Lectures – Berkeley Lectures Series

“Pezeshkian Government”, a Mirage or a Possibility?, Alireza Behtoui, December 14, 2024

علیرضا بهتویی استاد جامعه ‌شناسی در دانشکده علوم اجتماعی دانشگاه سودرتورن در استکهلم، سوئد است. حوزه های پژوهشی او شامل جامعه‌ شناسی آموزش، جامعه ‌شناسی سیاسی ، جنبش ‌های اجتماعی، جامعه ‌شناسی نخبگان، و مسائل اقلیت های نژادی و قومی می‌شود. بهتویی مقالات علمی متعددی به زبان انگلیسی در مجلات معتبر آکادمیک دنیا، کتاب‌ هایی به زبان سوئدی و مقالات پژوهشی به زبان فارسی در این زمینه‌ها منتشر کرده است. بهتویی در حال حاضر با استفاده از فرصت مطالعاتی در دانشگاه کالیفرنیا، برکلی به سر می‌برد. آخرین نوشته ‌هایِ فارسی او به چالش‌ های پیش روی دموکراسی ‌سازی در ایران از منظر مقایسه ای پرداخته است.

Transition pathology and two protective powers in Iran, Kazem Alamdari, November 12, 2023

Kazem Alamdari, received his Ph. D. in sociology from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urban, his MA in Educational Administration from Illinois State University, and his BS from the University of Tehran in Psychology. He has taught at various universities, including UCLA, CSULA, and CSUN. Alamdari has published Ten books and numerous articles in English and Persian, including:
1. Civil Society: Theories, Contexts, and Experiences, 2015;
2. Why the Reform Failed: A Critical Study of the Eight Year Reform Era in Iran: 1997-2005, 2008;
3. Why the Middle East Lagged Behind: The Case of Iran 2004;
4. The Global Crisis: A Critique of the Clash of Civilizations and Dialogue Among Civilizations, 2003; and
5. a best seller that reached to 19th edition Why Iran Lagged Behind and the West Moved Forward, 2000 – 2014.
His latest articles include: “Global Civil-Society Movements: What the World Social Forum Can Do to Change the World’s Situation,” Sociology and Criminology, 2014, 2:2. His article “Religion and Development Revisited: Comparing Islam and Christianity with Reference to the Case of Iran,” in the Journal of Developing Societies, London: Sage, Vol 20 (1-2), has been one of “The 50 Most-Frequently-Read Articles” in five years, reaching number 2 in January 2005. Alamdari was the recipient of a fellowship from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) in Japan, Kyushu University in 1997. As a public intellectual, he is frequently featured in the media and presents lectures at national and international conferences in different parts of the world.

An introduction to the discourse analysis of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, Mohammad Reza Nikfar, April 16, 2023

Dr. Mohammad Reza Nikfar, is a philosopher and lecturer at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Iran Academia), as well as the Chief Editor of Zamaneh Media. He has authored many articles and his books in Farsi and German include: “Violence, Human Rights and Civil Society”, “Critique of Political Theology”, “At the Dead-End of Time, Introduction to the Philosophy of Heidegger”, “The Concept of Peace” and “Faith & Technique” among others.

Liberation Movements in Iran: Political Violence and the Protesting Bodies, Farzad Seifikaran, February 5, 2023

Farzad Seifikaran, is an Iranian-Dutch author and journalist born in September 1987 in Sanandaj. He has studied Persian Literature in Iran and Investigative Journalism in the Netherlands. At present he is an investigative journalist and the director of the human rights section in Radio Zamaneh and has published many investigative reports in the area of politics, social and security issues and human rights.
He has been writing on different subjects for many years as well as collaborating with various publications and media inside and outside of Iran. Since 2017 he has created the Roonak Publishing for the promotion of publishing in exile, countering the censorship and supporting the writers inside and outside of Iran. It has published more than 50 titles in Farsi, Kurdish, English and Dutch.
In 2017 he became an honorary member of the Exiled Writers and Journalists in the Netherlands. He is also a member of the Dutch and European Journalists Union, as well as a member of the International Federation of Journalists.

Cuba, Reality or Dream, Soudabeh Ashrafi, June 26, 2022

Soudabeh Ashrafi is an award-winning Iranian writer and a retired librarian, currently residing in Oakland California. Born in Iran, she has lived in the United States since 1985. Her three published books include a short story collection titled Farda Mibinamat (I’ll See You Tomorrow), Mahiha dar Shab Mikhaband (Fish Sleep at Night) a novel, and Cuba Jazireye Bitaab (Cuba, the Restless Island); Three Travelogues to Cuba, 2015-2020.

Soudabeh won her first literary award, Sadegh Hedayat Foundation Short Story Award, for Otaghi, Khiali (a Room, a Hallucination), in 2000. Her novel, Fish Sleep at Night, was chosen by the Meheregaan-e Adab, and the Golshiri Foundation Award for the best Novel of the year in 2004. Billy, from her short story collection also won the Golshiri Foundation Award for best short story in 2007.

Environmental Social Movements in Iran, a Challenge to the Dominant Narrative, Dr. Elham Hoominfar, May 15, 2022

Elham Hoominfar is an assistant professor in the Global Health Studies Program at Northwestern University. Hoominfar is a sociologist whose research expertise focuses on intersections of environment and society and understanding of social inequalities and social movements with an interdisciplinary approach. She received her first master’s degree in the sociology of development at the University of Tehran, where she also got her bachelor’s degree in sociology. Before she left Iran, she maintained an active research agenda and she was involved in various research and teaching projects in different institutes. She received her second master’s in Cross-Cultural and International Education program at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, and her PhD in sociology from Utah State University. Her PhD project focused on marketization of water and environmental movements in Iran and the US.

Hoominfar has extensive teaching experience in the United States and Iran. She employs a student-centered learning method and a critical view for teaching. She is currently researching environmental justice, water governance, commodification of nature and social resistances with an emphasis on political economy in the Global South and North. She has focused on marginalized groups, and examined issues such as development, natural disasters and social inequality in an array of research publications in both Persian and English.