Doctor of Philosophy, University of California - Berkeley, CA
Master of Arts in Near Eastern Studies: Art and Archaeology, University of California - Berkeley, CA
Bachelor of Arts in Art History, Loyola Marymount University, CA

Dr. Movassat graduated with a BA in Art History from Loyola Marymount University. Afterward, she traveled to Europe to study German at the Goethe Institute in Berlin. From there, she resided in Iran for five years teaching English and photographing numerous sites. She subsequently returned to the US and received a MA and a PhD from UC Berkeley, Department of Near Eastern Studies: Art and Archaeology. Dr Movassat has lectured and written on various aspects of Near Eastern art. Her latest publication is The Large Vault at Taq-i Bustan: A Study in Late Sasanian Royal Art, from Mellen Press, 2005.

Dr. Movassat has taught various courses on Art History at City College of San Francisco and Santa Clara University. For the past fifteen years she has been at San José State University teaching Art History, Writing in the Arts, and the arts in a global context. Her specialties include Egyptian and Mesopotamian Art, studies of the confluence of Eastern and Western Art, and Islamic Art. Recently she has returned to art history as a lecturer from a two-year stint as the Coordinator of the Creative Arts Program in the Humanities Department.