Public Lecture: Deborah Campbell
"Iran's Generation Next"
29 March 2007: Today's Iranian youth are challenging authority, tuning into global youth culture, and transforming the Islamic Republic. Journalist and UBC adjunct professor Deborah Campbell spent six months traveling throughout Iran to explore one of the world's youngest and least understood nations. In discussing Iran's post-revolution "baby boom," she will explore the blog phenomenon, malls vs. mosques, and the underground socio-sexual revolution that reflects an educated populace disillusioned with Islamic theocracy. Accompanied by slide photographs, she will address the Iranian view of the nuclear issue and how the US-Iran conflict threatens to undermine the "quiet revolution" transforming Iran.
Public Symposium- Iran's Nuclear Ambitions: A Comprehensive Analysis
13 March 2007: This public symposium was convened at the conclusion of the “Iran in the World: the Nuclear Crisis in Context” two-day conference, in order to disseminate some of the insights and conclusions reached from the deliberations. The symposium expert panelists included Dr. Ali Nayeri, Dr. Houchang Hassan-Yari, Dr. Houshang Amirahmadi and Mr. James Devine.
Conference: Iran Nuclear Crisis in Context
11 March - 13 March 2007: Iran’s nuclear aims, and international resistance to them, emerge from the convergence of several unique historical and contemporary forces. Yet the complex sources Iran’s nuclear ambitions remain poorly appreciated and satisfactory resolution of these tensions depends on taking the full breadth of their circumstances fully into account. Towards these ends, the Simons Centre at the University of British Columbia will convene a two-day conference to explore the particular historical, regional, social and political contexts of Iranian motivations for pursuing nuclear technologies in order to enhance discussion in Canada and elsewhere on appropriate responses. The conference will gather 15 leading experts from Canada, the United States and Europe including Canadian government representatives: A detailed executive summary, along with the conference participant biographical summaries are attached.
Public Lecture: Dr. Payam Akhavan
"Iran, Human Rights and the Nuclear Question: What are the Connections?"
26 January 2007: In an original analysis of the Iranian nuclear question, Professor Akhavan examines the close inter-relationship between the threats posed by Iran’s foreign policy and the internal repression of human rights, and proposes a re-evaluation of Western policy in terms of targeted sanctions aimed at Iranian leaders responsible for atrocities against their own citizens. Canada’s specific role will also be examined, focusing on the continuing failure to bring the murderers of Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi to justice, and how accountability for such crimes would empower democratic forces and transform Iran’s foreign policy and desire to acquire a nuclear capability.
