Mahyar Entezari is a Lecturer in Foreign Languages at the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures. As the Coordinator of the Persian Language Program, he leads curriculum development and program management. In addition to teaching Persian (also known as Farsi or Dari), he offers courses on modern Iran. His research explores national identity, political discourse, and cultural expression in Iran, analyzing how cinema, literature, and state rhetoric influence collective memory, ideology, and resistance in the Islamic Republic.
Dr. Entezari earned his Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of Texas at Austin, where he also trained in Arabic and Turkish. His scholarly contributions include publications on Iranian nationalism and the Iran–Iraq War, particularly in the context of dissident filmmaking and political discourse. He has presented his research at institutions such as Princeton University and the United States Military Academy at West Point, among others.
Beyond teaching, Dr. Entezari plays an active role in leadership, co-organizing the Middle East Film Festival for nearly a decade, serving on various committees, and leading teacher training initiatives. His work has been recognized with awards and fellowships from the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, and other institutions.
- PhD, Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of Texas at Austin
- MA, Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas as Austin
- BA, German Studies, University of California, San Diego
- Elementary Persian I
- Elementary Persian II
- Intermediate Persian I
- Intermediate Persian II
- Persian for Heritage Speakers
- Iranian Cinema: Gender, Politics, Religion
- Modern Middle Eastern Literatures in Translation
- “Rebellion on Reel: The Iran–Iraq War in Films by Iranian Dissidents,” Arms, Letters, and the Humanities: Essays on Language, Culture, and Military Themes, The West Point Press (forthcoming)
- “The Politics of Twentieth-Century Persian Prose Fiction,” Persian Language and Literature: In Honor of Michael Craig Hillmann (forthcoming)
- “The Pre-Islamic Past in Modern Iranian Culture: A Cultural Materialist Reading,” A Persian Mosaic: Essays on Persian Language, Literature and Film, Ibex Publishers (2016)
- “ʿAzadaran-e Bayal,” Encyclopædia Iranica (2011)
American Association of Teachers of Persian