I IAAB* Art I Bam Seminar I Project Connection I IAAB Javan! I Leadership Camp I Conference 2005 I Conference 2004 I

 

Conference 2004, April 17 - 18, Boston, Massachussetts

International Conference on the Iranian Diaspora
 

Read articles written about the conference in our Archives.

Conference Schedule
 

Day 1: Saturday, April 17, 2004, Wellesley College, Jewett Auditorium

Panel 1: Who Are We? Where Do We Come From? And, How Do We Define Ourselves?
Moderator: Leyla Pope

• Dr. Maboud Ansari, William Paterson University, The Making of the Iranian Community in America

• Mohammad Hafezi, Iranian Studies Group (MIT), Achievements of the Diaspora

• Dr. Mehdi Bozorgmehr, City University of New York, An Assessment of Iranians After a Generation in the United

• States Elham Gheytanchi, Santa Monica College, Iranian Communities in Diaspora
  
   

Panel 2: Twenty-five Years Later: Are We Still Guests in Our Societies? Learning to Engage in Civil Society and Making Our Voices Heard
Moderator: Amy Malek, New York University

• Dr. Ali Modarres, California State University, Settlement patterns of Iranians in the U.S.  

• Dr. Zohreh Niknia, University of California Berkeley, Visiting Scholar, Iranian Immigrant Women's Labor Force Participation: An Entangled and Gendered Process

• Stephanie Gallbrecht, Bremen University, Comparison Between "Stranger in Society" and a "Lost" Generation

• Trita Parsi, National Iranian-American Council (NIAC), The Iranian Communities' Involvement in Civil Society

• Jian Khodadad, Georgetown University, Tahirih Qurratu'l-Ayn: Inaugurator of the Iranian Women's Movement, and Her Significance in Contemporary Iran  

• Pardis Ansari, Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems, Inc., The Multiple Roles of Women in Shaping Perceptions of Career Opportunities from Globalization in Iran and the United States

• Sara Moussavi, University of Maryland, College Park Developmentof a Culturally Competent Educational Program for Mothers in Zabol, Iran to Address Issues of Childhood Diarrhea and Malnutrition

• "The Tree that Remembers"; Film screening followed by discussion led by Jairan Sadeghi, Carnegie Mellon University

• Socio-political Responsibilities and Activism in America Today; led by Mahdis Keshavarez

Panel 3: How did Mohammad Become "Mo"?: Forming our Identities
Moderator: Ramin Bajoghli, Boston University

• Behzad Ghotb, York University, Diaspora, Islam, and Gender 

• Dr. Arlene Dallalfar, Lesley College, Social identity and Iranian Communities in the U.S.

• Taghi Amirani, independent filmmaker, Film screening: "Tehrangeles" and "Gaga over Googoosh"
  
   

Moderator: Sogole Moin, Wellesley College

Part 1: Second Generation Iranians: Issues with Identity Building

• Dr. Ali Akbar Mahdi, Ohio Wesleyan University, Second Generation Iranians: Questions and Concerns

• Dr. Zohreh Sullivan, University of Illinois, Reflecting on "Exiled Memories"

Part 2: Beyond BMW's, Armani, and Cell Phones: Dissecting the "Persian Mafia"

• Amitra Mamdouhi, University of Virginia, Building My Identity as an Iranian and African-American through Poetry

• Bijan Khoshnood, Bank-Fund Staff Federal Credit Union, Self-Made Iranian

• Haale Gafori, Vocalist and Composer, Culture as Homeland

• Neda Zarraby, Architect, Best of Both Worlds

Panel 2: Going Back (Home?): Building Alliances in Iran
Moderators: Narges Bajoghli, Wellesley College, and Nikoo Paydar, Tufts University

• Babak Namazi, Atieh Associates Law Firm, Iran, Sixteen Years Later

• Nina Aghabeikzadeh, Independent Artist, Butterflies Behind the Cocoon

• Leyla Pope, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Double Vision: Seeing the World Through Two Cultures at Once

• Neda Toloui-Semnani