celebrated not only by Iranians but by many communities around the world. There will be a musical interlude, with a recording of Adib and Mehdi Rostami in concert at King’s Place in 2019, showcasing their album Melodic Circles, which was voted as one top 10 albums of 2018 by Songlines Magazine. Finally, Norouz celebrations would not be complete without poetry, and there will be some readings chosen and recited live by Narguess Farzad.
Department of Anthropology Friday March 19, 12:00noon (Virtual)
How the Endless Wars Hurt Us All and How to Stop the Fighting
Speaker: Dr. David Vine, American University
Arts in Motion April 7, 6:30-7:00pm (Virtual)
Celebration of the International Day of Nowruz
Organized by: Dr. Negin Tahvildary
(CineCulture) April 5-9
Coup 53
April 12 - April 28 Arab Music-Cultures Lecture Series (Recorded)
Three Lebanese Divas
Speakers: Mr. Johnny Farraj and Mr. Sami Abu Shumays New York based Musician-Scholars of Arab Music
April 12 - April 28 Arab Music-Cultures Lecture Series (Recorded)
Iqaa in Mowashahat
Speakers: Mr. Johnny Farraj and Mr. Sami Abu Shumays New York based Musician-Scholars of Arab Music
April 12 - April 28 Arab Music-Cultures Lecture Series (Recorded)
The Wasla
Speaker: Mr. Johnny Farraj and Mr. Sami Abu Shumays New York based Musician-Scholars of Arab Music
April 12 - April 28 Arab Music-Cultures Lecture Series (Recorded)
Maqam Theory Part 1: Melodic Vocabulary
Speaker: Mr. Johnny Farraj and Mr. Sami Abu Shumays New York based Musician-Scholars of Arab Music
April 12 - April 28 Arab Music-Cultures Lecture Series (Recorded)
Maqam Theory Part 2: Shape of Maqam
Speaker: Mr. Johnny Farraj and Mr. Sami Abu Shumays New York based Musician-Scholars of Arab Music
April 12 - April 28 Arab Music-Cultures Lecture Series (Recorded)
Maqam Theory Part 3: Arbitrary Intonation
Speaker: Mr. Johnny Farraj and Mr. Sami Abu Shumays New York based Musician-Scholars of Arab Music
Friday April 28, 6:00pm Arab Music-Cultures Lecture Series (Virtual-Live Question and Answer)
Recorded Lectures provided prior to the Live Question & Answer Session on April 28, 6:00pm
Speakers: Mr. Johnny Farraj and Mr. Sami Abu Shumays New York based Musician-Scholars of Arab Music
Friday April 30, 9:00am & 10:00am (Virtual)
Modes and Rhythms in the Musical Practice of the Ahl-e Haqq Community of Guran
Speaker: Dr. Partow Hooshmandrad California State University, Fresno, Department of Music
Fall 2020
Thursday October 8, 5:00pm (Virtual)
An Evening of Persian Literature (bring a favorite poem or story to share)
(Iran Heritage Foundation) Wednesday October 28, 17:30 London, GMT (10:30am California
time), Online Click Here for Details
Indians in Safavid Iran: the pictorial evidence
Speaker: Dr. Sheila Canby --- "From 2009 to 2019, Dr Sheila Canby was Curator in Charge
of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was previously Curator of Islamic
Art and Antiquities at the British Museum (1991-2009), before which she had curated
Islamic collections in several museums in the US, including the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum. She has written numerous publications, including:
Islamic Art: Close-Up (2015); Shah `Abbas and the Imperial Treasures of Iran (2009); Islamic Art in Detail (2005); and Hunt for Paradise: Court Arts of Safavid Iran, 1501-76 (2003)."
(Department of Philosophy) Wednesday October 28, 3:30pm, Online Click Here for Poster
Speaker: Dr. Amine Tais California State University, Fresno, Department of Philosophy
Friday November 6, 2:30pm (Virtual)
Representations of Reality in the Ahl-e Haqq Community of Guran
Speaker: Dr. Partow Hooshmandrad California State University, Fresno, Department
of Music
Spring 2020
Thursday January 30, 5:00pm, MB 206
Iranian Music Cultures (Part II)
Speaker: Dr. Partow Hooshmandrad, California State University, Fresno, Department
of Music
(Selections from ASA International Humanitarian Film Festival) Thursday February 27, 5:30pm, MB 206
Harbor, Mr. Indifferent,Chickpeas with sugar,The girls are not brides
Friday February 28, 4:00-6:00pm, PB 191 (Cosponsored by Armenian Studies Program)
Kurdish Culture and Society in Turkey (poster)
Presentation: Dr. Yektan Türkyilmaz, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut of the Freie Universität
Berlin
(CineCulture) Friday February 28, 5:30pm, Peters Education Center Auditorium
The Swallows of Kabul (2018)
Discussants: Ms. Freshta & Mr. Farid Nasrudin and Dr. Rose Marie Kuhn
March 2-19, Ellipse Gallery, Library
Nowruz Exhibition
Curator: Dr. Negin Tahvildary (Middle East Studies Student Club)
(Mathematics Department) Friday March 6, 4:15-5:30pm, PB 011-012 (Cosponsored by San Joaquin Valley Mathematics Project)
Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani, Mathematician
and Professor
Film screening and discussion
(*Virtual) Thursday April 2, 5:00pmLS#5 (*bring a favorite poem or story to share)
An Evening of Persian Literature
(Viewing Link) **Link is public and will remain active** Thursday April 30 (Cosponsored by Armenian Studies Program & Global Music Lecture Series)
Armenian Song Repertoire of the Middle East Part III: A Performance From Home (link to performance)
Lecture and Performance: Richard Hagopian and Family
Fall 2019
(CineCulture) Friday November 8, 5:30pm, Peters Education Center Auditorium
Jirga (2018)
Discussants: Amir Shah Talash (Producer & Lead Actor) & Sam Smith (Lead Actor)
(Linguistics) Saturday November 16, 11:30-12 Peters Business Building 138
Persian: Quantity Sensitive and Iambic
Speaker: Fatemeh Samavati, Western Conference on Linguistics (WECOL),California State
University, Fresno
Friday December 27, LS#5 (*bring a favorite poem or story to share)
An Evening of Persian Literature
Spring 2019
Wednesday February 6, 6:00pm, Music Building Building 167
Contexts of Music Making in the Life of the Kurdish Ahl-e Haqq of Guran Region
Speaker: Dr. Partow Hooshmandrad, California State University, Fresno, Department
of Music
Thursday February 21, 5:15pm, PB 191 (Middle East Studies Program Annual Peace Lecture)
Life in the Universe: Origin, Evolution, Future
Speaker: Professor Wil van Breugel, Astronomer and Professor Emeritus, University
of California, Merced
Friday March 1, 5:00pm, PB 191 (Cosponsored by Armenian Studies Program & Global Music Lecture Series)
Armenian Song Repertoire of the Middle East Part II
Lecture and Performance: Richard Hagopian and Family
Friday March 8, 5:30pm, PB 191 (Cosponsored by Global Music Lecture Series)
Iranian Classical Music Concert
Artists: Behrouz Sadeghian (Santur) & Faramarz Amiri-Ranjbar (Tonbak and Daf)
(Armenian Studies) Monday March 11, 7:30pm, PB 191
How We Live: The Houshamadyan Project
Speaker: Dr. Vahe Tachjian (Director of the Berlin-based Houshamadyan Project)
March 18-April 24, Library
Nowruz Exhibition (Read)
Curator: Dr. Negin Tahvildary
Wednesday April 24, 6:00pm, MB 167
Iranian Music Cultures (Part I)
Speaker: Dr. Partow Hooshmandrad, California State University, Fresno, Department
of Music
(Linguistics Department) Thursday April 25, 12:30-1:45pm, PB 390
Title to be announced
Speaker: Vahideh Rasekhi (Linguistics Department, UCLA)
Evidence of Morphological Passive in Gilaki
Speaker: Zia Khoshsirat (Anthropology Department, UCLA)
(40th Annual Central California Research Symposium-Session J) Wednesday, May 1, 2:00pm,
Library, Room 2134
Foot Binarity in Persian Poetic Meters
Speaker: Fatemeh Samavati (Fresno State Linguistics Department)
TBA, LS#5 (*bring a favorite poem or story to share)
An Evening of Persian Literature
Fall 2018
September 28-October 2, 2018, ASA International Humanitarian Film Festival, Weimar-Germany http://www.asafest.com
Newsbreak: The Middle East Studies Program at California State University, Fresno, announces its sponsorship of the “ASA International Humanitarian Film Festival” in Weimar, Germany
To help with the propagation of profound humanitarian ideas and an academic understanding of the common goals with the “International Humanitarian Film Festival ASA” in Germany, the Middle East Studies Program at California State University, Fresno conveys its academic support for this festival.
Partners in this collaboration shall carry out screenings of pertinent films and topical workshops in order to generate scholarly discourse and engage the academia in humanitarian concerns. This partnership will take place during and after the culmination of this festival
Fresno State University is located in California, the United States, and the “International Humanitarian Film Festival ASA” takes place in the city of Weimar, in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany.
The second round of this festival will take place from September 28 to October 2, 2018, through the generous support of the city of Weimar
Website for the “International Humanitarian Film Festival ASA”: http://www.asafest.com
(CineCulture) Friday September 21, 5:30pm, Peters Education Center Auditorium
The Judge
Discussant: Erika Cohn (Director)
(CineCulture) Friday September October 12, 5:30pm, Perters Education Center Auditorium
The Homeland
Discussants: Dr. Rose Marie Kuhn & Dr. Zoulikha Mouffak
Wednesday October 24, 2:00pm, Kremen Education Building 193
Identity and Musical Performance Among the Kurdish Ahl-e Haqq of Guran
Speaker: Dr. Partow Hooshmandrad, California State University, Fresno, Department of Music
(Cosponsored by Global Music Lecture Series ) Thursday November 8, 5:00pm, PB 191 (*additional interdisciplinary roundtable with
Professor Bonnie Wade, Thursday November 8, 11:00am-12:30pm, PB 191)
Traces in Indian Miniature Paintings of Socio-Cultural Connections Between the Mughal
Court and the Persianate World
Speaker: Professor Bonnie C. Wade, University of California, Berkeley
(CineCulture) Friday November 12, 5:30pm, Perters Education Center Auditorium
Roots
Discussant: Lilit Martirosyan (Producer)
(Western Conference on Linguistics 2018) November 30-December 2
Poetic Meter in the Persian Poem Tarji-band Sadii
(Sunday December 2, 10:30-11:00am, PB 136)
Speaker: Fatemeh Samavati, California State University, Fresno, Department of Linguistics
Friday December 7, 5:30-6:30, LS#5
An Evening of Persian Literature
NOWRUZ PIROOZ!
...read more about Nowruz (Spring Equinox)which is celebrated in many regions of the world including West Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus,.....and diaspora communities around the world....NPR: "Nowruz: Persian New Year's Table Celebrates Spring Deliciously"
*2017-18.html
Middle East Studies Lecture, Performance & Film Series
Fresno State University
2017-2018
Spring 2018
Friday March 2, 5:30pm, PB 191
(Cosponsored by Global Music Lecture Series ) Iranian Classical Music Concert
Performers: Behrouz Sadeghian (Santur) & Faramarz Amiri-Ranjbar (Tonbak and Daf)
(Armenian Studies Program) Wednesday March 7, 7:30pm, PB 191
Armenians on Records: Music Production from Homeland to Diasporas
Speaker: Dr. Yektan Türkyilmaz, Armenian Studies Program, Fourteenth Henry Khanzadian Kazan
Visiting Professor
(MSA-Student Organization) Wednesday March 14, 6:00pm, Peters Education Center Auditorium
1948: Creation and Catastrophe
Followed by a discussion by one of the directors
Wednesday March 21, 11:00-1:00pm, Free Speech Area on Campus
Nowruz Celebrations Table
Organizer: Dr. Negin Tahvildary, Linguistics Department
(Philosophy) Tuesday April 10, 6:00pm, PB 191
Moral Dilemmas of a Development Worker
Speaker: Mohammad Pournik, United Nations Development Program
(MSA-Student Organization) Thursday April 19, 6:00pm, PB 191
Orientalism and Academic Freedom: Institutional Checkpoints on Arabs and Muslims in
Academia
Thursday April 26, 5:00pm, PB 191
(Cosponsored by Global Music Lecture Series & Armenian Studies Program) Armenian Song
Repertoire of the Middle East
Lecture and Performance: Richard Hagopian (Oud)
Friday April 27, 5:30pm, PB 191
The Shahnameh of Ferdowsi: An Eleventh Century Persian Literary Epic
Speaker : Fatemeh Samavati, Department of Linguistics, Fresno State
Wednesday May 2, 5:30pm, PB 191
Rai Music: From North African Origins to International Success
Speaker : Dr. Amine Tais, Department of Philosophy, Fresno State
(Philosophy) Thursday May 3, 7:00pm, PB 191
The Exclusion of Africa and Asia from the History of Philosophy
Speaker: Dr. Peter K.J. Park, University of Texas, Dallas
Friday May 4, 5:30-6:30, LS#5
An Evening of Persian Literature
Fall 2017
(CineCulture) Friday October 20, 5:30pm
Frame By Frame
Discussant: Farzana Wahidy
(Art & Architecture) October 9-26, Reception: Thursday, October 12th, 5 p.m. to 8:00pm, Phebe Conley Gallery
The Other Eye On Afghanistan - An Exhibition of Photographs by Farzana Wahidy
Artist presentation: Thursday October 12th 3:30 to 5:00, PB 191
*2016-17.html
Middle East Studies Lecture, Performance & Film Series 2016-2017
Spring 2017
(History) Friday February 3, 9:30-11:45am, PB 390
Ethnic and Religious Minorities in the Ottoman Empire (Roundtable)
Speakers: Dr. Janet Klein, Dr. Devin Naar, Dr. Bedross Der Matossian, Dr. Stacy Fahrenthold
Portland State University, University of Washington, University of Nebraska, California
State University Fresno
(History) Friday February 3, 7:30-9:00pm, Smittcamp Alumni House
War, Peace, and the Making of Minorities in the Post-Ottoman Middle East, 1919-1923
Speaker: Dr. Laura Robson Portland State University
Saturday February 11, 7:00pm, Concert Hall
Global Music Lecture Series: Iranian Classical Music Concert
Performers: Behrouz Sadeghian (Santur) & Faramarz Amiri-Ranjbar (Tonbak and Daf)
(English) Friday March 17, 7:00-9:00pm, PB 191
Poetry Reading
Readings by: Somaz Sharif, Jones Lecturer, Stanford University
The Master of Fine Arts Program at Fresno State presents a reading with author Solmaz Sharif as part of the Fresno Poets’ Association reading series. A finalist for the 2016 National Book Award for Poetry and a recent National Endowment for the Arts fellow, Sharif’s debut poetry collection is “Look” from Graywolf Press.
(Filmworks, Fresno) Friday April 14, 5:30 & 8:30 pm, The Tower Theatre, 815 E Olive
Ave. Fresno, CA 93728
Fresno Filmworks: The Salesman
Friday April 21, 11:00am, Food Sciences Room 213
Food, Power, and Meaning: The Ritual of Blessing of the Food for the Kurdish Ahl-e Haqq of Guran
Speaker: Dr. Partow Hooshmandrad, Fresno State
Thursday April 27, 4:00pm, PB 191
(Cosponsored by Global Music Lecture Series & Armenian Studies Program) Armenian Musical Tradition of the Middle East
Lecture and Performance: Richard Hagopian (Oud)
Fall 2016
Friday November 4, 4:30-6, LS#5
An Evening of Persian Literature
(History) Monday November 7, 5-7, Smittcamp Alumni House
Ottoman History from the Margins: Reflections on Women and Dhimmis at Aleppo's Shari'a
Court Guest Speaker: Dr. Elyse Semedjian, History and Islamic Studies, Whitman College
(Armenian Studies): Monday November 14, 7:30, PB 191
Armenian Educational Life in Lebanon
Guest Speaker: Dr. Paul Haidostian, President, Haigazian University
*2015-16.html
Spring 2016
Friday January 29
CineCulture: Dawn of the World (L’aube du monde, 2008)
Discussant: Dr. Rose Marie Kuhn
Directed by Iraqi-born French film maker Abbas Fahdel, Dawn of the World is set in the Mesopotamian Marshes. This complex of shallow freshwater lakes, swamps,
marshes, and seasonally inundated plains between the Tigris and Euphrates makes up
the largest river delta in the Middle East. Located in southwestern Iraq on the border
with Iran and Kuwait, the area is known as the land of the mythical Garden of Eden,
explains the film director. This is where the Maadan tribes, also known as the Marsh
Arabs, live, and where Mastur and Zahra grow up.
Shortly after their marriage, the first Gulf War breaks out and Mastur is sent to
the front. There he befriends Riad, a young Baghdadi soldier, and makes him promise
to protect Zahra should something happen to him… Fahdel’s film is a visual poem taking
place in a haunting and magical landscape. The simplicity of his plot and the beauty
of the images of the film almost make the story seem like a misty dream. Starring
in the film are two actresses whom some of the viewers might have seen in Radu Mihaileanu’s
film La source des femmes (2011), Tunisian-FrenchHafsia Herzi as Zhara and Arab-Israeli Hiam Abbass as Mastur’s mother.
Additionally, Dawn of the World won the prestigious Grand Prix for the Best Screenwriter in France. In Arabic and French, with English subtitles. 96 minutes. Trailer (in
French): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8V9rZ11aIc. Co-Sponsors: Modern & Classical Languages & Literatures Department, the French and
Middle East Studies Programs
Tuesday March 1, 2-3pm, Library 2206
International Coffee Hour: Iranian Culture & Society
Guest Speaker: Peyvand Hajian, Engineering Graduate Student, California State University, Fresno
Thursday March 3
Global Music Lecture Series: Dr. Patricia Shehan Campbell
(University of Washington) Conducting two workshops on global music in the elementary classroom
Thursday March 16 & 30
Persian Calligraphy Workshops
Guest Speaker: Dr. Fariborz Tehrani, Engineering, California State University, Fresno
Saturday April 16, 1pm, Kremen School of Education Bldg 172
War Stories: World War I in the Syrian Diaspora and the Challenge of Transnational
Microhistory
Guest Speaker: Dr. Stacy Fahrenthold, History, Visiting Scholar, Center for Middle East Studies, UC Berkeley
Thursday April 28, 4-6, UBC 191
Melodic Modes and Rhythms of Arab Music: Theory vs. Practice
Guest Speaker: Dr. Scott Marcus, Ethnomusicology, UC Santa Barbara
Friday April 29, 11-12, UBC 191
Friday April 29
CineCulture: When Voices Meet; One United Choir; One Courageous Journey (2015)
Discussants: Marilyn Cohen (Music Therapist) & Sharon Katz (Director) & Band Members.
When Nelson Mandela was finally released from prison, courageous South African musicians
broke through Apartheid’s barriers to form a 500-voice, multiracial children’s choir.
Threatened with bombs and thwarted at every turn, they prevailed and railroaded across
the country aboard The Peace Train. Singing their way into the hearts, minds and
soul of a divided nation amidst a civil war, they promoted a peaceful transition to
democracy and went on to become Mandela’s face of the new rainbow nation. When Voices Meet documents the trials, tribulations and triumphs of those musician activists and young
choir members. They performed together for seven years; never lost touch with one
another; and then reunited 20 years later. 86 minutes. http://whenvoicesmeet.com/ Band concert following film screening and Q&A! It was music that brought the disparate
groups together, and the harmony of their voices became emblematic of the new South
Africa. Original songs in the trailer’s award-winning soundtrack include We Are The Children of South Africa, The Time Is Right Today and Siyajabula. Co-Sponsors: Cross Cultural and Gender Center, Jewish Studies Certificate Program
& Jewish Studies Association, Africana Studies Program and Global Music Lecture Series
Fall 2015
Edward Said Lecture Series (PDF 572 KB) download 
Reader)
Middle East Studies Lecture, Performance & Film Series 2015-2016
Monday, September 21, 5-7, Science 145
Religious Traditions: Islam
Guest Speaker: IRFAN ALI, Co-Chair, Interfaith Alliance of Fresno
What is Islam?
Guest Speaker: DR. NEGIN TAHVILDARY, Philosophy and Religious Studies, California State University, Fresno
Women’s Rights in Islam
Friday, September 25, 3-5, PB (UBC) 191
(Edward Said Lecture 1) The Responsibility of the Worldly Intellectuals
Guest Speaker: DR. DAVID LLOYD English, University of California, Riverside
Monday, September 28, 5-7, Science 145
A Historical Perspective: The Ancient Near East
Guest Speaker: DR. MARITERE LOPEZ, History, California State University, Fresno
Monday, October 5, 5:15-7, Science 145
A Historical Perspective: The Rise and Fall of the Islamic Empire
Guest Speaker: DR. FREDERIK VERMOTE, History, California State University, Fresno
Monday, October 12, 5-7, UBC 191
(Edward Said Lecture Series 2) Orientalism: Its Genealogies and its Legacies
Guest Speaker: DR. NADIA LATIF, Anthropology, Georgia State University
Monday, October 19, 5-7, Science 145
Imperialist Interests, The Postwar Era, Israel’s Birth and the Occupation of Palestine
Guest Speaker: DR. MANZAR FOROOHAR, History, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Monday, November 2, 5-6:30, Science 145
(Edward Said Lecture Series 3) Edward Said: The Non-humanist Humanist
Guest Speaker: DR. R. RADHAKRISHNAN, UC Irvine
Wednesday, November 4, 5-6:30, Peters Education Auditorium (Student Rec Center)
Humanism Food Security and Climate Change
Guest Speaker: DR. HILAL ELVER, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and Research Professor at the Orfalea
Center at UC-Santa Barbara
Friday, November 6, 10-12, UBC 191
(Edward Said Lecture Series 4: Mini Conference) Universities at the Crossroad: The Assault on Academic Freedom
Edward Said's Humanism and the Rejection of the State Department's Definition of Anti-Semitism
Guest Speaker: DR. RICHARD FALK, Princeton University/UCSB
Censoring Palestine at the University: Growing Threats to Academic Freedom
Guest Speaker: AZADEH SHAHSHAHANI, President, National Lawyers Guild
What Is to Be Done? An Activist Agenda
Guest Speaker: Dr. VIDA SAMIIAN California Scholars for Academic Freedom, Professor of Linguistics, Dean Emerita,
College of Arts and Humanities, California State University, Fresno
Monday, November 9, 5-7, Science 145
Middle East Art and Cinema
Guest Speaker: DR. ADAN AVALOS, Professor of Cinematic Arts, University of New Mexico
Monday November 16, 5-7, Science 145
Music in the Middle East
Guest Speaker: DR. PARTOW HOOSHMANDRAD, Music, California State University, Fresno
Monday, November 30, 5:30-7, Science 145
Contemporary Literature of the Middle East (Arabic, Azeri, Turkic, Persian)
Guest Speaker: DR. ALISON MANDAVILLE, English, California State University, Fresno
An Evening of Persian Literature Wednesday December 9, at 5pm, LS#5