Dr. Fatemeh Keshavarz spent her childhood and elementary education in Shiraz and received her bachelor’s degree in Persian language and literature and her master’s degree in library science from Shiraz University. She then went to England and graduated from the School of Oriental Sciences of the University of London in the field of Middle East Studies. Dr. Keshavarz has published her poems in English and Farsi and is the author of six books on literary criticism and cultural issues, three of which have won the Choice Award. Another book, which is the result of her and his husband’s research, Dr. Ahmed Karamostafi, titled “Mystic Horizons in Ancient Persian Literature” is currently under print.
In addition to teaching Persian literature at the University of Maryland for the past 12 years, she has also served as director of the Roshan Institute of Iranian Studies and for seven years as dean of the School of Foreign Languages. The general of the United Nations spoke about the importance of including the education of world culture in the educational program of American students and the need for these young people to know the world. A year later, her one-hour program on American National Radio (NPR) titled “The Loving Faith of Rumi” won the PEABODY Award, the most outstanding award in radio programs.
Currently, in addition to the mentioned activities, Dr. Keshavarz is a member of the Senate of the University of Maryland, the chairman of the jury of literary books in the American Institute for Religious Studies (AAR), and a member of the editorial board of Cambridge University Press in England.
