3Cultures

Session 16: Unaccustomed Earth

2012-02-22T17:41:00.001-08:00

Synopsis: Unaccustomed Earth is a story of people who have left their home land (India) and immigrated to U.S. The Indian born parents are struggling with problems in raising their kids in America. The parents, who are isolated by their difficulties in language and costumes, want the American dreams for their children; however they are cautious about the kids’ freedom. The children, who don’t belong to either the Indian or American culture, do not accept the culture and rituals of the home and are not fully accustomed to the American rituals either. This book explores the emotional complexity of the characters. There are five unconnected stories in part one. These five stories share only themes; the characters and settings are independent of one another. The second part has three connected stories.

Time: Thursday, March 15 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

Somaieh Nikpoor

PhD Student in Economics at the University of Ottawa. She has a Master in Economic Development (Allame Tabatabaei University) and bachelor in Theoretical Economics (Shahid Beheshti University). Her Research interests are the International Economics and Economic Growth Theory. Somaieh has focused her research on the impacts of an aging population in an Economy. She is also a Research Assistant at the University of Ottawa.

Session 15: Death of Yazdgerd - مرگ یزدگرد

2011-12-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

Masterpiece of Iranian playwright and director Bahram Beyzaie. Death of Yazdgerd is an an unusual, poetic drama that traces contemporary themes in a historical setting. Yazdgerd III was the last of the Sassanid kings of Iran. His death in 651 AD, during the Arab invasions that brought Islam to this Zoroastrian realm, was mysterious. His corpse was discovered in a mill ...

Duration: 108 Minutes
Language: Persian with English subtitles
Year: 1982, Color
Admission: Free

Time: Thursday, February 16 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa

Note: It will be followed by free discussion.

Session 14: Free Discussion

2011-12-10T00:18:00.000-08:00

Note: all guests are encouraged to participate, share useful references or express their views - on the past or their favorite topics - this session

Time: Thursday, January 12 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

Picture: A Neumann U87 condenser microphone with shock mount © wikipedia

Session 13: Archaeological Translation, Cyrus the Great's Cylinder

2011-11-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

Over the past several decades in Iran there has been a renewed interest in ancient Persia, particularly in the most glorious and innovative period: the Achaemenid dynasty (550-330 BC. J.-C). From this vast empire that stretched across the Iranian plateau only vestiges remain, including a set of cuneiform inscriptions engraved on rock walls or on the monuments of that time. Written simultaneously in several languages (Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian), these inscriptions have attracted the attention of European diplomats and later archaeologist-translators and have piqued the curiosity of European philologists since the eighteenth century and, most notably, in the nineteenth century.

Until recently, they remained obscure to Iranians, the heirs of this brilliant Persian Empire. Since the 1970s, at the instigation of the last Shah of Iran, these inscriptions began to be systematically translated into modern Persian. In recent years, private publishers have brought out an abundance of books on the Achaemenid, most of the latter having originally been written and published in Europe.

One of the most controversial inscriptions is Cyrus ‘Cylinder, known as the Human Being Chart. Today we have many translations of this Cylinder to different languages (Europeans and Persian). Therefore, first of all, we have to answer the questions like: Who is Cyrus the Great? What is the content of the Cylinder? How important is this inscription? And what is the role of this translation in our identity? In this research, I resort to National Library and Archives of IR of Iran to show that these translations (especially the Persian ones) fulfill a function of identity and political power by supporting the nationalist and reformist movement against the theocratic regime that attempts to conceal Iran’s pre-Islamic past.

Nazila Khalkhali
Master of Translation Studies
University of Ottawa

Time: Thursday, December 8 · 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian · Admission: Free

Useful Links: in Encyclopædia Iranica · at The British Museum · Persian Translation
Picture: The Cyrus Cylinder, obverse and reverse sides © wikipedia

UPDATE:

Slides HERE

Session 12: Social Actors Between Creativity, Art and Resistance

2011-10-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

Description: It will be a lecture and open discussion on Art and Activism, focusing on art as communication and a tool of resistance, and its various methods of grabbing the public's emotion, attention and imagination.
I'm going to discuss my recent research on Music (mainly Rap music), Dance (some examples of anticapitalism Flamenco), Caricatures (Mana Neyestai/Nickahang Kosar). During my presentation, I will try to understand how the creativity could be a central aspect of much political expression, by using satire, irony, cartoon and comics as a vital form of speaking out and a strategy of resistance.
I will also discuss how new social media tools can spread art and ideas in the Internet and new social media.

Time: Thursday, November 10 · 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: English
Picture Credit: OBEY

Hanieh Ziaei

PhD Student in sociology at the University of Ottawa with an international cotutelle with Université Paris-Diderot (Paris7). Master in international and comparative politics (Université de Montréal) and bachelor in political science (Université Libre de Bruxelles). During her studies, Hanieh developed a vital interest in the Middle East region and focused her researches especially on various aspects of civil society, such as the use of art as a tool of "resistance" or the impacts of new media technologies during protest and mobilization movements. She is also an Associate Fellow at the Center for Middle East and North African Studies, a think-tank linked to Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) in Montreal: http://www.dandurand.uqam.ca/chercheurs/107-membres-externes/782-ziaei-hanieh.html

Session 11: Ancient Megastructures, The Alhambra

2011-10-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

The most impressive monument to Muslim engineering in the Western world the Alhambra towers over Granada in southern Spain. Discover how it was built and why.

Production: National Geographic
Duration: 50 Minutes

Language: English
Year: 2010
Color

Time: Thursday, October 13 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa

Picture: A room of the palace and a view of the Court of the Lions © wikipedia

Session 10: The Greeks and Their World

2011-07-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

The Greeks and Their World
from The Story of Philosophy by Bryan Magee
to be presented by Saeed Salehi

Content: Before Socrates, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, The Cynics, The Sceptics, The Epicureans, The Stoics

Time: Thursday, September 29 · 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: CBY A605, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

Picture: The School of Athens by Raphael, central figures
© wikipedia

UPDATE:

Slides (in Persian, by Saeed Salehi) HERE

Session 09: The architecture of Jameh Mosque, Isfahan

2011-07-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

The architecture of Jameh Mosque, Isfahan
by Majid Naji

Time: Thursday, August 25 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

Picture: Oljeitu Mihrab in Jameh Mosque, Isfahan
© youngrobv (Rob&Ale) / Flickr

UPDATE:

Slides (in English/Persian, by Majid Naji) HERE

Session 08: Sea and the Sun in Rumi's Poetry

2011-06-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

Sea and the Sun in Rumi's poetry from Amorous Gamble, Abdolkarim Soroush
by Saeed Salehi

Time: Thursday, August 11 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: CBY A605, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

Picture: Rumi

UPDATE:

Slides (in Persian, by Saeed Salehi) HERE

Session 07: Free discussion

2011-06-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

Note: all guests are encouraged to participate, share useful references or express their views - on the past topics - this session

Time: Wednesday, June 29 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

Picture: The Thinker, Auguste Rodin

Session 06: Critical Thinking

2011-04-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

Agenda:

1. How to understand and criticize thoughts
2. Presenting a big picture about subjects that can be addressed in the upcoming sessions

Time: Thursday, May 19 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

Picture: A Persian Rug
© wikipedia

UPDATE:

Slides (in Persian, by Saeed Salehi) HERE

Session 05: History of Iran After Islam

2011-03-31T06:42:00.000-07:00

A visual presentation about the history of Iran after Islam

Time: Wednesday, April 20 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: CBY A605, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

Picture: Tiles in Masjed-e Jame, Isfahan
© wikipedia

UPDATE:

Slides (in English, by Majid Naji) HERE

Session 04: Essential and Contingent in Religions

2011-03-04T23:51:00.000-08:00

Essential and Contingent in Religions from Expansion of Prophetic Experience By Abdolkarim Soroush

Time: Wednesday, March 30 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: CBY A605, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

UPDATE:

Slides (in Persian, by Saeed Salehi) HERE

Session 03: Iran before Islam II

2011-02-02T12:33:00.000-08:00

Agenda:

1. The story of civilization by Will Durant, chapter on Iranians (Sassanid period and Arab invasion)
2. Death of Yazdgerd, watching a few minutes of the play
3. A visual presentation about history of Iran, part II
4. Relevant topics and references

Time: Wednesday, February 16 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

Picture: Ctesiphon, in today Iraq

UPDATE:

Slides (in Persian, by Somaieh Nikpour) HERE
Slides (in English/Persian, by Majid Naji) HERE

Session 02: Iran before Islam I

2011-01-12T20:57:00.000-08:00

Agenda:

1. The story of civilization by Will Durant, chapter on Persia (Medes and Achaemenid period)
2. A visual presentation about history of Iran, part I
3. Grief for Siavash (سوگ سیاوش) by Shahrokh Meskoob, some excerpts
4. Relevant topics and references

Time: Wednesday, January 19 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

Picture: Storage jar decorated with mountain goats, early 4th millennium b.c.

UPDATE:

Slides (in Persian, by Saeed Salehi) HERE
Slides (in English/Persian, by Majid Naji) HERE

Session 01: Introduction

2011-01-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

Agenda:

1. Declaring our vision and mission
2. General categories and topics to be considered
3. Declaring group code of ethics
4. Introducing useful books and links
5. Introducing timetable for a typical session
6. Showing ways one can help or contribute!

Time: Monday, December 20, 2010 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: SITE 5084, University of Ottawa
Language: Persian

Picture: 19th century reconstruction of a map of the world by Eratosthenes, c.200 BC. The name Ariana (Aryânâ) was used to describe the region where the Iranian Plateau is found.

UPDATE:

Slides (in Persian, by Saeed Salehi) HERE