Iran's New Revolution?

Iran is much in the news the past few days as the nation struggles to sort out the results of its recent presidential election, as chronicled in this excellent BBC overview. Many Americans may not have any clear conception of a country that for so many years has been associated in their minds with extreme political rhetoric, nuclear energy and hostage taking.

Library Resources

The library has a new online resource that can help you get a handle on Iran, as well as any other country in which you may have an interest. ABC-CLIO's World Geography is a database that provides detailed information about different countries, from standard geographical features to contemporary issues as well as etiquette and customs. (You'll have to use your DACC user i.d. and password to log in from off campus.) In the same suite of resources, the ABC-CLIO World History resources, both Ancient and Medieval and Modern offer lots of interesting entries related to the region.

Political Liberalization

For an interesting analysis of the revolutionary potential for political liberalization in Iran, check out the article in Al-Jezeera English. Two of the driving forces in the move to liberalization are Iran's young people, as profiled in this CBS piece, and technology, which resists the Iranian government's attempts at control, especially the rapid spread of the twitterverse. (Speaking of which, did you know that the library is now on Twitter? Follow dacclibrary here. The library twitters more than just "library stuff", but interesting facts, news, and relevant info.)

Women in Iran

The crucial role women play in the current election is epitomized by Zhara Rahnavard, the wife of candidate Hossein Mousavi, who is the nation's first top-ranking female university professor and also an artist and has been actively campaigning by her husband's side. Women's role in this election marks a sharp contrast from their expressed dissatisfaction in 2004 with the direction in which the country was headed. The situation of women in Iran and other mideastern countries is frequently referenced in conversations about the mideast, but all too often it is done without the voices of those women themselves, or in oddly skewed representations. This is the argument presented by Fatemeh Keshavarz in an interview about her book Jasmine and Stars. Keshavarz contends that the similarities between Iranian (and mideastern culture in general) and the West are much greater than most people think, and that women in Iranian society are more powerful agents than they are credited with being.

Iranian History

To put current events in Iran in context, it's useful to be reminded about some significant events in the country's past. Americans probably first think about the 1979 revolution when 52 Americans were taken hostage at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, a situation that effectively ended Jimmy Carter's presidency. The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library contains a diary by one of the hostages, part of which can be read online. Here is a BBC piece that provides interviews with one of the hostage takers and one of the hostages. Probably another moment in post-revolutionary history that sticks with Westerners was the declaration of a fatwa against Salman Rusdie for his book, The Satanic Verses. Far fewer people think of the devastating earthquake in Bam, Iran in 2003 that killed more than 26,000 people, much less its rich past. But Iran is one of the oldest nations in the world, and this timeline does a good job of demonstrating its ancient cultural history. For more in depth history and some really interesting information on mythology and access to great images, check out ParsTimes History page. The ParsTimes site offers a collection of some of the best links to information about Iran available on the web. If you are looking for a quick definition of any term related to the country or its culture, check out Encyclopaedia Iranica, a multidisciplinary project.

Persian Food

And because I know that many of you like to experiment with different kinds of foods, it would be remiss not to include some references to some of the excellent foods that originate in Iran. Here is a selection of delicious dishes from Chowhound and here is another larger selection from Astray Recipes. And last, but hardly least, a recipe for a dessert popular throughout the mideast, halvah.