March 16, 2004 :: No. 181

"Family, Food and Culture With Firoozeh Dumas"

Cal State Fullerton will host Firoozeh Dumas, author of “Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America,” Tuesday, March 23, for a public lecture and book signing.

The author’s 10 a.m. address, “Family, Food and Culture With Firoozeh Dumas,” in the Titan Theatre is part of the “Orange County Reads One Book” countywide effort, which is designed to strengthen literacy, community building, and multicultural and multigenerational understanding.

Following the lecture, a luncheon to benefit to Cal State Fullerton’s Persian studies program and “Orange County Reads” is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at Darya Restaurant in Orange. Tickets for the luncheon are $50 per person. Reservations can be made by calling 657-278-7306, or register online at www.fullerton.edu/ocreads.

Within the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and with funding from the Iranian Culture Center of Orange County, the university offers a course in “Fundamental Persian.” Introduced in the fall and also offered this spring, it incorporates the study of the language, along with an introduction to Persian customs, culture and civilization. Additional funding is being sought to expand the curriculum.

”Orange County Reads” official book weeks are March 21-April 3. Additional information is available at www.orangecountyreads.org.