RCPS Newsletter
Faculty & STAFF
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Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak For 19 years Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak was professor of Persian language and literature and Iranian culture and civilization at the University of Washington. He has studied in Iran and the United States, receiving his Ph.D. in comparative literature from Rutgers University in 1979, and has taught English and comparative literature and translation studies, as well as classical and modern Persian literature at the University of Tehran, Rutgers University, Columbia University, and the University of Texas. Professor Karimi-Hakkak is the author of 19 books and over 100 major scholarly articles. He has contributed articles on Iran and Persian literature to many reference works, including The Encyclopedia Britannica, The Encyclopaedia Iranica, and The Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. His works have been translated into French, Dutch, Spanish, Russian, Greek, Arabic, Japanese, and Persian. He has won numerous awards and honors, and has served as president of the International Society for Iranian Studies and several other professional academic organizations. Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak is married and has two sons, Kusha Karimi and Kia Karimi. |
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Ali Abasi Ali R. Abasi completed his Ph.D. in second language education at the University of Ottawa, Canada. His research interests include second language writing and adult learning. His recent publications have appeared in the Journal of Second Language Writing, English for Specific Purposes, Adult Basic Education and Literacy Journal, Australian Journal of Adult Learning, Literacy & Numeracy Studies: An International Journal, and Journal of English for Academic Purposes. |
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Ahmad Kasemi-Mousavi Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi is professor of Islamic law and Persian language who taught at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (1992-2005) and Fatih University (Summer 2000). He was born and educated in Iran. He received his bachelor's degree in law from Tehran University, and served as a judge for five years before transferring to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1968. Dr. Moussavi retired from the Iranian government in 1980 and joined McGill University in Montreal (Canada) where he got his Ph.D. in Islamic institutions in 1991. Dr. Moussavi taught at McGill University and Tehran University before joining the International Islamic University of Malaysia. He is the author of Religious Authority in Shi'ite Islam (1996), Shi'ite Ulama and Political Power (2004) and Facing One Qiblah (2005). He has published more than 50 articles in academic and cultural journals. He is currently lecturing "Islam in Iran" and "Modern Iran" at the University of Maryland in the U.S. |
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Mohammad Esmaili Mohamad Esmaili holds two master's degrees in Spanish linguistics and spanish literature from Georgetown University and Middlebury College, respectively. He is fluent in English, Persian, Spanish, and French. Esmaili currently teaches Beginning, intermediate and advanced level Persian at the University of Maryland, and has taught for several years at universities such as Georgetown University, Middlebury College, and Catholic University, where he was chosen as Instructor of the Year in 2005-2006. He also taught Persian at the Middle East Institute and the Diplomatic Language Service. Esmaili worked as a linguistics informant on syntax and phonology of Persian language at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also received his bachelor's degree in Spanish literature and was on the dean's list and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity. He spent several years studying Spanish and French throughout Europe (Spain, France, and Holland) and South America (Ecuador). His fields of interest and research are applied linguistics and phonology. |
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Michelle Ayazi Michelle Ayazi received her Bachelor's in Business Management at the California State University, Northridge in 2003. Inspired by her two amazing undergraduate study abroad experiences, after graduating, she moved to the Polish city of Lodz to teach English at a private language school. She has accumulated 12 years' experience in student advising and six years' experience in international education. Michelle received a Master's in International Education Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park in 2008. Her thesis was on connecting study abroad with education for peace. While attending graduate school at UM, she worked as a graduate assistant in the University Career Center and the Study Abroad Office. After returning from her first trip to Iran in the summer of 2008, Michelle joined the Persian Studies department at UM as the Undergraduate Coordinator. |
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