FARMINGTON — The University of Maine at Farmington will present a talk by humanitarian Parivash Rohani and her power point “Glimpses of Iran” at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in the North Dining Hall in the UMF Olsen Student Center. This event is sponsored by the UMF Diversity Lab and is free and open to the public.

A member of the Baha’i faith, Rohani was born in Iran but compelled to leave because of the systematic persecution of members of her religion. Upon her return after many years, she found the Iran of her youth drastically changed.

During her presentation, she will share her thoughts about how Iran today is different from the Iran of her childhood and will discuss the larger human rights issues such as the ongoing persecution of individuals who practice the Baha’i faith, a religious minority in her country.

Born in Ardestan, Iran, during the reign of the Shah, Rohani grew up in a family who belonged to the Baha’i religious community. Religious persecution under the fundamentalist government compelled her family to send her to India when she was 18 to pursue her education.

There she studied economics and business, eventually marrying Nassar Rohani, also a native of Iran. In 1985, they immigrated with the first of their four children to the U.S. where they eventually settled in Auburn.

She went on to attend Central Maine Community College and worked for many years as a registered nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center. Her passion now lies with advocating on behalf of the world-wide campaign “Education is not a crime.”