Columbia University Seminar on Iranian Studies

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SEMINARS

SEMINAR ON IRANIAN STUDIES

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The first meeting of the 26th consecutive year of the Columbia University Seminar on Iranian Studies for the academic year 2013‐2014 will take place on: Thursday September 12, 2013, 5:30pm at the Faculty House of Columbia University.

Our speaker will be:
Prof. Maryam Borjian of Rutgers University who will lead the discussion on the topic of English in Post-Revolutionary Iran: From Indigenization to Internationalization

Abstract:

Dr. Maryam Borjian explores the issues around language and the perceptions of English as “suspicious” within Iranian society. The indigenization movement, together with anti-Western and anti-imperialist sentiments, has continued to dominate the political and educational discourse of post-revolutionary Iran for the better part of the past three decades. Yet, despite the state’s constant efforts during the last 30 years, the existing system of English education in Iran is not entirely indigenized. Rather, it is marked by two diverging forms of English: (1) the indigenized model that is used by the state-run education programs, and (2) the internationalized or Anglo-Americanized model, which is used by privately run education programs throughout the nation. The latter model is the one currently in vogue and most demanded by Iranians.

Bio-Notice

Dr. Maryam Borjian, a Teachers College, Columbia University alumna, is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Language Programs in the Department of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures at Rutgers University, where she also teaches courses on the politics, economics and sociology of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian languages.

Prof. Borjian's recent book English in Post-Revolutionary Iran: From Indigenization to Internationalization explores the idea that post-revolutionary Iran was envisioned with a homegrown, indigenized model of English education – an indigenized English that was free from the influence of the English-speaking nations. She has also published a dozen book chapters, journal articles and entries in Encyclopædia Iranica since 2007, including "Persian Bilingual and Community Education among Iranian-Americans in New York City," (with R. Shirazi). Her work has also appeared in O. Garcia, Z. Zakharia, and B. Otcu (eds.), Bilingual Community Education and Multilingualism: Beyond Heritage Languages in a Global City, Multilingual Matters: Bristol, Buffalo and Toronto, 2012.

Other publications include:
"Plights of Persian in the Modernization Era," (with H. Borjian), Joshua Fishman and Ofelia Garcia (eds.), Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: The Success Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts, Volume II, pp. 254-67, Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.

"The Rise and Fall of a Partnership: The British Council and the Islamic Republic of Iran (2001-2009)," Journal of Iranian Studies, 44/4, 2011: 541-62.

"The Last Galesh Herdsman: Ethno-Linguistic Materials from South Caspian Rainforests," (with H. Borjian), International Journal of Iranian Studies, 41/3, 2008: 365-402.

"Marriage Rites in South Caspian Villages: Ethnographic and Linguistics Materials from Māzandarān," (with H. Borjian), Oriental Archive, 75/2, 2007: 191-214.

"Isa Sadiq: The Founder of Modern Education in Iran," CIEclopedia: WHO's WHO in Comparative and International Education Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2007.

To reach the Faculty House:

Enter the Wien Hall Gate on 116th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive. Walk past Wien Hall, then turn right to the Faculty House.