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aria-label="Submit Search"><span class="fas fa-search"></span></button> </form> </header> <div class="breadcrumbs"><div class="content"><span><span><a href="https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/">Home</a></span> » <span><a href="https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/about/">About Us</a></span> » <span class="breadcrumb_last" aria-current="page">Mission Statement</span></span></div></div> <div class="content"> <div class="col" id="main-content" role="main"> <article id="post-3694" class="cf post-3694 page type-page status-publish hentry" role="article" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting"> <h1>Mission Statement</h1> <section> <p class="first_letter" style="text-align: justify;">Established in 2017 as the premier research center for the study of ancient Iran, the mission of the Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World is to engage in transformative research on all aspects of Iranian antiquity, including its reception in the medieval and modern periods, by expanding on the traditional domains of Old Iranian studies and promoting cross-cultural and interdisciplinary scholarship.</p> <img decoding="async" class="wp-image-7263 aligncenter" src="https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Pourdavoud-Seal-300x252.png" alt="" width="179" height="150" srcset="https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Pourdavoud-Seal-300x252.png 300w, https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Pourdavoud-Seal.png 478w, https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Pourdavoud-Seal-280x235.png 280w" sizes="(max-width: 179px) 100vw, 179px" /> </section> </article> </div> <div class="col side"> <div class="content"> <nav class="page-nav" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="section navigation"> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <footer role="contentinfo"> <div class="content"> <form role="search" method="get" class="search-form" action="https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/"> <label class="hidden">Search</label> <input type="search" class="search" 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