The American Institute of Iranian Studies (AIIrS) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...

of US

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

s, founded in 1967, for the purpose of promoting

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

and

Persian studies Persian studies (Persian: مطالعات فارسی) is the study of the Persian language and its literature specifically. It is differentiated from Iranian studies which is a broader, more interdisciplinary subject that focuses more on the histo ...

. AIIrS facilitates academic and cultural exchange between the US and Iran and is dedicated to supporting scholars and funding research in

Iranian Studies Iranian studies ( fa, ايران‌شناسی '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It ...

. It represents American institutions of

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

and

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

in Iranian Studies and furthers the field in the US

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

. The institute is a member of the

Council of American Overseas Research Centers The Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) is a private not-for-profit association of centers that research, conserve and record cultural heritage and modern societies. CAORC, founded in 1981, helps arrange research projects that spa ...

History

From 1967-1979, AIIrS operated an overseas center in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

for the purpose of supporting and hosting visiting American scholars. The center was obliged to suspend its activities after the rupture of

diplomatic relations Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

between the US and Iran, and for the next two decades, AIIrS devoted itself to furthering Iranian Studies in the US by offering grants to students, holding conferences and fostering a sense of community in the field. Following the

Dialogue of Civilizations The Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute is an independent think tank. Its headquarters is located in Berlin, with representative offices located in Moscow and Vienna. The Institute carries out research into issues concerning internatio ...

initiative in 1998, AIIrS resumed sending scholars to Iran and instituted grants for Iranian scholars to research in the US.

Programs

The core program of AIIrS is short-term grant-making for individual scholars. Beyond the fellowship programs, AIIrS also supports conferences on Iranian Studies in the US and abroad, and provides occasional funding for projects including publications and exhibitions. It also awards the

Roth Prize Roth may refer to: Places Germany * Roth (district), in Bavaria, Germany ** Roth, Bavaria, capital of that district ** Roth (electoral district), a federal electoral district * Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany: ** Roth an der Our, in the district B ...

, funded by the

Lois Roth Endowment Lois is a common English name from the New Testament. Paul the Apostle mentions Lois, the pious grandmother of Saint Timothy in the Second Epistle to Timothy (commending her for her faith in 2 Timothy 1:5). The name was first used by English C ...

, in recognition of demonstrated excellence in translating

Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...

into English.

Officers

Beatrice Forbes Manz Beatrice Forbes Manz is an American historian of the Middle East and Central Asia who specializes in nomads and the Timurid dynasty. She currently works as a professor of history at Tufts University. Her 1989 book ''The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane' ...

, president *

Matthew Stolper Matthew Wolfgang Stolper is Professor of Assyriology and the John A. Wilson Professor of Oriental Studies in the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. He received a B.A. from Harvard in 1965, an M.A. from the University of Michigan in ...

, vice president *

Mirjam Kuenkler Mirjam Künkler, (Ph.D. Columbia University) teaches Middle Eastern Politics at Princeton University. Kuenkler's expertise is in Iranian and Indonesian politics. Künkler has published widely on religion-state relations, law, party politics, soci ...

, secretary *

Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami is a literary critic, writer and Iranologist. He studied Persian and French literatures in the University of Texas at Austin and he received his PhD in 1996. Currently he teaches Persian language and literature at New York U ...

, treasurer

External links

Official website

References

{{Iran–United States relations Iran–United States relations Iranian studies Middle Eastern studies in the United States Learned societies of the United States Council of American Overseas Research Centers