Department of Persian Language & Literature

Why Persian:

Persian is an important language of the Middle East and Central Asia. It is known as Farsi in Iran, Dari in Afghanistan and Tajik in Tajikistan. It has about 62 million native speakers, ranking it among the world’s 20 most widely spoken first languages; another 50 million or more speak it as a second language.

Studying Persian provides an entry into a rich and diverse culture that produced major epic and Sufi poets such as Ferdowsi, Rumi and Hafez, exquisite miniature painting, fine carpets and world-class films. Since Persian has not changed significantly in over a millennium, the basic grammar for the classical and modern forms of the language is virtually the same and is relatively easy to learn.

Until just a century ago, Persian was also the cultural lingua franca in South Asia and is thus important for the study of the history of that region.

About the department

This department welcomes students at both undergraduate and graduate level. The students studying in this department are taught about the history, basics as well as the detailed explanation about Persian language. In addition, they gain more detailed knowledge about Persian literature by studying its history and various types of literary works.

The students are encouraged to present lectures on various aspects of Persian language and literature in order to disseminate their information to the other students at the university who are either Persian or learning this language. In addition, they are encouraged to develop their own literary works in Persian such as poems, novels, etc.