Wednesday, Mar 25, 2009
Iran in Focus Week at Whitman College, April 6-10, will feature a lecture on the historical and sociological causes of Islamic resurgences and an evening with best-selling author Marjane Satrapi, whose autobiography of life as a young Iranian girl during the Islamic Revolution has charmed and informed the world.
Monsoor Moaddel, professor of sociology at Eastern Michigan University, will present “Historicizing Muslim Exceptionalism: Islamic Modernism versus Fundamentalism” on Monday, April 6, at 7 p.m. in Kimball Auditorium, Hunter Conservatory. His presentation is free and open to the public.
Moaddel has focused his research and publications on the historical and sociological causes of Islamic resurgence. Along with his study of the historic evolution of Muslim political thought, he has carried out values surveys in several countries, including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. He has also conducted a comparative study of several Muslim countries charting both the rise of secular nationalism along with Islamic movements beginning with Islamic modernism in the nineteenth century and ending with Islamic fundamentalism in the twentieth century.
Satrapi will discuss “The Complete Persepolis,” a best-selling memoir-in-comic-strip that has been made into a motion picture and won several awards, including the 2007 Cannes Film Festival Jury Award. She will speak at 7 p.m. Friday, April 10, in Cordiner Hall. Tickets are $5 and are available at the Whitman College Bookstore and at the door. Call 509-527-5274 for ticket information.
“The Complete Persepolis” was the summer-read selection for Whitman’s 2008-09 entering class. The read was open to the Walla Walla community as well and community members joined Whitman students and faculty in a book discussion last summer.
The cartoon-style autobiography plays out against the backdrop of the Islamic Revolution, but shows the historical era interpreted in personal, behind-the-scenes pictures not seen on the evening news of the 1970s and 1980s. “Persepolis” was originally published in four volumes in France, where it met with critical acclaim. The animated film adaptation of “Persepolis” has garnered international acclaim and in 2008 was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film and won two Cesar awards (the French version of the Oscars) for best film and best adaptation.
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CONTACT: Lenel Parish, Whitman College News Service (509) 527-5156
