Mitra Ara
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Assistant Professor, College of Humanities, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures Founding Director, Persian Studies Program
Contact Information
Office: HUM 347 Center: HUM 413 Phone: (415) 338-3121 Email: mitraara@sfsu.edu Website: http://www.sfsu.edu/~persian |
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Dr. Ara is Assistant Professor and Founding Director of The Persian Studies Program in the College of Humanities at San Francisco State University. Currently, she lectures in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, and Middle East Studies program where she teaches language and cultures of the Persianate Societies in addition to the world religions, including Iranian religious traditions and minority religions.
Professor Ara received her B.A. in Religious Studies, her M.A. in South Asian studies, and her Ph.D. in Asian studies from the University of California, Berkeley, with a concentration on the religions and languages of West Asia. Her research interests include Indo-Iranian cultures, cosmology and eschatology in world religions. In addition to her philanthropic efforts, her research interests have taken her all over the globe. She is the author of the book entitled Eschatology in the Indo-Iranian Traditions: The Genesis and Transformation of a Doctrine, in addition to numerous articles, presentations, public speaking, and community teaching.
By establishing the Persian Studies Minor at SFSU, Dr. Ara hopes to provide a uniquely designed resource for understanding, studying and appreciating Persian cultural heritage. This minor program allows students and faculty to explore Persian history, language, literature, music, arts, and culture in all its manifestations, and expose students to a broadly defined vision that spans and includes the diverse geographic and the linguistic landscape of both historic and modern Persian culture.
For additional information, please visit the Persian Program website.
