Detailed Program Descriptions

Iranian Studies at UCLA encompasses two fields of concentration: Persian and Old Iranian.

The Persian track covers the New Persian language, literature, and Islamic philosophy. It is primarily embedded in the history and culture of the Muslim world, and requires a thorough knowledge of Arabic and Arabic literature.

The Old Iranian track is mainly directed towards students interested in the languages and cultures of the Ancient world, notably, the Ancient Near East (Assyria, Babylonia, and Elam), the Greco-Roman world, as well as Indo European and Indic studies. It deals with the languages, literary traditions, history, and religions of Ancient, pre-Islamic, Iran.

Undergraduate and graduate concentrators in Iranian Studies, notwithstanding their chosen track, are required to become well acquainted with the core tenets of the Iranian civilization. An excellent command of Persian and Classical Persian literature is expected to be acquired, along with a solid knowledge of Old and Middle Persian (for graduate students), as well as a keen understanding of Iranian history and religions.

Although UCLA is one of the few institutions in the Americas to offer a B.A in Iranian Studies, for which prospective students directly apply to the College's Undergraduate Admissions, it is primarily a graduate program leading to a PhD in Iranian Studies. For general information regarding graduate admission to the department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, do refer to the UCLA Graduate Division's website.

The Program of Iranian Studies at UCLA allows for two alternative major fields of concentration (tracks) that permits further specialization in subfields (areas):

• Diachronic and synchronic study of the Persian language
• Persian literary traditions from early Persian prose and poetics to the end of the Classical period
• Islamic philosophy with emphasis on the Iranian element
  

While the primary orientation of Old Iranian is philological other areas of concentration, such as ancient history and the religions of Ancient Iran are strongly encouraged: