Iran from Pre-Revolutionary Era to the Present

The SOAS Journal of Postgraduate Research (SJPR) in collaboration with the Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS invites you for an overarching discussion with Professor Emeritus Houchang E. Chehabi as we delve into the complex and rich history of Iran.

The session, chaired by Dr Seyed Ali Alavi, will cover a wide range of topics, including Iran and the Arab World, Iranian Politics and Religious Modernism, Iran and Sports Diplomacy, Reading Iran and the Middle East, among others, drawing on Professor Chehabi's long career as a scholar of Iranian and Middle Eastern Studies.

The event has been structured to allow the audience, particularly students, to ask questions and interact with Professor Chehabi, and benefit from his vast knowledge of the region.

About the speakers

Professor Houchang Esfandiar Chehabi is Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University's Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, as well as an honorary professor at the School of History, University of St. Andrew’s. He was a Visiting Associate Professor of History at UCLA, an Associate Professor of Government and Social Studies at Harvard University, and a Visiting Fellow at St. Antony's College, Oxford University.

He was also a Lecturer at the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa in Buenos Aires. Professor Chehabi was born in Tehran, Iran, to a German mother and an Iranian father, and grew up in both Iran and Germany. His undergraduate education was in France, and he earned his MA and PhD from Yale University. His works include ten (co)edited volumes, numerous articles, book chapters, and encyclopaedia entries.

His three monographs are Iranian Politics and Religious Modernism: The Liberation Movement of Iran under the Shah and Khomeini (1990), Distant Relations: Iran and Lebanon in the Last 500 Years (2006), and Onomastic Reforms: Family Names and State Building in Iran (2020).

Dr Seyed Ali Alavi is a Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Iranian Studies at SOAS, University of London. His scholarly interests include Iranian and Palestinian Studies, Area Studies (ME, Asia, Africa, and Eurasia), Orientalism, and International Studies.

His most recent study focuses on cultural activities in cyberspace and their effects on national and cross-border discussions, notably during regional wars, with a recent paper on The Karabakh Conflict and its impacts on Iran’s National and Diplomatic Debates in the Age of Cyber Space. Dr. Alavi Ali is the author of Iran and Palestine, which was published by Routledge in 2020.

Ruzbeh Vistasp Hodiwala is a PhD candidate in the Department of History, Religions, and Philosophy at SOAS, and the outgoing Editor-in-Chief of the SOAS Journal of Postgraduate Research (SJPR).

Registration

This event is free and open to the public. However, registration is mandatory as there are a limited number of seats.

Contact

For any queries please email: sjpr@soas.ac.uk