Persian

Studying Persian enables students to access the rich and diverse literary and cultural landscape not only of contemporary Iran and Afghanistan, but also of the pre-modern Persianate world, stretching from the Ottoman Empire to Iran, Central Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent.  At Stanford, beginner and intermediate courses in Persian language (Farsi) are offered, as well as a wide range of Persian literature courses, covering topics such as medieval Persian poetry and prose, 19th- and 20th-century writing by women in Iran, and the literature of the Iranian Diaspora. Works by medieval poets such as Rumi, Sa‘di, and Hafiz are studied, as well as those of modern writers such as Forugh Farrokhzad, Simin Behbahani, and Goli Taraghi. Other Persian- and Iran-related courses are offered at Stanford through The Hamid and Christina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies and The Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies.