In this new issue of Roshangar, we have expanded our scope in three meaningful ways. First, we embraced a cross-disciplinary vision, inviting conversations that bridge cinema, area studies, architecture, and urban studies. Second, we widened our geographical lens beyond Iran to include the broader MENA/SWANA region. And third, we welcomed visual scholarship by featuring work from students in the UMD's Architecture, Planning & Preservation.

The three research posters presented in this issue, created by Karen Lopez, Sasah Duwan, and N.D., offer comparative perspectives on how cinematic spaces represent identity, memory, and modernity.

In A Tale of Two Cities, Sasah Duwan examines spatial representations of foreignness across films from Lebanon and Iran.
In From Erasure to Recovery: Restoring Space, Identity, and Memory in Tehran, Karen Lopez explores how Persian gardens and their ecological and symbolic dynamics resonate in two Iranian films as forces of reclamation, healing, and belonging.

Finally, N.D.’s A Study of Architecture and Madness in Middle Eastern Cinema investigates how built environments in Cairo and Tehran mirror psychological fragmentation, framing architecture as a metaphor for the instability of modern life.

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As always, I extend my heartfelt thanks to my assistant, Donya Saghafi, who single-handedly oversaw the design and content development for this issue of Roshangar.

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I hope you enjoy this issue and the new directions it explores. Thank you for reading and supporting Roshangar. We look forward to continuing this cross-disciplinary momentum as we plan for our 2026 issues.

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Marjan Moosavi, Ph.D. / She, Her