“Berkeley Lecture Series” in partnership with “Iranian Student Alliance in America – ISAA” Present:
· Rebecca Griffin, Political Director for Peace Action West
Topic: “Grassroots Diplomacy: My Trip to Iran and What We Can Do to Promote Peace”
Date: Sunday, August 2, 2009
Time: 4:00 P.M.
Place: 110 Barrows Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Lecture in English
· Dr. Ali Ferdowsi, Professor and Chair of History & Political Science at Notre Dame de Namur University
Topic: “Iran’s Presidential Election and Its Aftermath: Some Personal Observations and Reflections”
Date: Sunday, August 9, 2009
Time: 4:00 P.M.
Place: 110 Barrows Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Lecture in Persian
For more information, please refer to Berkeley Lecture Series site: www.berkeleylectures.org
Further questions may be directed to: berkeleylectures@yahoo.com
· Rebecca Griffin is Political Director for Peace Action West, an organization that advocates for a foreign policy that embodies the best values of the American people. On behalf of its 50,000 supporters in the western US. Ms. Griffin has traveled extensively throughout the western states organizing with community leaders and citizens, meeting with members of Congress, and educating congressional candidates about pragmatic and peaceful solutions to our greatest foreign policy challenges. She has spearheaded campaigns to work toward nuclear disarmament, promote nonmilitary solutions for Afghanistan, end the war in Iraq, and promote diplomacy with Iran. In May 2009, Ms. Griffin traveled to Iran with a grassroots diplomacy delegation to build people to people relationships and mobilize support for diplomacy between the US and Iran, collecting messages of peace from Iranians and Americans
Ms. Griffin will discuss future prospects for diplomacy between the United States and Iran through the lens of her recent trip, the aftermath of the June 12th presidential election and the political landscape in the United States under the Obama administration, as well as how Americans can actively promote better relations with Iran. http://www.peaceactionwest.org/citizendiplomat/message/
· Ali Ferdowsi was in Iran from the first week of June through the first week of July, watching and participating in the election and the protests that followed it. In this talk, he will share parts of his daily journals to give a personal and street-level experience of the events as they unfolded in real time. What was going on among the ordinary Iranians as an election that was poised to be a lukewarm event turned into a vast and passionate political drama?