Middle Eastern and Ancient Mediterranean Studies (MEAMS) to add Persian language courses

Khabar-e khub (“good news”) for Binghamton University students interested in learning Persian: the Department of Middle Eastern and Ancient Mediterranean Studies (MEAMS) will begin offering the language in the spring of 2025.

“It’s easy to learn and difficult to forget!” said Associate Professor Omid Ghaemmaghami, who will teach PERS 101 (Elementary Persian I) next semester.

Binghamton is the only SUNY campus and the only public university in upstate New York to offer a major in Arabic Studies, which focuses on Arabic language, literature and culture. Students also have the opportunity to study Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino and Turkish.

Persian, also known as Farsi, is the official language of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. It is spoken by more than 130 million people, and is the language of many of the world’s most famous and enduring works of poetry, prose and film. By adding Persian to its catalog of courses, Binghamton University will now offer classes in all of the major languages spoken in the Middle East.

More offerings are planned for future semesters, with the initial goal of three semesters’ worth of language courses to be supplemented in due time with topics courses on aspects of Iranian society, culture, and religion, Ghaemmaghami said.

In 2023, Binghamton was named a National Resource Center in Middle East and North Africa Studies, the only public university in the northeast to be awarded a center in this field. Establishing a Persian studies program will help strengthen the university’s application to renew the grant through the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI National Resource Centers Program.

Matin Arjomand, a sophomore who hasn’t yet decided on his major, plans to enroll in Elementary Persian. He’s a heritage speaker of the language and also studies Spanish.

“While I can speak it, I am unable to read and write it,” he said of Persian. “Reading and writing would be a good skill to learn, in order to read Farsi books and poems.”

Early in her college career, Sara Elzourkany began reconnecting with her Arab roots, enrolling in language courses and chairing cultural and political organizations. Now a senior double-majoring in Psychology and Arabic Studies, she has also developed an interest in the region’s non-Arab cultures.

“This is due to several factors, including our intertwined histories, languages and cultures, as well as a love of Persian cinema that came about in a film course I took freshman year,” she said.

She plans to enroll in PERS 101 in the spring, while considering a possible graduate degree in Arabic or Middle Eastern Studies, she said.

“I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the news, and super excited when I realized I’d be able to catch at least one semester of it before I graduate,” she said. “I only wish it was offered sooner.”