The American Institute of Iranian Studies

Half a Century of Foundational Research

Erica Ehrenberg

• Publisher: Eisenbrauns
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781646023141
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Art General
• Index: Social Sciences

The American Institute of Iranian Studies is devoted to fostering research in the field of Iranian studies and promoting scholarly exchange between the United States and Iran. This collection of essays addresses the history and development of Iranian studies in the United States and the pivotal role of the Institute in furthering research in the field.

The purview of the Institute is vast, covering Iranology—the study of Iranian peoples and cultures both within and across regions of Central and South Asia and the Middle East, where various forms of the Persian language are spoken. In keeping with the Institute's dedication to facilitating research in Iran, the chapters in this volume represent fields of inquiry that have benefited from direct access to materials in the country. The essays describe the founding and work of the Institute, the emergence of Iranian studies in American universities, the Encyclopaedia Iranica, early archaeological research in Iran by the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago, the birth and development of American museum collections of art from Iran, and case histories of areas of Iranian Studies that have been the traditional focus of Institute-sponsored research, including art history, history, philology, religion, and sociology.

The contributors to this volume are Ahmad Ashraf, Shiva Balaghi, Medhi Bozorgmehr, Elton L. Daniel, Erica Ehrenberg, Carl W. Ernst, Stephen C. Fairbanks, Prudence O. Harper, Linda Komaroff, Judith A. Lerner, Franklin D. Lewis, Beatrice Forbes Manz, Alessandro Pezzati, Holly Pittman, D. T. Potts, Richard L. Spees, Mathew W. Stolper, Keyvan Tabari, and Christopher Thortnon.

Table of contents

• COVER Front
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Brief Overview of the American Institute of Iranian Studies
• Chapter 2: A View from Tehran: Reflections on the Memories of the Early Days
• Chapter 3: The Tehran Center, 1977-79
• Chapter 4: The American Institute of Iranian Studies in the Twenty-first Century
• Chapter 5: The Council of American Overseas Research Centers
• Chapter 6: The Formative Decades of Iranian Studies in North America An Overview
• Chapter 7: The Encyclopaedia Iranica and A History of Persian Literature
• Chapter 8: The University of Pennsylvania Museum in Iran
• Chapter 9: The Persian Expedition: The Past and Present of the Oriental Institute’s Early Work in Iran
• Chapter 10: Iranian Art (of the Islamic Period) in American Museums: A Brief History
• Chapter 11: Exhibiting Iran in the United States:Iranian Studies and Museum Exhibitions
• Chapter 12: Some American Contributors to Iranian Studies Born before 1900
• Chapter 13: The Study of Ancient Iran in the United States: A History Focusing on Art and Material Culture
• Chapter 14: Sasanian Art Historical and Archaeological Studies in the United States: 1960-2010
• Chapter 15: The Nomad Period in Iranian history from the Seljukids through the Timurids North American contributions to the Field, 1980-2010
• Chapter 16: Development of Persian Language Studies in the United States
• Chapter 17: Persianate Islamic Studies in American Universities
• Chapter 18: First- and Second-Iranian Americans