Newswise — Gender and the Iranian State, a two- day international conference at Westfield State College April 15 and 16 will feature scholars and artists from both Iran and the United States in an exploration of Iran and Iranian/U.S. relations.
The event scheduled in Scanlon Banquet Hall is sponsored by the Global Women’s History project, in cooperation with the Westfield State College Guest Lecture Series and Academic Affairs. The conference is free and open to the public.
Through presentations and discussion, film, photography, the conference will explore ways Iranian women have and continue to shape Iranian history. Issues to be discussed include gendered politics of state building, the importance of the youth movement, Iranian/U.S. examples of music as social commentary, politics of U.S. media representations of Iranian women and Muslim women in general, and why women of all social economic classes were on the front page of the New York Times in the summer of 2009 during the recent election.
The Constitutional Movement (1900-1922), International Women's Day (1979), the 1 Million-Signature Campaign (2006), the range of feminisms and women's movements, global networking among women, also will be addressed.
“This conference provides a venue for examining the gender/race/class dynamics of modern nation state building, with Iran and Iranian/U.S. relations as our case studies,” said Elise G. Young, conference organizer and professor of History at Westfield State College. “Participants can learn how social, political, economic constructions of gender are central to developments, motivations, strategies of both Iranian and U.S. governments.”
“Our goal is to provide an environment of reflection and learning so that participants are better prepared to make informed decisions about the critical issues of our times,” Young said.
Conference speakers include Janet Afary, a native of Iran and professor of religious and feminist studies at the University of California Santa Barbara; Janet Bauer, an anthropologist and associate professor of international studies at Trinity College, Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, a former member of the Iranian parliament and an expert on Iran’s internal affairs, and Iranian born filmmaker Neda Sarmast.
The conference schedule includes:
Politics of Veiling in Modern Iran, an illustrated talk by Afary is scheduled for 7p.m. Thursday, April 15, in Scanlon Banquet Hall, to be followed by discussion.
As a native of Iran and a historian of modern Iran, Afary focuses on gender and sexuality and draws on her experience of growing up in Iran and her involvement with Iranian women of different ages and social strata. She is considered one of the most astute commentators on current events and on gender in Iran historically and currently.
Many events are scheduled for Friday, April 16, the first being a film screening of Sarmast’s Nobody’s Enemy – the Youth Culture of Iran, accompanied by a discussion with the filmmaker at noon in Scanlon Living Room. At 4 p.m. in Scanlon Banquet Hall, Bauer and Haghighatjoo will discuss Working Class and Socialist Women Activists in Iran and Reformist Women in Iran, respectively.
Bauer’s research, teaching and publication activities focus on transnational feminism, international migration, and comparative Islamic studies, from Southeast Asia and the Middle East to the Caribbean and North America, with a concentration on Iran and Muslim diasporas.
Haghighatjoo is an expert on Iran’s internal affairs and an advocate of political reform, human rights and women’s rights. She was a member of the Iranian parliament from 2000-2004, and left Iran in 2005 due to a crackdown on reformers.
At 7 p.m. Iranian musicians, the 127 Band, will perform. Led by Sohrab Mohebbi, they will play music adapted from a 19th Century Iranian musical form that is ironic social commentary. Their music incorporates jazz and a “gypsy punk” sound.
African American Hip Hop artist James “Scorpio” Andrews will follow, in collaboration with the Community School of Music in Springfield. The musicians will talk about the similarities in their musical forms. Well known to local audiences, Andrews has toured with a number of notable artists.
Young created The Global Women's History Project in 1999 at Westfield State College as a unique educational model combining oral history, archiving of women's history, international cooperation, support for grassroots as well as governmental advocacy, education and initiatives in service of world peace.
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