PRESIDENT
Mahnia Nematollahi Mahani Ph.D.
Academic Biography
I teach Persian language and both classical and modern literature, Islamic mysticism, the wisdom of Rumi, Iranian material culture, including film, music, calligraphy, iconography, Middle Eastern Civilizations, and Buddhist Practice with various colleges and universities.
My academic interest focuses on classical mystical literature, particularly poetry, and its role in Iranians’ everyday lives and intersections of religion and poetry. It fascinates me that Persian poetry transmits social norms, values, and religious beliefs.
I am Editor in Chief with Berzin Achieves, and I teach at the College of Lake County and Concordia College. Currently, I serve as the Binesh Institute for Persian Studies president. Binesh Institute is an online platform for teaching the Persian language, literature, mysticism, and the culture of Iranians to present the beauty of the Iranians’ culture, their love for humanity and peace, and their yearning for mystic spirituality.
Articles
“The Stages of the Soul through the Path of Perfection: The Journey of the Servants to the Place of Return, (Seyr al-‘Ibād ilā al-Ma‘ād), Journal of Cultural and Religious Studies, Davis Publications, vol. 9, no 12, Dec. 2021.“Studies on Persian Passion Play,” Journal of Cultural and Religious Studies, Davis Publications, vol. 5, no. 2, Feb. 2017.
“Persian Music Bands: Hybrid Iranian and American Cultural Identities,” Danesh Institute Conference Proceedings, Iranians in Diaspora: Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Oct. 21, 2016.
“Mystic Love in Iran-Iraq War Poetry,” Persica, Vol. 24, (2011-2013).
Edited books (selected)
Rezā Sha‘bāni, Ādāb va rusūm-e Nowruz (The Ritual of Nowruz), Tehran: Al-Hodā Publications, 1999.Mehdi Mohsen & et al, Tārikh-e ‘elm, (The History of Science), Tehran: Al-Hodā Publications, 1999.
Rezā Sha‘bāni, Ketāb-e Irān: khulāsa-ye tārikh-e Iran (The book of Iran: An Abstract from the History of Iran), Tehran: Al- Hodā Publications, 2002.
In the same year she edited Nābaġa-ye Būzjān (The Genius of Buzjān) by Mohsen Heydarniyā, Tehran: Al-Hodā Publications, 2002.
Ahmad Tamimdāri, Ketāb-e Irān: tārikh-e adabiyyāt-e Iran, maktab-hā, dowreh-hā sabk-hā va anvā‘-e adabi (The book of Iran: A History of Persian Literature, Schools, Periods, Styles and Literary Genders), Tehran: Al- Hodā Publications, 2000.
More than a lesson!
Every day more people join our lessons to begin their spiritual journey.
Do not wait the door is open for everyone interested.
Binesh Institute
Binesh Institute for Persian Studies
Phone: +1-773-732-4419
Email: m.nematollahi@bineshinstitute.com