NES Faculty

Susan Moinfar-Yazdi
Lecturer in Persian

Email:smoinfar@Princeton.EDU


Salaam! My name is Susan Moinfar.  At Princeton
University, I teach first and second year Persian. I was born in
Tehran, Iran, into a traditional conservative family. In my
youth, I’ve lived through pre-revolution anxiety, revolutionary
chaos, post-revolutionary confusion, and the horrors of the Iran-
Iraq war. I moved to the US as a teenager, attended high school
in Texas, and graduated with a degree in Architectural
Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

My introduction to teaching Persian was tutoring in the
Department of Middle Eastern Studies at UT while I was a student.
I quickly developed a passion for teaching Persian language and
literature – it was as if my way of coping with separation from my
family and culture was to share my heritage with others, and to
stay true to my Iranian roots. I also taught private lessons to
adults and children who were not students at UT but who for
various reasons had a desire to learn Persian. Often they, like
me, were eager to re-connect to a fading heritage or simply to
better communicate with family left behind. Later I formalized
this effort by co-founding and teaching in a Persian language
academy in Cincinnati for adults and children. I am also working
on a Persian teaching manual targeted to the unique needs of
children born and raised in the US.

My favorite books are The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and the
Dostoevsky masterpiece Crime and Punishment. My favorite poet is
Rumi, but I’ve memorized the most from Parvin E’tesaami.
My philosophy of teaching: anyone can teach the alphabet, but not
everyone can create in you a passion for the language and give you
an interest in the culture. The alphabet is just the beginning, a
key to opening a door which leads to the world’s greatest poetry
and the rich culture of Persian-speaking peoples. Understanding
Persian is also crucial to understanding the modern political
dynamic of the Middle East, because Iran is today as it was in the
past, a leader and innovator in the culture and politics of the
region. Persian is also a major language of Afghanistan and
Tajikistan, and a cousin to Kurdish.

Whatever your cultural heritage may be, make it your life blood!
And enjoy sharing it with others, as I do! Who knows, one day you
too may have the pleasure of haggling with a carpet seller in the
bazaar of Isphahan, and get a great bargain to boot!