Affiliation : Australian National University in Canberra    Head of the Institue : Amin Saikal    Tel : (+2) 6125 4982 , (+2) 6125 8375, +61 2 6125 5111    Fax : (+2) 6152 5410    Addres : CAIS, The Faculties, The Australian National University, Canberra ATC 0200    Email : cais@anu.edu.au , Amin.Saikal@anu.edu.au,    Url : http://arts.anu.edu.au/cais/persianprogram.asp    More : Farsi/Persian is the most widely spoken member of the Iranian branch of the indo-European languages. It is the mother tongue of more than 150 million people around the globe. It is spoken primarily in Iran, a country which plays a crucial political role in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region. Persian is also spoken in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and in many regions of Central Asia. Historically, it was widely understood from the Mediterranean to India, and has a rich historical and cultural legacy. Many distinguished works by such poets as Ferdowsi (Shahname), Omar Khayyam (Roba’aiyyat), Sa’adi (Golistan), Rumi (Mathnavi) and Hafiz (Ghazaliyyat) have been created in Persian. Even great European poets and literary writers such as Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Alphonse de Lamartine, Maeterlinck, Goethe and F. Scott Fitzgerald were influenced by Persian Literature in their works. Persian language is considered the language of love, poetry and the path to understanding aspects of the great spiritual heritage of mankind. Additionally, it is easy to learn and fun to speak and write.