The Chair of Iranian Studies bridges YSU and the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and Edinburgh

The Department of Iranian Studies and British universities started active cooperation in 2022 within the framework of the "Persian Language and Culture Learning Program", which is designed to deepen the knowledge of Iranian studies and the Persian language for foreign students. Students of Cambridge, Oxford, and Edinburgh universities have already studied at YSU for three-month and seven-week terms. This year, the number of students who arrived for one academic semester reached 12.

Vardan Voskanyan, Head of the Chair of Iranian Studies at YSU, emphasizing the establishment and expansion of cooperative relations with the world's leading universities, said, "I am very glad that YSU, represented by the Chair of Iranian Studies, has the best traditions of cooperating with both Iranian and European universities, becoming a bridge of cooperation in the field of Iranian Studies."

Vardan Voskanyan emphasized that within the framework of the "Persian Language and Culture Learning Program", they are planning to expand the geography of cooperation by hosting students not only from British but also from other European universities.

Mahbod Ghaffari spoke about choosing YSU for the partnership program.

Before choosing a partner university, we studied the field and it became clear that YSU is one of the best universities in the region, the largest and the leading one in RA, and the Chair of Iranian Studies has a long-term rich teaching experience. The decision to send our students to YSU was unequivocal after direct contact with the head of the Chair Vardan Voskanyan and our other YSU colleagues and discussions about the training program.

M. Ghaffari introduced the topics and relevance of the lectures.

To get acquainted directly with the teaching process of the Chair of Iranian Studies and read 2 lectures: these are the goals that brought me from Cambridge University to Yerevan State University.

If a person wants to know more about the culture, lifestyle, and people of Iran, he should study the films, because they reflect the reality of the given period on the one hand, and historical and social events on the other. Considering the importance of films, I devoted my lectures to that topic.

In the framework of the first lecture, I presented the history of Iranian cinema, from the beginning to the new cinema, and the second one was dedicated to the new era of cinema, particularly from the Islamic revolution to the present day.

M. Ghaffari also referred to future cooperation with YSU.

We have many positive reactions and opinions from our students who participated in the program before. They have improved their knowledge of Farsi and enriched their knowledge of Iranian culture.

The effectiveness of the "Persian Language and Culture Learning Program" predetermines its continuation. We want our Armenian colleagues from the Chair of Iranian Studies in Cambridge to participate in the conference related to the teaching of Persian language and Persian culture, like last year. We would like to cooperate in other educational areas as well, organizing mutual visits and lectures more often. I am sure that the cooperation between British universities and Yerevan State University in the field of Iranian studies will become a basis for establishing partnership ties in other directions.