The American Institute of Iranian Studies (AIIrS) is a non-profit consortium of American universities and museums created to promote academic and cultural exchange between the US and Iran. The specific objectives of AIIrS are to represent American institutions of higher education and research in the field of Iranian Studies, and to expose new generations of students and scholars to Iran and the wider Persianate world. Its purview comprises the historical Iranian world of Central Asia, the Middle East and South Asia as well as the modern political state of Iran. In the belief that person-to-person connections are essential for fostering mutual understanding, AIIrS serves as the main conduit for academic and cultural exchange between the U.S. and Iran. It is the only organization in the country dedicated to funding research in Iranian Studies. The Institute’s fellowships and programs aim to create and maintain expertise on an important geographical region and interest in bi-national cooperation. Opportunities for direct contact invigorate the academic resource base and increase the depth of knowledge in the field. The Institute is managed by a Board of Trustees composed of representatives of member institutions. Additional Trustees-at-large and Advisory Committee members are elected to the Board from among distinguished scholars in the field, irrespective of institutional affiliation.
HISTORY
Founded in 1967 to establish an overseas center in Tehran for the purpose of supporting and hosting American scholars in the interdisciplinary study of Iranian civilization, AIIrS responded to the needs of the first generation of American researchers as the number of Iranists steadily increased in the later 1960s and provided the full range of services for visiting American scholars in Iran. Between 1967 and 1979, AIIrS was the sole private organization representing the academic interests of American universities, museums and scholars in Iran. Following the 1979 Revolution and the rupture of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Iran, the center in Tehran was obliged to suspend its activities. For the next two decades, AIIrS devoted itself to furthering Iranian Studies in the U.S. by offering grants to students, holding conferences and fostering a sense of community in the field. When former Iranian President Khatami presented AIIrS with the possibility of renewing programs under the auspices of his Dialogue of Civilizations initiative in 1998, AIIrS resumed sending students to Iran for language training. Over the ensuing years, AIIrS developed fellowship programs for American scholars for research travel to Iran or other resource-relevant countries and for Iranian scholars to travel to the U.S. for research stays at host institutions. It has also awarded occasional discretionary grants for relevant public events, including conferences, lectures, exhibitions and cultural programs.
AIIrS is a founding member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) in Washington, D.C.: www.caorc.org
