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October 25, 2004

UMBC Presents
Azar Nafisi

Azar NafisiOn Tuesday, November 9th at 7 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom, UMBC presents a lecture by Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books.

Azar Nafisi is a Visiting Professor and the director of the SAIS Dialogue Project at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. A professor of aesthetics, culture and literature, Dr. Nafisi held a fellowship at Oxford University, teaching and conducting a series of lectures on culture and the important role of Western literature and culture in Iran after the revolution in 1979. She taught at the University of Tehran, the Free Islamic University and Allameh Tabatabii before her return to the United States in 1997, earning national respect and international recognition for advocating on behalf of Iran’s intellectuals, youth and especially young women. She was expelled from the University of Tehran for refusing to wear the mandatory Islamic veil in 1981 and did not resume teaching until 1987.

Dr. Nafisi conducted workshops in Iran for women students on the relationship between culture and human rights; the material culled from these workshops formed the basis of a new human rights education curriculum. She has lectured and written extensively in English and Persian on the political implications of literature and culture as well as the human rights of the Iranian women and girls and the important role they play in the process of change for pluralism and an open society in Iran. She has been consulted on issues related to Iran and human rights both by the policy makers and various human rights organizations in the United States and elsewhere.

Dr. Nafisi has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, and her cover story, “The Veiled Threat: The Iranian Revolution's Woman Problem” published in The New Republic (February 22, 1999) has been reprinted into several languages. She is the author of Anti-Terra: A Critical Study of Vladimir Nabokov’s Novels. She is currently teaching on the relation between culture and politics at SAIS and her new book, Reading Lolita in Tehran, was published by Random House in April 2003.

This event is sponsored by the Center for the Humanities, the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program, the Office of the Provost, the Department of English and the Women’s Studies Program.

Admission
Admission is free.

Telephone
Public information: 410-455-6798
Media inquiries only: 410-455-3370

Web
UMBC Center for the Humanities website: http://www.umbc.edu/humanities
UMBC News Releases: http://www.umbc.edu/NewsEvents/releases/index.phtml

Directions

  • From Baltimore and points north, proceed south on I-95 to exit 47B. Take Route 166 toward Catonsville and then follow signs to the University Center.
  • From I-695, take Exit 12C (Wilkens Avenue) and continue one-half mile to the entrance of UMBC at the roundabout intersection of Wilkens Avenue and Hilltop Road. Turn left and follow signs to the University Center.
  • From Washington and points south, proceed north on I-95 to Exit 47B. Take Route 166 toward Catonsville and then follow signs to the University Center.
  • Daytime metered visitor parking is available in Lot 10, near the Administration Building. Visitor parking regulations are enforced on all University calendar days. Hilltop Circle and all campus roadways require a parking permit unless otherwise marked.
  • Online campus map: http://www.umbc.edu/aboutumbc/campusmap/

Images for Media
A high resolution image for media is available online: http://www.umbc.edu/newsevents/arts/hi-res/ or by email or postal mail.

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Posted by dwinds1 at October 25, 2004 12:00 AM