CMES AM candidate Amir H. Mahdavi, who is also a researcher at Brandeis University's Crown Center for Middle East Studies, writes in the Washington Post that, with the recent death of Iran's former president and leading moderate Hashemi Rafsanjani, many are concerned that current President Hassan Rouhani will be overpowered by the conservative religious establishment and a controlling Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. But Mahdavi says that Rouhani may in fact emerge stronger from Rafsanjani's death.

Sheida Dayani is a Preceptor in Persian in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Her research is on modern theatre and playwriting in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Iran.... Read more about Q&A with Sheida Dayani

Caitlin Schiffer, a reporter for BUTV10, Boston University's television station, produced this video piece about the April 16-17 performances of Feathers of Fire, a groundbreaking cinematic shadow play based on the Persian epic Shahnemeh (The Book of Kings), hosted by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the Fitzgerald Theatre in Cambridge.... Read more about Video: Behind the Scenes of Feathers of Fire

Iranian human-rights activist Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, spoke at First Parish Church in Harvard Square on March 17. The event, co-sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and Harvard Book Store, coincided with the release of Ebadi’s most recent memoir, Until We Are Free: My Fight for Human Rights in Iran. Harvard Magazine covered the event...