Indic (Indo-Iranistik), and is now led by M. Rahim Shayegan who also specializes in Ancient Iran. In 2021, UCLA hosted an Indo-Persian Musical Confluence gathering, which spanned several days and was focused on the history between the sitar and setar instruments. Other schools During the Iranian Revolution (1978–1979) the American academic centers in Iran were closed and their assets seized. Over the past three decades since then, lack of funding and the difficulty of research travel to Iran have been major obstacles to Iranian Studies scholars that are based in North America. Other universities in the United States where Iranian Studies classes are offered include the University of Chicago; Princeton University; Stanford University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the University of Arizona; the University of Oklahoma; the University of Maryland; the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ohio State University; Quinnipiac University; University of Texas at Austin; University of Virginia; University of Washington; and Indiana University, Bloomington. Within the University of California system, programs in Iran Studies are taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Irvine, and San Francisco State University. The International Society for Iranian Studies (previously known as the Society for Iranian Studies) was founded by a group of Iranian graduate students in 1967 and began producing a journal, Iranian Studies. The field expanded considerably during the 1970s, with a number of Americans having served in the Peace Corps in Iran taking up academic positions. Close relations between Iran and the US facilitated the growth of academic programs as well as the Asia Institute in Shiraz and the American Institute of Iranian Studies. Canada The University of Toronto has an Iranian studies program. The Yarshater Lectureship in Avestan and Pahlavi Languages established at the University of Toronto is one of the most prestigious honor in the field. In 2021, the University of Toronto partnered with the Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation for a multiyear partnership to create the Iranian Women Poets and Iranian Cinema digital projects. Organizations The American Institute of Iranian Studies (AIIrS) is a nonprofit founded in 1967, formed to promoted Iranian and Persian studies in American educational institutions. The Foundation for Iranian Studies is a nonprofit founded in 1981 in Bethesda, Maryland, and since 1982 they host an oral history program. The Ilex Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1999 in Boston, Massachusetts, formed to study Mediterranean and Near Eastern civilizations. The Iran Heritage