Check out this recent interview with Moment Magazine. Roya's excerpt is below.

What do Jews bring to the world today? 

I was a lot less open to the idea of being a Jew as a teenager in Iran because the context in which I could exercise my Judaism was not a democratic one. When I emigrated to the United States in 1985, however, I had options. Living in a democracy means that Judaism is not a monochromatic exercise, it is a multi-colored fact, a brilliant spectrum of many possibilities in which the range is so vast that all of us can find a shade that becomes us and allows us to continue to identify as Jewish. I love that our task for the Day of Atonement is to collectively read a single book in a day. One community, one book project. This is what we do as Jews: We read. Our connection with the higher authority is through a very rigorous exercise of reading. Human religious proxies are dangerous because it is easier to manipulate people this way. If there is to be a proxy, let it be a book. As Jews, we can help bring all other faith communities, including Muslim ones, in contact with the texts that they worship. Enhancing literacy among all populations is the way to engender the greatest Jewish value there is. 

Check out Roya on Fresh Air with Terry Gross

Roya discussed the Iranian-American perspective twice on Fresh Air with NPR's Terry Gross. 

Check it out here and here.

"Roya's talk was one of the best we've had in our series, both in terms of content and the audience's responses. Roya is gracious and funny, but also intellectually challenging."

-- Noga Wizansky, West European Studies at UC Berkeley