Janet Alexanian is a PhD student in Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interests include: the formation of collective identity, the relationship of narrative to history and inter-generational (in terms of immigration)dynamics of overseas Iranian communities (at various locations, both geographically and imaginary). Multi-sited research: Los Angeles, Toronto, and Paris. Broader interests are on the effects of the (re)creation and (re)production of Iranian social norms, communities and historical narratives in the context of the multiple discourses within which they are born and against which they are articulated ­in particular, configurations of transnational migration, nationality, citizenship and discourses of "cultural preservation" and assimilation. Janet has received a Regents' Fellowship (2003, 2004), Pre-dissertation Research Award (2004), and funding for field research in the United States and France from the School of Social Sciences and Department of Anthropology (summers 2004, 2005).