The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies Iranian Studies Unit is holding its Fourth Annual Conference, titled “The Social Sciences and Humanities in Iran: Possibilities and Constraints,” on 9-10 October 2024.
The conference will explore the evolution and current state of social sciences and humanities in Iran. The discussions will centre on the state of social sciences and humanities in theory, methodology, and practice, and examine how they are taught and researched in Iran. The two-day conference will study the impact of the Islamic Republic’s establishment and its policies, as well as the state’s official discourse, on research and teaching in disciplines such as history, sociology, economics, philosophy, and political science. Focus will be on the dynamics between academia and politics and state ideology. The event will also address some of the challenges that Iranian academics face when teaching and conducting research in the humanities and the social sciences.
The conference will also discuss other factors placing constraints on academia, such as the local production of knowledge versus reliance on imported concepts, theories, and methodologies; assumptions underlying the study of Arab and other Middle Eastern countries; and the impact of international sanctions on research, publication, and academic exchanges. The problem of language and access to scholarship produced outside Iran, along with access to scholarship produced inside Iran for global academic audiences, will also be examined.
The conference will feature more than 20 participants and a keynote lecture titled “Future of Islamic Iran Under President Masoud Pezeshkian,” by Sadegh Zibakalam, a retired Professor of Political Science at University of Tehran, who has published several books on the modern Iranian history and politics.
Conference participants include, Hamid Ahmadi, Mohsen Amin, Mehrdad Arabestani, Hani Awad, Kristin Soraya Batmanghelichi, Ahmad Bostani, Mostafa Bostani, Aicha Elbasri, Mehran Esmaeili, Hessam Habibi Doroh, Maziar Mozaffari Falarti, Mohammed Hemchi, Mohammad Homayounvash, Emad Kaddorah, Hossein Kamaly, Mehran Kamrava, Alireza Koohkan, Elaheh Koolaee, Ahmed Kurdiea, Mohammad Mazhari, Golnar Mehran, Zahra Karimi Moughari, Hossein Mousavi, Abdou Moussa, Issam Nassar, Younes Nourbakhsh, Abdolmehdi Riazi, Sara Roshani, Rana Siblini, Atieh Tavasoli, Mandana Tishehyar, Masoud Zalizadeh, and Sadegh Zibakalam.
The conference will be held in-person at the Arab Center in Doha. Interested members of the public can attend the conference in person in the auditorium on the Ground Floor of the new Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies building. Simultaneous translation will be provided in English and Arabic.
