Acknowledgements
Editing a book is harder than I thought and more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. None of this would have been possible without the unconditional support and inspiration of my intelligent wife, Soudabeh Rafieisakhaei. As a World literature scholar and a comparative literarian, she was the first person who I consulted with when I initiated this project. She stood by me during every struggle and every success, for which I am grateful.
I am eternally grateful to my former professor and colleague, Dr. Martha Allexsaht-Snider, who taught me to be proud of my cultural heritage and how to advocate for it. She contributed towards the planning and conceptualization of this volume a long time before the project was initiated.
I would like to thank my former professor and my first research mentor in the United States, Dr. Ajay Sharma. He opened my eyes to an understudied issue of human-nature relationship in teaching and learning and generously accepted to write a foreword for this volume.
My former advisor, Dr. Cory Buxton, who taught me discipline, tough love, manners, respect, and so much more that has helped me succeed in life and career.
To my parents, Minoo Zaman and Mohammadali Aghasaleh, who supported my dreams and taught me to fight for justice and peace.
To my children, Bahar, Hamed, and Hadi, who are the reason that I conducted this project.
To the publishing team at Brill | Sense who worked hard to make this possible, especially Ms. Jolanda Karada who oversaw the production patiently and commented on the wordings and design generously.
And last but not the least, to my brilliant English language editor, Ms. Lucy Robertson, an emergent comparative literation who read everything carefully and commented thoughtfully while she resided in South Korea for her visiting scholarship.