The Department of Persian Language and Literature

Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz

 

After recruiting a number of assistant professors as borrowed employees from Tehran Teacher Training University and other educational centers in the country, the Department of Persian Language and Literature was established in 1973, and started its official activities in a building called "Segush" (Persian word for Triangle) at the then Jundishapur University (now known as Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz). After a while, the department was expanded by hiring a number of assistant professors and instructors (who were mainly transferred teachers from the Office of Education), becoming an efficient academic department on the eve of the Islamic Revolution. In 1986 and 1991, the Department of Persian Language and Literature established master's and PhD programs in Persian language and literature, respectively. At that time, this department was the third department to conduct a doctoral program among the country's universities.  The Department of Persian Language and Literature of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz was nominated for the Academic Hub of Persian Language and Literature in the mid-1970s thanks to its 4 professors, 3 associate professors, and 3 instructors. However, on the eve of becoming an academic hub, the department regretfully lost this opportunity due to the transfer, retirement and death of some of its faculty members. Currently, relying on the academic endeavors of its 5 associate professors and 8 assistant professors, this department offers doctoral, master's and bachelor's programs in Persian language and literature.

The Department of Persian Language and Literature admits students in three programs: bachelor's, master's, and PhD (daytime, night-time and self-automated campus).

     This department admits students in the field of pure language and literature in the three mentioned programs. In addition, in 2017, it offered two master's programs in Lyric Literature and Contemporary Literature, and a PhD program in Lyric Literature.

     Currently, the Department of Persian Language and Literature has 164 undergraduate students, 46 graduate students and 40 PhD students.

     The focus of the Department of Persian Language and Literature is mainly on postgraduate studies, and it has recently announced its readiness to accept international students, and given the university's cooperation, it will soon accept international students in postgraduate programs.

     Due to the nature of the field of Persian language and literature, which is of a theoretical essence, most of the research of the faculty members of this department revolves around basic research, and depending on their expertise and fields of interest, they conduct research in the fields of ancient and contemporary literature. On the other hand, the department attempts to shift the subject of students' theses and dissertations to demand-oriented research as much as possible.

     The department currently enjoys the presence of 13 faculty members, of whom 5 are associate professors and the rest are assistant professors. In addition, one assistant professor is joining the group in near future. The names of these members along with their fields of specialty are as follows:

Dr. Mohammad Reza Salehi Mazandarani: Epic texts and rhetorical sciences

Dr. Parvin Golizadeh: Mystical literature and ancient texts of Persian prose

Dr. Manouchehr Tashakkori: Ancient and contemporary Persian verse, General literature, Grammar

Dr. Mokhtar Ebrahimi: Epic literature and General literature

Dr. Manouchehr Jokar: Contemporary Persian literature and mystical texts

Dr. Ghodrat Ghasemipour: Lyrical texts, literary criticism, literary theory, and contemporary Persian literature

Dr. Adel Sawaedi: Children's literature, comparative literature, and contemporary literature

Dr. Asad Abshirini: Literary criticism and contemporary literature

Dr. Zahra Nasiri Shiraz: Ancient Persian poetry, prose texts, and critical correction of texts

Dr. Zeinab Rezapour: Mystical texts and educational texts

Dr. Zeinab Afzali: Mystical literature and ancient Persian prose texts

Dr. Davoodpour Mozaffari: Sufi styles

Dr. Ghodratollah Zarouni: Lyric literature, contemporary literature, and literary theories

 

With more than 47 years of educational background, the Department of Persian Language and Literature is among the oldest scientific and educational departments of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz and the universities throughout the country. Relying on its unmatched scientific capacity and necessary amenities, this department was nominated as a scientific hub in its field among the Persian language and literature departments of the country in 1991 and 1992. Also, one of its faculty members (Dr. Nasrollah Emami) was aptly selected as a distinguished professor in the country. This department was awarded the title of the distinguished department of university in 2017.  With the scientific-professional-administrative support of the department of Persian language and literature, the Center for Teaching Persian to Non-Persian Speakers (AZFA) was officially inaugurated in 2015.

    This department previously had a joint publication with the other department of the faculty entitled "Journal of the Faculty of Letters and Humanities" the chief editor of which was Dr. Nasrullah Emami. However, after the publication of one issue, the next issues were not published for a number of years due to the change of the ministry's policy regarding the country's university publications. Nevertheless, in 2017, this department resumed its publication activities in this field by obtaining a permission to publish another journal entitled " Quarterly of Persian Prose and Order Studies". So far, six issues of this journal have been published with the most delicate scientific standards possible.

      In 2017, the Department of Persian Language and Literature held a national conference entitled "Assessment of Persian Language and Literature Textbooks". In 2019, the department held another national conference entitled "Status of Persian language teaching in high school textbooks in Khuzestan province" along with four specialized workshops for teachers in this province. In addition, this department has held several scientific and specialized meetings in recent years by inviting prominent scientific figures of the country's universities in the field of Persian language and literature. Most recently in 2020, on behalf of the Association for the Promotion of Persian Language and Literature, the 15th International Meeting of the Association for the Promotion of Persian Language and Literature was hosted by the Department of Persian Language and Literature of Shahid Chamran University.