Iran: A Conversation About the Elections, Protest, and the Future
by JaniceW | July 15, 2009 - 19:00 - 20:00
Presented by PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books, and 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center
With Shaul Bakhash, Roger Cohen, Haleh Esfandiari, and Karim Sadjadpour
What is happening in heavily censored Iran? And where are today’s events taking this country of 70 million people, two-thirds of whom are under the age of 30? Don't miss this extraordinary opportunity to hear real stories from the streets and a discussion with experts on the future of this complex country.
When: Wednesday, July 15, 2009: 7:00 p.m.
Where: 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center, 1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street, New York City
Tickets: $15/$8 for students with ID, PEN Members, The New York Review of Books subscribers, and 92nd Street Y members: www.smarttix.com or 212.868.4444
_______________________
Shaul Bakhash is Robinson Professor of History at George Mason University, an expert on Iran, and a frequent contributor to The New York Review. He is the author of The Reign of the Ayatollahs: Iran and the Islamic Revolution.
Roger Cohen joined The New York Times in 1990. He was a foreign correspondent for more than a decade before becoming acting Foreign Editor on September 11, 2001, and Foreign Editor six months later. Since 2004 he has written a column for The International Herald Tribune, first for the news pages and then, since 2007, for the Op-Ed page. In 2009 he was named a columnist of The New York Times.
Haleh Esfandiari is the Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and served as Deputy Secretary General of the Women's Organization of Iran. From 1980 to 1994 she taught Persian language, contemporary Persian literature, and courses on the women's movement in Iran at Princeton University.
Karim Sadjadpour is an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He joined Carnegie after four years as the chief Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group based in Tehran and Washington, D.C. A leading researcher on Iran, Sadjadpour has conducted dozens of interviews with senior Iranian officials, and hundreds with Iranian intellectuals, clerics, dissidents, paramilitaries, businessmen, students, activists, and youth, among others.
Location:
92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center
1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street,
New York City, New York,
United States
Comments
Iran: A Conversation
I attended this event, and thought it gave great insight into a situation the world has been watching via Twitter updates and shaky cell phone videos.
Roger Cohen’s detailed account of his days in Tehran immediately following the protests-climbing up on an overpass and feeling it shake with the number of bodies struggling to cross it, being tear gassed with Iranians, watching women being beaten- were mind boggling.
Haleh Esfandiari eschewed a detailed personal account of her captivity for cutting insight into the mind of Iranian officials and their fears of a velvet revolution, while Karim Sadjadpour illuminated the difference between Iran’s elite today and Iran’s elite during the time of the Shah- a critical difference that could impact the future of Iran:
I posted a full account of the lecture here: http://lanew-yorkaise.com/?p=627 Thank you!