Did you know that Persian (Farsi) is one of the most commonly used languages on the internet? Or are you interested in Iranian movies that have been celebrated at various international film festivals for years? Or would you like to dig deeper into the classics of Persian world literature such as Ferdowsi’s The Book of Kings or Hafez’ Divan?

These and many other topics are being covered at the Iranian studies department, which is a discipline within the Oriental Studies Institute at the University of Bamberg.

The Iranian studies department in Bamberg places its focus of scholarship and instruction on the persian-speaking region. This fascinating/exciting cultural region has been the focus of political and media attention for decades. The region defines itself through the historical role of modern Persian and extends far beyond the current borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The faculty at the department draw attention to a region, which, besides Iran, also includes Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Caucasus and even Anatolia, the Balkans, and islamic India. We especially emphasize such topics as classical and modern literature, scholarship from historical islamic times until the present, as well as topics from cultural anthropology and cultural studies.