Ferdowsi University of Mashhad Museum opened Wednesday.
The FUM is a university in northeast Khorasan Razavi Province and is named after the great epic poet Ferdowsi (940-1020) author of Shahnama (Book of Kings). Founded in 1949, it is located in the provincial capital Mashhad, which also is Iran’s main shrine city.
It offers 180 bachelors, masters and PhD programs to 26,000 international and local students studying under 900 faculty members and 2500 employees.
The museum was built in an old part of the premises of the varsity’s Center for Documents and Scientific Records of Eminent University Figures which was established in 2004 to serve as the official repository for historic documents and scientific records of eminent university teachers, Mehr News Agency reported on its Persian website.
Part of the museum houses gifts given to officials and faculty members of the FUM. Some of the gifts are said to be highly valuable. Trophies, medallions, prizes, plaques of honor and diplomas are among other items of the museum.
Photographer Bita Babolian has designed the museum with special emphasis on infographics. “Here, we also have a shop for cultural items. There is also a photo gallery displaying old photographs. The museum in fact demonstrates a chronology of events at the FUM,” Babolian said.
“Visitors can see dissertations by some of the renowned people who studied at the university. Even the notebooks of university teachers where they kept record of students’ grades, are on display,” she said.
“Two of such record books belong to (writer, poet, literary critic, editor and translator) Mohammad Reza Shafiee Kadkani and (sociologist) Ali Shariati who once taught at the university.”
FUM Museum aims to preserve all documents of the university including pictures, photos, films, oral or documented memories, and interviews which reflect the varsity’s origins and development plus the track record and achievements of its key figures.
