The Association for Iranian Studies (AIS) (), formerly the International Society for Iranian Studies (ISIS), is a private,

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

academic organization founded in 1967 in the United States, though it now counts upwards of 1,000 members around the world. The current president is Naghmeh Sohrabi,

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

. The AIS publishes a quarterly journal, ''

Iranian Studies Iranian studies ( '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It is a part of the wider field ...

''." Its editor is Sussan Siavoshi, from Trinity University. AIS is affiliated member of the international Middle East Studies Association (MESA).

History

Association for Iranian Studies, Inc. (AIS), formerly The International Society for Iranian Studies, Inc. – previously The Society for Iranian Studies – was founded in 1967 as an academic society to support and promote the field of

Iranian studies Iranian studies ( '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It is a part of the wider field ...

at the international level. Under its original name, the Society was incorporated in 1973 as a Type B Corporation under Section 201 of the

Not-for-Profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

Corporation Law of the State of New York.

Organization

An elected council and an executive council run the affairs of the organization. The objectives of the Society are to promote high standards of scholarship in the field, to encourage the teaching of Iranian Studies at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and to encourage and facilitate scholarly exchange amongst its international membership. Association for Iranian Studies publishes

, a journal that continues to serve as the principal journal in the field. In 2005 AIS organized the Committee for Intellectual and Academic Freedom (AIS-CAIF). The

tax-exempt Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...

status of the Association permits donors in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to deduct contributions.

Subjects

is a peer-reviewed journal of history, literature, culture, and society, covering all regions of the globe with a Persian or Iranian legacy, especially

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, the Caucasus and northern India, as well as diaspora communities of Iranians in Europe and the United States.

Publications

'' is a quarterly

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

covering

ian and

Persianate A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity. The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, and society published by

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

on behalf of the Association for Iranian Studies (International Society for Iranian Studies). It is published 6 times a year and was established in 1967. The

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

is Ali Gheissari (

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

). The journal is abstracted and indexed in the

MLA International Bibliography The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "str ...

Awards

Saidi-Sirjani Book Award

The Saidi-Sirjani Book Award is granted biennially by the Association for Iranian Studies on behalf of the Persian Heritage Foundation. Established in 1995, the purpose of the Award is to recognize and promote scholarship in the field of Iranian studies, as well as to honor the memory of Ali-Akbar Saidi-Sirjani (1931-1994), the noted Iranian historian, literary critic, and author, in appreciation for his scholarship, his courage, and his indefatigable struggle for freedom of expression.

Lifetime achievement award

In 2006, under the leadership of President Janet Afary, AIS instituted two new awards for Life-Time Achievement in Iranian Studies. The first Life-Time Achievement in Iranian Studies Award for a Scholar Residing and Working Inside

was conferred on Professor Emeritus Iraj Afshar. Professor

Ehsan Yarshater Ehsan Yarshater (; April 3, 1920 – September 1, 2018) was an Iranian historian and linguist who specialized in Iranology. He was the founder and director of the Center for Iranian Studies, and Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Stud ...

was chosen to receive the first Life-Time Achievement in

Award for a Scholar Residing and Working Outside of Iran. The Chair of the 2018 Committee is

Houchang Chehabi Houchang Esfandiar Chehabi is a scholar of Iranian studies at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University where he is Professor of International Relations and History. Chehabi is Iranian-German and was born in Tehran, ...

Ehsan Yarshater Book Award

The

Book Award is granted biennially by the Association for Iranian Studies on behalf of th
Persian Heritage Foundation
The purpose of this award is to advance the scholarship on Ancient Iranian Civilization and its cognate fields. Professor Ehsan Yarshater is an internationally recognized scholar who has made a major contribution to the field of Iranian Studies. The AIS Council designated Professor Yarshater an honorary member in 1999.

Latifeh Yarshater Award

The Latifeh Yarshater Award was instituted by the Persian Heritage Foundation to honor the memory of Latifeh Yarshater and her lifelong dedication to the improvement of Iranian women's human rights. The purpose of the award is to encourage scholarship in Iranian studies focused on the condition of women in Persian speaking societies and to promote women's rights in these societies.

Mehrdad Mashayekhi Dissertation Award

The Mehrdad Mashayekhi Dissertation Award is presented biannually to the author of an exceptional Ph.D. dissertation dealing with the broad themes of politics and the public sphere in

, written in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

or English. Dissertations written in other languages are accepted, if they are accompanied with condensed translation of chapters into English or Persian. This award is established by the Mehrdad Mashayekhi Foundation, in memory of his dedication to the cause of democracy and social justice in Iran.

Name controversy

As the Society for Iranian Studies attracted more and more members from outside

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, it was decided to emphasize its transnational vocation by adding word "International" to the title. The membership agreed to this change, and in 2003 the Society for Iranian Studies became The International Society for Iranian Studies, along with the

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

ISIS. By 2016, however "ISIS" no longer brought to mind an Egyptian goddess but rather a terrorist organization, the

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

. In the Vienna 2016 Biennial conference, it was decided to change the name of the organization, which has been Association for Iranian Studies ever since.

Former presidents

The following persons have been presidents of the association: * 2021-22 Naghmeh Sohrabi * 2019-20 Camron Michael Amin * 2017-18 Touraj Daryaee * 2015-16 Touraj Atabaki * 2013-14 Mehrzad Boroujerdi * 2011-12 Houchang Esfandiar Chehabi * 2009-1
Mohammad Tavakoli-Targhi
* 2007-08 Nasrin Rahimieh * 2005-06 Janet Afary * 2004

Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak (, born February 1944 in Mashhad, Iran) is a Persian literary figure and Iranologist. Life Education Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak holds a BA in English Literature and a Teacher's Certificate from the University of Tehran and Military ...

* 2003 Shahrough Akhavi * 2002

Richard N. Frye Richard Nelson Frye (January 10, 1920 – March 27, 2014) was an American scholar of Iranian and Central Asian studies, and Aga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Harvard University. His professional areas of interest were Irania ...

* 2001 Ahmad Ashraf * 2000 William L. Hanaway * 1999 Farhad Kazemi * 199
Ali Banuazizi
* 1997

References

External links

* {{authority control Learned societies of the United States Middle Eastern studies in the United States Middle Eastern studies organizations Iranian studies 1967 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 1967 Iranian studies journals Asian history journals Historiography of Iran Academic journals established in 1967 Taylor & Francis academic journals Academic journals associated with learned and professional societies