Category: Videos

Intellectual and Cultural Contexts of Iran’s Recent Movement, kardavani, Sep 9, 2012

کاظم کردوانی، جامعه شناس ( از « مدرسه مطالعات عالی علوم اجتماعی – پاریس » ) و پژوهشگر و دارای نشان نخل های آکادمیک وزارت آموزش ملی و تحقیقات و فناوری فرانسه، استاد سابق دانشگاه، عضو و دبیر سابق کانون نویسندگان ایران، دبیر سابق کنفدراسیون جهانی دانشجویان ایرانی، عضو مؤسس و دبیر « شورای بازنگری در شیوه ی نگارش خط فارسی »، عضو مؤسس « کمیته دفاع از حقوق قربانیان قتل های زنجیره ای »؛ علاوه بر شرکت مستمر در فعالیت های فرهنگی و اجتماعی ایرا ن و افزون بر همکاری با نشریه های مستقل ایران ( جامعه سالم، آدینه و … )، در حوزه های زبان و ادبیات و مسایل اجتماعی و سیاسی ایران به کارهای پژوهشی پرداخته است .

Language and Modernity: And the State of the Persian Language, Darioush Ashouri, Jun 3, 2012

darioush ashouri

Darioush Ashouri has served as a visiting professor and lecturer of Persian language and literature at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Oxford University, and of political philosophy and political sociology at the University of Tehran. He is the author of ”An Introduction to Sociology”, “Modernity and Us”, “Dictionary of Philosophy and Political Science”, “Political Encyclopedia” among others. He is also a translator of works by Nietzsche, William Shakespeare and Nicola Machiavelli. By his prolific publications in several disciplines he is considered an influential and referential figure in contemporary literary and linguistic life of Iran. He has worked extensively as author, essayist, translator, literary critique, encyclopedist, and lexicologist. His intellectual interests cover a wide interdisciplinary range, including political sciences, literature, philosophy and linguistics.

Community-Centric Democratic Governance for the Middle East and North Africa, Ali Mostashari, May 6, 2012

In the past three years, the Middle East and North Africa have witnessed the most expansive geopolitical transformation of the past 75 years.
With the rise of political Islam as an alternative to secular authoritarian regimes the prospect for transition to democratic governments that are respectful of human rights is not at all trivial. It may be the time for the region that gave birth to the oldest human civilizations to set an example, rather than to follow one. This talk will explore the idea of bottom up community-centric participatory democracies that foster individual and communal creativity, growth and prosperity while preserving national unity.

The Poet’s daughter: Living with Malek of Shoara Bahar, Parvaneh Bahar, Feb 25, 2012

“The Poet’s Daughter is an engrossing coming-of-age tale of a Persian girl torn between devotion to her father- Bahar, the last icon of classical Persian poetry-and her own relentless desire to fashion for herself an identity as an independent, assertive modern woman…The beguiling simple elegance of the narrative never shies away from the harsh and heroic realities of the story.”
–Abbas Milani, Director of Iranian Studies, Stanford University

About the Speaker
Parvaneh Bahar was born in Tehran, Iran and came to the US in 1953. She has a B.A. in English Literature from American University and an M.S. from Catholic University of America in Washington DC. She worked for 29 years as Research Librarian for the World Bank and IMF Library and has written two books in Persian – Morgh Sahar: Khaterat Parvaneh Bahar (Memoir of Parvaneh Bahar) and Abeh Portaghal (Orange Juice). Parvaneh’s third book, The Poet’s Daughter: Malek o’Shoara Bahar of Iran and the Immortal Song of Freedom is in English and was published in September 2011.

Exile & Migration, Identity & Culture, Shahla Shafiq, Feb 19, 2012

Shahla Shafiq left Iran as an exile in 1982 and has lived in Paris since then. As a sociologist, she focuses on the subject of immigrants in France. She has published two books in French on the subject of Muslim Women and has many articles on inter-cultural issues. She has also published many short stories. Her discussion on June 25 will be based on her latest book “Islamic Totalitarianism, Imagination or Reality” translated from French to Persian in 2006.

Kasravi and Secular Critique of Shi’ism, Mohamad Amini, Nov 20, 2011

This lecture is about the historical confrontation among secular thinkers, such as Kasravi, and the dominant interpretation of Shiite Islam, and also addresses the concurrence of the government and the opposition in suppressing any critical assessment of religious fanaticism by intellectuals.

Mr. Amini is the author of State & Religion in Iran, published in 1980 in Tehran, and most recently Shi’ism (Shi’i-gari) Ahmad Kasravi, Kasravi and Secular Critique of Shi’ism. He is also the author of numerous articles on secularism, modernity, ethnicity and socio-political issues of Iran and the Middle East. Mr. Amini is a regular guest on weekly radio and television programs.

Lecture in Farsi

Behind the Dust and Dirt: The Promise of an Iranian Spring, Amir, Co-author of “Zahra’s Paradise”, Nov 6, 2011

“In the immediate aftermath of the 2009 presidential elections, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the millions of Iranians who had poured into Tehran’s streets as “dust and dirt”. And like dust and dirt, the Islamic Republic has sought to wipe and wash away the memory of the 2009 protests. Yet, far from remaining confined in the ash heaps of history, the political and historical ash remains a potent, explosive force, one that sparks and crackles with life. “Zahra’s Paradise” takes us into the depths of Evin prison, and explores the judicial twilight zone in which hundreds of Iranian dissidents have vanished. We look at the role of art, technology and memory through the prism of a graphic novel, and explore how citizen-journalists capture and reflect the hope, courage and dignity of the Iranian people, the promise of an Iranian spring.”

Human Rights and the Green Movement, Ardeshir Amir Arjomand, Jun 24, 2011

Dr. Ardeshir Amir Arjomand received his PhD in International Law from the University of Strasbourg in France in 1978. He has held extensive professorial positions in Public Law, International Law and Human Rights in Iran . He has been UNESCO chair holder of Human Rights, Democracy and Peace. In the infamous presidential election campaign of 2009, Dr. Arjomand worked as the top advisor to presidential candidate Mr. Mir-Hossein Mousavi. After the election he was briefly detained by the Government’s authorities. He is now the spokesperson of “The Coordinating Council of the Green Path of Hope of Iran.” Given the current discussion and controversies surrounding “The Coordinating Council of the Green Path of Hope of Iran”, we are looking forward to a lively discussion and Q&A.

Shahnameh Ferdowsi In the Journey of Time, Iraj Tabibnia, May 15, 2011

ايرج طبيب نيا مهندس معماری و شهر سازی است که سال ها در اين زمينه ها فعاليت می کند. او می گويد، با شاهنامه در محضر استاد محمد جعفر محجوب آشنا شده است و از ایشان نه با شاهنامه که با بسی از گوشه های دیگر ادبیات فارسی نیز آشنا شده است.

شاهنامه تاریخ سرزمین ایران و مردمان آنست. نه از زبان یک مورخ؛ بلکه از نگاه یک شاعر و اندیشمند، و روشنفکری برجسته.
کتاب از زمان غار نشینی نیاکان ما آغاز میشود و تا زمان سقوط ساسانیان ادامه می یابد. مانند سنت تاریخ نویسی در سراسر جهان، هر دوره با نام پادشاهان و سلسله ها مشخص و تعریف شده و مانند هر تاریخ کاملی همۀ آداب و رسومِ وجوه فرهنگی و اجتماعی و سیاسی و نظامی در آن نگاشته شده است.
شاهنامه سرودۀ فردوسی در گذر روزگار، دچار پاره یی از کژ فهمی هایی شده که برخی از روی غرض و برخی از روی شیفتگی بوده است. و گروهی نیز بی آنکه رنج آگاه شدن را بر خود هموار کرده باشند این گفته ها و بافته ها را درست دانسته و پذیرفته اند. به عنوان نمونه: در این کتاب نه تنها سخنی از قبیل برتری نژادی و قومی و زن ستیزی نیست؛ بلکه بسیاری از عناصر عمده و محوری آن هم نا شناخته مانده، سهواً یا عمداً، وارونه جلوه داده شده است.
نباید نا گفته بماند که این کتاب، البته، تنها جنبه تاریخ ندارد و دارای ابعاد و ارزش های گوناگون دیگری هم هست که کوشش خواهد شد پاره هایی از آنها نیز یادآوری شوند.
Mr. Iraj Tabibnia is the author of “The Epic of Rostam and Sohrab”.

Journalism, Field Reporting, Serialized Magazine Stories, Political and Social Issues in Sports, Teaching Journalism, and Living in Exile, Dr. Sadreddin Elahi, May 1, 2011

Dr. Sadreddin Elahi, veteran writer, critic, researcher, translator, poet, and an expert on ancient texts, is one of Iran ’s most prominent journalists, and one of the first writers of serialized fiction in Iran . He was the founder and editor of “Keyhan Varzeshi” established in 1955. He taught Journalism in The College of Communication Sciences in Iran , and he is one of the initiators of the modern style of conversational dialogue in newspaper journalism. He is also an outstanding field reporter as his reports from the Algerian War for Independence demonstrated. Dr. Elahi is the author of “Ba Saadi dar Bazercheh Zendeghi”, “Doori-ha va Delghiri-ha”, “Naghde Bee Ghash – Collected Conversations of Saderdin Elahi with Parviz Khanlari”, and a forthcoming book “Sayed Ziaedin.”

The Ever Changing Identity of Iranians, Turaj Atabaki, Apr 10, 2011

Dr. Touraj Atabaki holds the endowed chair of ‘Social History of the Middle East and Central Asia’ at the School of the Middle Eastern Studies of the Leiden University and works as the Senior Research Fellow at the International Institute of Social History in charge of the Department of the Middle East and Central Asia . He studied theoretical physics (BSc,MSc) and history at the National University of Iran and the University of London and received his MA and PhD at Utrecht University .
Dr. Atabaki is the author of Iran in the 20th Century. Historiography and Political Culture (2009); The State and the Subaltern. Society and Politics in Turkey and Iran (2007); Iran and the First World War: A Battleground of the Great Powers (2006); Men of Order: Authoritarian Modernisation Under Atatürk and Reza Shah (2004), among others.

The Shah, Abbas Milani, Mar 6, 2011

Abbas Milani is the Hamid & Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies and Adjunct Professor at the Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law at the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University. He has been one of the founding co-directors of the Iran Democracy Project and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. His expertise is U.S.-Iran relations as well as Iranian cultural, political, and security issues. Until 1986, he taught at Tehran University’s Faculty of Law and Political Science, where he was also a member of the Board of Directors of the university’s Center for International Relations. After moving to the United States, he was for fourteen years the Chair of the Political Science Department at the Notre Dame de Namur University. For eight years, he was a visiting Research Fellow in University of California, Berkeley’s Middle East Center.