Contact:
Persis Karim, Director, Persian Studies, persis.karim@sjsu.edu, 408-924-4476
SAN JOSE, Calif., – The Persian Studies Program at San Jose State, with support from the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, will hold the third annual Norouz concert to celebrate the arrival of spring and the Persian New Year on Sunday, March 9, from 3-5 p.m. in the Student Union Barrett Ballroom. This event is free and open to the public.
Musicians Mahvash Guerami, santour, and Hossein Massoudi, vocals, as well as members of the Bay Area Iranian American Children’s Choral Group will perform classical and folk Persian music to commemorate this important Persian holiday, which falls on March 20, the spring equinox. A tea and sweets reception will precede the performance.
The Persian Studies Program will host its third annual Norouz concert.
Rich Culture, History and Heritage
SJSU’s Persian Studies Program was established in March 2011 with funding from a grant from PARSA Community Foundation and received a generous three-year grant from the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute to continue the work of educating the SJSU community about the rich culture, history and heritage of the Persianate world.
Since 2011, Persian Studies at SJSU has offered courses in beginning Persian through the World Languages department and has hosted numerous lectures with scholars, film-screenings, musical events and book readings. The Norouz concert on March 9 is a wonderful opportunity to share a meaningful holiday with classical and folk music of Iran.
Many people in the larger Silicon Valley community look forward to this event and the idea that SJSU has created a tradition each year,” said Persis Karim, director of Persian Studies.
This semester, Persian Studies hosts lectures on “Jews of Iran,” and an upcoming lecture on April 2 with SJSU’s Dr. Katherine Richardson from the Department of Geography, who will share her research on “Iranian American Technology Leaders in Silicon Valley.”
Iranian Diaspora Conference
The first-ever “Cultures of the Iranian Diaspora Conference,” made possible with the support of the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, will take place April 11-12, 2014, at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. The conference will feature panels by visual artists, writers and filmmakers, as well as the play, “Inja o Oonja: Stories from Iranian American Life,” adapted by SJSU Theater Arts Professor Matthew Spangler from three short stories by Iranian American writers. The play will take place on Friday, April 11, at the Le Petit Trianon Theater (72 N. Fifth St., San Jose).
The first-ever “Cultures of the Iranian Diaspora Conference,” made possible with the support of the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, will take place April 11-12, 2014.
The conference will also feature a film screening and discussion of two films by Professor of Theatre Arts Babak Sarrafan and San Jose native Mo Gorjestani on Saturday, April 12, in the Student Union Barrett Ballroom. Information and registration for this conference and these two evening events can be found at Brown Paper Tickets.
Additional information is available on the Persian Studies Program website and Facebook page.
San Jose State — Silicon Valley’s largest institution of higher learning with 30,000 students and 3,850 employees — is part of the California State University system. SJSU’s 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation’s 10th largest city.