Date

ISIS

Iran Specialists Face Challenges

Meeting against a backdrop of civil unrest

by Fariba Amini
27-May-2010
The 2010 Eighth Biennial Conference of the International Society of Iranian Studies (ISIS) is taking place on May 27-30 in Los Angeles, California. This is the first time the conference is held in California. Previous venues have been Bethesda, MD, London and Toronto. ISIS is a broad international, independent organization. Established in 1967, it is becoming larger every year as the study of Iran becomes vital for the region and the world at large. Its members, most of whom are academics, study the many aspects of Iran’s history and culture, from ancient times to the present>>>

EXPECTATIONS

Raised as an Iranian woman

Cultural values were much more influential than acknowledging my own feelings

by sherrinader
27-May-2010 (21 comments)
Immigrant men and women from the Middle East experience changes differently. Men usually experience a sense of loss--loss of control, privileges, and status. On the contrary, women experience a sense of opportunity, freedom and possibilities. The same had happened to my late husband and me. More and more I acted as a curious observer who was soaking up learning opportunities like a sponge, and it strained our marriage when I felt that he acted unmotivated and disinterested in the new changes in his life, regretting the missed opportunities in the old country>>>

IDEAS

The Community Visioning Process

A non-threatening way to come together and define a common vision

by bahmani
27-May-2010 (5 comments)
As I researched the various methodologies and process examples I could find, I soon realized that the saying, "All politics is local" was also applicable to the problem I was working on. All community organizing is local. Trying to organize Iranians as one national community was virtually impossible. The character of each pocket of Iranians, East Coast Iranians versus West Coast Iranians, even Northern California versus Southern California, Iranians were as diverse as the regions they live in. What follows is the result of over 18 months of research and reworking >>>