The Center’s Blog: “With A Trace”
View the Center's Blog, With a Trace: Documenting and Sharing the Experiences of the Iranian Diaspora.
A blog to read and share about Iranian diaspora experiences and culture by the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State University.
2023
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Sara Nodjoumi and Till Schauder on the Making of “A Revolution on Canvas” — a Film about Art, Nikzad Nodjoumi and Nahid Hagigat and Iran’s Long History of Artistic Suppression
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Mahsa Vahdat On Leaving Iran and Finding A Home in Music
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Berkeley-based Artist and Muralist Mokhtar Paki on Depicting the ‘Voyages’ of Immigrants, Refugees, and their Contributions to the US
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Recognizing the Life and Work of Shahrnush Parsipur — An Iranian Writer Who Belongs to the World
What the Latest Census Results Reveal about Iranian Americans
Let Her Sing 2023: Empowering Women’s Voices
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Confronting Mystery and Poetry with Darius Atefat-Peckham
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Embracing Identity Through the Body and Poetry — The Vision of Artist Mobina Nouri
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Building Community and Making Music among Older Members of the Iranian Diaspora
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Atlanta Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari and the Many Facets of Iranian-American Resilience
PRIDE MONTH in the Bay Area — A Wrap Up
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Yaas Farzanefar, A Bay Activist for Women’s and LGBTQ+ Rights in the Context of “Woman. Life. Freedom.” Movement
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Transcending the Expectations of Grief in Writing — A Conversation with Shideh Etaat
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Embodying Love and the Divine with Dr. shawndeez
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Nurturing the Next Generation — Conversing with Sam Alavi-Irvine, Educator and Community Activist and One of the Leaders of the New Ayandeh Initiative
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Making Queerness Visible in the Arts—A Conversation with Novelist and Screenwriter Abdi Nazemian
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: The Subject of Objects — Parmida Mostafavi and Consumerism Within the Iranian Diaspora Community
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Beyond Canons and Tokenization — A Conversation with Actor, Amir Malaklou
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: A Conversation with Poet Rooja Mohassessy on Healing Through Poetry and Art
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Celebrating Norooz at the White House
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: A Tale of Two Worlds — Ana Maria Raietparvar, and the Iranian Diaspora in Brazil
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: SF State’s Professor Hafez Modirzadeh on Amplifying the Struggle for Freedom through Music
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Ariana Vafadari and the Power of Weaving Connections Across Musical Traditions
2022
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: “We are that poppy born of fire” — A Conversation with Artist, Pouya Afshar
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Bay Area Attorney Paris Etemadi Scott on the Frontlines of the Refugee Crisis
The Iranian Diaspora in Spain: First Insights from Fieldwork 2019-2022
After Salamanca: Reflections on the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies on the Occasion of our Fifth Anniversary
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Iranians in Hungary in the Past and the Present
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Spaces of Possibility with Iranian Diaspora Artist, Afruz Amighi
Finding My Language: A Personal Exploration of Identity in the Iranian Diaspora
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: San Francisco State University’s Dr. Mahmood Monshipouri and the Imperative of Researching and Teaching Human Rights in the 21st Century
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: The Push and Pull of Iranianness in and out of the Kitchen
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Amir Sayadabdi—Advancing and Promoting Food Studies within Iranian/Persianate Studies
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Pirooz Kalayeh on Making Films, Listening, and the Power of Healing
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Laetitia Nanquette—A Scholar Writing from Outside and Inside
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Halleh Ghorashi of Vrije University On Building a Sense of Empowerment and Home
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Art Beyond Aesthetics—the Vision of Morehshin Allahyari
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Learning from the Movements of Gymnastics—Professor Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi on Becoming a Historian and Director of a Canadian Institute of Iranian Studies
2021
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Sepehr Haddad On Making Art from Life and On Making a Life in the Arts
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Abdi Soltani, Director of the Northern California ACLU on Being ‘Good’ Iranian Americans and Building a Culture of Human and Civil Rights
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Catherine Sameh On Finding the Bonds of Solidarity in the Transnational Feminist Frame
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Sanaz Fotouhi on Connecting through Stories, Film, Literature, and Her Own Storytelling
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Iranian-American Author Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi— Writing Through and About the Complexities of Otherness
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Being Without Belonging—Iranian Diaspora Subjects in the Transnational Research of Professor Sahar Sadeghi
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: “Joonopanir”—or How We Speak “Finglish” in the Iranian Diaspora
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: ‘The Savage Muse’ — Building Community Across the Artful Dinner Table
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Author Olivia Abtahi on Giving Voice to the Marginalized in YA Fiction
From the Granular to the Sweeping: Reflecting on the Evolution of a Diaspora
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Vancouver’s Chef Hamid Salimian—Finding His Way through Food
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Telling Stories from Tehran to Rome to Vancouver to Los Angeles with Chef and Cookbook Author Naz Deravian
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: California-Based Artist Keyvan Shovir and Movement Between Tradition, Modernity, and Diaspora
Atossa Soltani on Being a “Planetary Citizen” and Defending the Amazon
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Forging a Progressive Future with Yasmin Radjy
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Chef Hoss Zaré –A Tale of Persian Hospitality, Cooking Innovation, and Culinary Evangelism
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Milad Odabaei—On Transitioning to the United States and Conducting Fieldwork in Iran
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Sara Saedi—On Growing up Undocumented and Becoming a YA Novelist
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: “Daring to Look” – Pouran Jinchi and Re-Writing Women into the Great Calligraphic Traditions of Iran
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Building A Bay Area Iranian-American Queer Community One Person-at-a-Time
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Claudia Yaghoobi and the Importance of Making the Marginalized Visible
2020
Reflections on Racism, Inequality, and the Role Iranian-Americans Can Play in Social Justice
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Torange Yeghiazarian, Founding Artistic Director of Golden Thread Productions—Creating and Sustaining Theatre with a Purpose
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Bay Area Filmmaker Mo Gorjestani and His Mission to Tell the Stories of the Marginalized, the Vulnerable, and the Resilient
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Novelist Marjan Kamali—Writing from a Place of Nuance
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Samira Saffarzadeh—On Crossing Boundaries, Raising Biracial Children, and Hosting the Podcast, “We’re Not So Different”
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Sepi Shyne – An Advocate for the LGBTQIA Community and Social Justice in Her City
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Azin Seraj—Making Art from the Archive of Her Diasporic Life
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Nima Rahimi, Attorney and Advocate for Political Participation and Democracy
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Sahar Razavi, California State University, Sacramento
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Taghi Amjadi On Hafez and the Power of Seeking Mental Healthcar
Iranian Diaspora Youth Essay Contest: Sam Rahbin
Iranian Diaspora Youth Essay Contest: Sam Bashiri
Iranian Diaspora Youth Essay Contest: Donya Hosseini
2019
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: The King and Queen of Kuku, Aisan Hoss and Mehdi Parnia
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Holly Fathi and the Emerging Literature of British Iranians
Elica Vafaie: An Iranian-American Attorney Committed to Social Justice
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Ana Bayat, Multilingual Actor and Playwright
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Artist and Murphy Award Winner Shirin Towfiq
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: The Making of a Movie—Report from the Frontlines of “We Are Here” Documentary
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Shadee Abdi
Iranian Diaspora Scholar Spotlight: Marie Ostby, Connecticut College
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Hanif Sadr, Chef at Komaaj and Caterer for Minnesota Street Project Receptions
“Chanting the Shores” Iranian Diaspora Spotlight with Amin Moghadam, Princeton University
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Jasmin Darznik, Novelist and Professor
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Shirin Vossoughi, Northwestern University
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Taraneh Hemami, Artist and Activist and Curator for “Part and Parcel” and “Once at Present”
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Amy Malek, College of Charleston
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Manijeh Nasrabadi
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Camron Amin
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Sonja Moghaddari
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Neda Maghbouleh
Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Dr. Beeta Baghoolizadeh