Letters Home

Finding Maryam Mohaghegh on NC State University’s campus won’t be too difficult — she is leading four Foreign Language courses this semester. If you happen to drop by her office in Withers Hall, it may appear she is a major National Geographic enthusiast. While Mohaghegh has enjoyed the glossy pages of the publication since her youth, she is much more than a casual reader. Since last fall, Mohaghegh has been involved with translating National Geographic into her native language: Farsi.

While Mohaghegh spent most of her youth in Iran, she was an avid reader of the English publications and works that filled her father’s library. Her proficiencies in both the Persian and English languages have led Mohaghegh to work with the World Health Organization, Cambridge and Duke. She also earned a reputation for her elegant translations of children’s books, eventually drawing the attention of National Geographic.

In a time when it is impossible for her to send an express letter to her homeland, Mohaghegh is ecstatic to be a reviewer for the National Geographic’s Persian edition. “What we are supposed to do as educators is provide resources for those seeking it,” she says. And that is just what she is doing — even outside of the lecture hall.

Read more about Mohaghegh and her involvement with National Geographic in The Bulletin.

By Alyssa Putt, CHASS Communication Intern