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Message from the President

Message from the President

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the Eighth Biennial
Conference of the International Society for Iranian Studies (ISIS). The
celebration of the 90th birthday of ISIS’s first president, Dr. Ehsan
Yarshater, is a special feature of this year’s conference. ISIS was
established in 1967 as the Society for Iranian Studies and held its
first conference in Los Angeles on 26-27 June 1969. Organized by
Professor Amin Banani, the 1969 conference on the "Structure of Power in
Islamic Iran" included 5 panels and 20 participants. "Starting with 9
members at the time of its inception," the Society today has
approximately 500 members from all over the world. As it was observed in
1968, "the combined list of our members and subscribers reads literally
like a Who's Who in the field of Iranian Studies . . . ."
While in 1968 membership was "limited to North America," ISIS today is
the largest and the most cohesive Iranian Studies scholarly society with
members hailing from countries from all over the world. This year's
conference is a testimony to the widening international scope of the
Society's membership and the impressive diversity of topics covered in
the field of Iranian Studies. A new generation of Iranian Studies
scholars are taking the field beyond the territorial boundaries of Iran
and past the earlier nationalist paradigm into globally framed
explorations of social, cultural and literary conventions, interactions
and transformations.

At the time of its inception, "only Iranians were eligible for Full
Membership while non-Iranian students and scholars could apply for the
Society's Associate Membership." As the image on the back of the
front-cover illustrates, this was changed in 1968 with the introduction
of an amendment changing the full membership to "[a]ny person sharing
the objectives of this Society and engaged in research or study in
social sciences and humanities . . . ." Taking into account the breadth
of political changes since the 1960s, the longevity of ISIS is due to
this inclusivity and unwavering "non-partisan" commitment. This was
explained in the following manner in the Society’s original
constitution: "The society as such is non-partisan. It will not support
political parties or candidates nor commit its members on questions of
public policy." Now as then, ISIS has remained fully committed to
academic freedom. As noted in Article II of the original constitution,
"The society shall, however, work for the safeguard[ing] of freedom of
inquiry and expression for its members and other scholars in the field."

In view of the intense national, regional and global conflicts that have
arisen since its founding, ISIS has sought to remain inclusive of all
competing perspectives while concurrently resisting its
instrumentalization as a venue for the advancement of particularistic
and extra-academic agendas. With its strong commitment to the autonomy
of scholarly inquiry and to academic civility, ISIS has effectively
addressed issues of concern to its members through reasoned deliberation
and via its own constitutional principles of non-partisan inclusivity.
With the Society’s development into a global network of scholars and
academics, the preservation of these well-tested principles are
fundamental to our ability to advance social science and humanities
research in an area that has become the object of increased
politicization and ideologization by extra-academic forces.

With
its relatively limited resources drawn from the membership, this year’s
conference has been the product of a labor of love and invaluable
support from many colleagues. In addition to Dr. Rivanne Sandler, who
has ably placed ISIS on a solid organizational and financial foundation,
I have enjoyed working with Professor Marta Simidchieva, the 2010
Conference Program Chair. Dr. Simidchieva and the program committee put
together an excellent academic program. With many new scholars in this
year’s conference, we will be meeting researchers who will be shaping
scholarly agendas in the field for the next few decades.

ISIS is especially grateful for the invaluable support and
dedication of Dr. Hossein Ziai, the 2010 Conference Chair. Dr. Ziai and
the organizing committee, consisting mainly of UCLA students and
faculty, have made this a historically special conference. Dr. Ziai and
his team have been a great source of support as we have prepared for
this 2010 Iranian Studies Biennial Conference. I would like to express
my gratitude to the organizing committee, specifically to Jonathan
Friedlander and Dr. Latifeh Hagigi. Special thanks to the dedicate
members of our award committees.

I would also like to express my gratitude to the institutional
co-sponsors of this year’s conference: the American Institute for
Iranian Studies, the Farhang Foundation, the Friends of Encyclopaedia
Iranica, the Foundation for Iranian Studies, the Persian Heritage
Foundation, and the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute. Special thanks
to Mahnaz Afkhami, Frank Lewis, Elahé Mir-Djalali Omidyar, Vahid
Nowshirvani, Homa Sarshar, and Javad Tavakoli. The opening reception,
which is co-sponsored by the Farhang Foundation, would not have been
possible without the organizational skills and elegant sensibility of
Bita Milanian and Haleh Emrani. The Ehsan Yarshater 90th Birthday
Tribute & Reception is made possible with the wise counsel of Dr.
Ahmad Ashraf and the foresight of Homa Sarshar and other committed
Friends of Encyclopaedia Iranica.

Very special thanks go to Ustad Khosrow Bayat, Pendar Yousefi,
and Shabnam Rahimi-Golkhandan for their dedication and outstanding
graphic design. I am also grateful to Arash Afshar of Printup Press
& Graphics for his quality work and invaluable last minute support.
For extending the hospitality of the Doubletree Guest Suites Santa
Monica, I am also indebted to Beth Hansler.

Please join me in thanking all of our volunteers, committee
members, co-sponsors, and conference presenters whose contribution to
the advancement of Iranian Studies is appreciated in the previous pages.

I wish you all an intellectually inspiring experience in Santa Monica.

Best regards,
Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi

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