Fatemeh Keshavarz

Louis from 2004 to 2011. Over the years, she has published several notable books including Reading Mystical Lyric: the Case of Jalal al-Din Rumi (1998), Recite in the Name of the Red Rose (2006) and Jasmine and Stars: Reading more than Lolita in Tehran (2007).

• Name — Fatemeh Keshavarz • Birthplace — Shiraz, Iran • Education — M.A., Ph.D. • Alma Mater — Shiraz University University of London • Occupation — academic, scholar, poet • Notable Works — Reading Mystical Lyric: the Case of Jalal al-Din Rumi (1998)

Born and brought up in Shiraz, Iran, Fatemeh Keshavarz holds a B.A. (1976) in Persian Language and Literature from Shiraz University, and an M.A. (1981) and a PhD (1985) in Near Eastern Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies,the University of London.

Keshavarz taught at Washington University in St. Louis from 1990 until 2012. She served as Director of the Graduate Program in Jewish, Islamic, and Near Eastern Studies, Director of the Center for the Study of Islamic Societies and Civilizations, President of the Association of Women Faculty, and Chair of the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures. In 2012, she became the Director and Chair of the Roshan Institute Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland. Among Keshavarz's works is her book Jasmine and Stars: Reading more than Lolita in Tehran. The book offers ideas in contrast to Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (Random House, 2003) which explores the relationship between literature and society in post-revolutionary Iran. Keshavarz believes that Nafisi's book presents "many damaging misrepresentations" of Iran and its people, relying more on stereotypes and easy comparisons than on an accurate portrayal of the country and its people. In 2008, the On Being radio program Speaking of Faith: The Ecstatic Faith of Rumi, on which Keshavarz was a featured guest in 2007 for American Public Media, was granted a Peabody Award. The Peabody Award is considered electronic media's most coveted trophy in the United States. That same year, Keshavarz also addressed the United Nations General Assembly on "the significance of cultural education for world peace."