US & IRAN: Opening Doors to Education

Facts about Iran Education General License G May 8th, 2014 Did you know that despite the strained and hostile relations between the governments of the USA and Iran that thousands of Iranian students study in the U.S. each year? 

 In fact, according to EducationUSA, “for the past several years, the number of Iranian students studying […]

8 things to know about Nowruz (Persian New Year) Celebrations

March 20th, 2014 We are going to share the blog we posted in 2012 on the Persian/Iranian celebration of Now-Ruz with a few new additions. Vernal Equinox The celebration of Now-Ruz (New Day), takes effect at the exact astronomical beginning of Spring, known as the vernal equinox. Now-Ruz is celebrated today on March 20th and […]

The U.S. and Iran: The History of Two Empires

January 23rd, 2014 The United States and Iran (also known as Persia) have not been on friendly terms for what is now more than three decades. Although, recently some overtures have been made over the discussions concerning Iran’s nuclear program, the relations between the two countries have been anything but amicable. But, thirty four years […]

IRAN: Flirting with Change

October 17th, 2013 Students at Tehran University source: en.irangreevoice.com Though the world is viewing the overtures made by Iran’s new President, Hassan Rouhani, with cautious optimism, on Monday, October 14, 2014, he challenged the country’s hardline factions and called for the lifting of restrictions on academic freedoms and for granting Iranian scholars more opportunity to […]

Iran: Women…Beauty, Brains and Brawn

August 15th, 2013 In the current male-dominated society of Iran, where men vie for positions of power with questionable academic degrees (see our 6/20/13 blog), the government has set out to restrict women’s access to over 70 academic university degree programs. I wrote about this last year in a blog post on how the government […]

Iran: Elections and Academic Credentials Under Scrutiny

June 20, 2013 As you must have heard by now, Iranians had an election last week and cast their votes in favor of Hassan Rouhani (or Rowhani), ending the eight- year term of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. What has caught my attention is not the President-elect’s victory but the news surrounding his academic qualifications, which […]

Heroes, Activists, and Martyrs: Lending their names to the streets of Tehran

January 24, 2013 When I heard the story of Granada, Spain planning to approve a measure to name a square in honor of the British punk band The Clash’s Joe Strummer http://www.theworld.org/2013/01/spanish-square-to-be-named-in-honor-of-the-clashs-joe-strummer/ I was reminded of the battery of street name changes that Iranian cities underwent immediately after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The changing […]

Higher Education in Iran: The Path to Freedom and…Singlehood

June 21, 2012 Three years ago Iranians marched through the streets of Tehran and other major cities in Iran protesting the presidential elections, which soon became known as the Green Revolution. I remember watching news clips and YouTube videos of the protests and found myself moved by the faces of all the people marching, especially […]

Now-Ruz: A Celebration of Life

March 22, 2012 Photo of Haftseen by Firooz Saofoura Zoroofchi According to a recent post by Shirin Sadeghi on HuffingtonPost: “The talk of war (against Iran) walks tall amongst the rhetoric of Washington.” As the U.S. and Israel increase the volume of their threats of war against Iran, Iranians in the diaspora and those living […]

From Iran to Irangeles: A Tribute to Iranian-Americans

March 1, 2012 At this year’s Academy Awards, the Oscar for the Best Foreign Film was given to the Iranian filmmaker Ashghar Farhadi for his film “Separation.” In his acceptance speech, he spoke of how in the midst of the chatter between politicians and heads of states, the world forgets to see and appreciate Iran’s […]