Iranian History & Culture

Questions

How have news stories and/or photographs shaped your impressions of Iran as a nation and/or of Iranian citizens?  Did readingPersepolis change anything?

What does the book suggest about social class in Iranian society? Consider the examples of the courtship between the family's maid and their neighbor, and the use of "keys to paradise" to draft boys into the army.

Who are the heroes in Satrapi's story? What makes them heroic? How does a culture construct and define its heroes?

Books

Adelkhah, Fariba. Being Modern in Iran. New York: Columbia University Press in association with the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales, 2000.  HN670.2.A8 A3413 2000

Beeman, William O. Language, Status, and Power in Iran. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986.  PK6224.75 .B44 1986 

Booth-Clibborn, Edward, and Naá¹£r Allāh PÅ«rjavādÄ«. The Splendour of Iran. London: Booth-Clibborn Editions, 2001.  N7280 .S65 2001 

Dabashi, Hamid. Iran: A People InterrUniversity Pressted. New York: New Press, 2007.  DS316.3 .D33 2007

Daniel, Elton L. The History of Iran. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001.  DS272 .D36 2000

De Groot, Joanna. Religion, Culture and Politics in Iran: From the Qajars to Khomeini. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007.  Click to request

Dorraj, Manochehr. From Zarathustra to Khomeini: Populism and Dissent in Iran. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1990.  DS272 .D67 1990

Mottahedeh, Roy P. The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985.  BP192.7.I68 M67 1985

Natali, Denise. The Kurds and the State: Evolving National Identity in Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2005.  DS59.K86 N38 2005

Rahimieh, Nasrin. Missing Persians: Discovering Voices in Iranian Cultural History. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2001. DS266 .R277 2001

Sasson, Jack M. Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. New York: Scribner, 1995.  DS57 .C55 1995

WEB RESOURCES

"Berkley Center Knowledge Resources: Islamic Republic of Iran." Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs--Georgetown University. 
http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/individual_country/?country=IR&region=6

"Human Rights in Iran - Human Rights & Democracy for Iran." Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation. 2009.http://www.iranrights.org/

"Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran. http://www.daftar.org/eng/aboutiran_eng.asp

"Iran Chamber Society." Iran Chamber Society. 
http://www.iranchamber.com/index.php

"Iran Travel, Tourism and Touring - Official website." Iran Tourism and Touring Online. 2009. 
http://www.itto.org/

Price, Massoume. "Culture of Iran." 2006. 
http://www.cultureofiran.com/

"United Nations - About Iran." Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations New York. Mar. 9, 2009.http://www.iran-un.org/index.php/about-iran