Persian Cultural Society offered 1,001 cultural opportunities

The Persian Cultural Society has been serving UNC campus unique cultural diversity for 10 years. Yesterday, they hosted its third annual 1,001 Nights event in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union.

Junior Nakisa Sadeghi, who is one of the co-presidents for the UNC Persian Cultural Society, said while 1,001 Nights is hosted by her organization, the event still included performances and groups from different cultures and countries.

“One of our main goals as an organization is to open up P.C.S. to other groups; it’s not just for Iranian people,” Sadeghi said. “We think we have a lot to gain from having a diverse background. But we also think we can contribute our culture. In that way it’s a two-way street.”

The event brought performances such as the playing of the tar (a traditional Iranian instrument), dabke (a traditional Arab folk dance) and poetry readings in Farsi.

The event also provided food like baklava, oloviye, kotlet and bademjan.

Senior Mateen Alinaghi, who is the co-marketing chair for the UNC Persian Cultural Society, said the event was made with the purpose of exposing students to different cultural groups.

“I think that every culture, heritage or society has a story to tell, and the main goals for this event is to provide a platform for groups on campus to do just that,” he said.

There were cultural booths set up during the event, including tables for calligraphy and information on the Persian Cultural Society and the Arab Student Organization.

Persian lecturer Shahla Adel said students running the Persian Cultural Society are trying to both promote and learn more about their own culture.

“These are mostly second-generation students that run this club,” she said. “They want to learn about their culture and raise awareness for Iranian culture.” 

Adel also said that while she feels Persian is adequately represented in the language sphere, promoting Persian is not just about its language, but also culture.

“We are doing everything we can to bring more awareness to everything we have. People want to learn about the culture and learn about the language too," Adel said. "We try to promote our language through different events like showing Iranian cinema."

Senior Simdi Onwuteaka attended 1,001 Nights and said she liked the performance because it gave her a new way to learn about different cultures and connected to her studies.

“It gave me an actual visual representation on what Middle Eastern and Iranian clothes looks like,” Onwuteaka said. “My favorite was the tar because some of the concepts I learned in my world music class were applied.”

1,001 Nights was a cultural showcase that gave students a taste of the various cultures represented at UNC.

“By hosting the different events, we hope that students leave with a broader, much more rich understanding of these countries in the Middle Eastern regions,” Alinaghi said.

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