Congratulations - Dr Zahra Taheri - VC teaching nomination

Congratulations - Dr Zahra Taheri - VC teaching nomination
Monday 29 April 2019

Congratulations to Dr Zahra Taheri on being nominated for the ANU Vice Chancellor's Teaching Excellence Award.

At the ceremony, Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt congratulated all who were recognised.

"Whether you're a candidate or a recipient in this year's awards, you all deserve to be recognised for the work that you do," Professor Schmidt said.

The Vice-Chancellor said it was a celebration not just for the award recipients, but the candidates who were nominated as well.

"You are all here for a reason. Your work has been noticed by people in the higher education community. You are doing great things and we ask that you keep up the fantastic work."

The details of Dr Taheri's nomination are listed below.

Dr Zahra Taheri is the Persian program convenor in the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, and teaches language and non-language Persian courses, both online and on campus. Her experience as an educator spans more than two decades and three different continents, and her teaching is heavily influenced by her extensive research on the image of women in Persian literature.

Teaching has always been my ultimate delight, with my enthusiasm stemming from the joy I experience in interacting with students and sharing my knowledge with them. My basic objective in teaching, aside from enhancing communication skills, is to introduce students to literary, historical, social and cultural aspects of Persian language and literature. In doing so, I utilise a variety of interactive methods that encourage exploration, rather than the passive acquisition of facts and figures. The cornerstones of my teaching are the delivery of engaging lectures, the involvement of students in the process of their learning, and creating classroom activities which immerse students into Persian culture.
I share with students my memories of living in Iran, which provides them with eye-witness accounts of Iran’s modern history, and historical events.  Such stories pique their enthusiasm and make them feel like they, themselves, have had a front row seat to the significant events which shaped Iranian culture. My overall goal is to build a strong relationship with each student and create a balance between challenge and enjoyment, in the process motivating students to most effectively understand Persian culture. I believe the most effective learning happens when students are fully engaged, and so this immersion and engagement is central to all that I do as a teacher.

“Dr Taheri is a knowledgeable, well prepared and passionate teacher. She has inspired me to follow up other CAIS courses, and to read more widely on the material covered in the course. She really knows what she is talking about, and is always willing to engage in conversations about the subject area.”

 

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Updated:  6 May 2019/Responsible Officer:  Centre Director/Page Contact:  CASS Marketing & Communications