The International Conference on
The Iranian
Constitutional
Movement

Held under the auspices of

Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute Center for Persian Studies
School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
College of Arts and Humanities
University of Maryland, College Park
September 21-24, 2006

On the occasion of
The Centenary of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and The 150 Anniversary of the University of Maryland

An International Conference on the Iranian Constitutional Movement took place on the campus of the University of Maryland, September 21-24, 2006.  As part of the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the University of Maryland and commemorating the centenary of Iran’s Constitutional Revolution of 1906, a watershed in modern Middle-Eastern History, the Conference was organized by Roshan cultural Heritage Institute Center for Persian Studies (RICPS) and supported by a number of organizations active in the US, including the Iranian American Bar Association, the Ahoora Foundation, the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, and the Persian Cultural Foundation. A number of prominent community leaders and interested individual donors also contributed financially to the Conference. The gathering, the first Iran-centered academic conference on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park, brought together over 20 leading historians working on Iranian and Middle-Eastern Studies in various American, Canadian and European Universities, including Yale, Columbia, NYU, Stanford, and the University of Toronto.    

A reception hosted by Dean Nariman Farvardin of the Clark School of Engineering and Mrs. Farvardin kicked off the event Thursday night by bringing together the invited community leaders and scholars with the campus community, including Iranian-American faculty, staff and students.  In welcoming the guests, both Dean Farvardin and ARHU’s Dean Harris stressed the timeliness of the gathering and thanked the CPS for organizing the Conference.  The academic portion of the conference got underway with a message from President C. D. Mote.  In it, the UMCP President also emphasized the timeliness and crucial importance of such gatherings, and thanked the College of Arts and Humanities, the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, and the RICPS.  Dean Harris and SLLC Director Professor Michael Long also spoke at the opening ceremonies, welcoming the guests and wishing the participating scholars success in their deliberations.

 

The Conference had been conceptualized as a forum for the exchange of ideas among three generations of active scholars, not just on the Constitutional Revolution of 1906, but also, in light of recent developments in Iran and the Middle-East, as a way of foregrounding contemporary Iran’s continuing pursuit of constitutionalism and the establishment of the rule of law.  This was reflected in the thematic foci of the conference sessions, entitled “Iran’s Constitutional Revolution: A One Hundred Year Retrospective,” “Reporting, Remembering and Refashioning the Revolution,” “Conceptualizing, Interpreting and Implementation of Rights and Powers under the Constitution,” and “The Constitutional Revolution: Cross-Border Influences and Comparative Perspectives.”  A total of 20 scholarly presentations addressed these broad thematic areas, shedding light on many hitherto unexplored aspects of Iran’s history in the past one hundred years.  Negotiations are underway to determine the feasibility of publishing the conference proceeding as part of a publication series envisioned by the RICPS.

Because of the intimate and intricate connections between the Iranian Constitutional Movement and the modern tradition in Persian literature, and due to the presence of many literary figures and scholars of Persian fiction, a special session had been envisioned to focus on relationships between literature and history.  Entitled “Fictionalizing History,” this session, held on Saturday afternoon, featured internationally recognized Iranian novelist Shahrnush Parsipur, whose works have been translated widely into English and form part of the curriculum in many American universities, including UMCP.  The well-attended session, envisioned as an “In conversation” session, proved particularly popular with UMCP faculty and students.  It brought considerable interest to the epistemological and pedagogical implications of approaching history through works of fiction and the diverse ways in which imaginative authors incorporate themes and events of local, national or international history in their work.  Because film plays an increasingly important part in the university classroom, an episode of Parsipur’s electrifying novella Women without Men was also screened and became an integral part of the ensuing conversation. Directed by celebrated Iranian-American artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat, “Zarrin” features a daring portrayal of life in a Tehran brothel in the mid-twentieth century.       

A gala banquet celebrating Iran’s Constitutional Revolution and the constitutionalist movements it has spawned was held in conjunction with the conference on Friday night.  About 200 guests, consisting of notable community leaders and invited scholars, came together with UMCP faculty, staff and students interested in Iranian and Middle-Eastern Studies. The guests were treated to a sit-down dinner and a musical performance by HAALE, an Iranian-American musician and vocalist, whose music is a hybrid of traditional and folk music of Persia and a range of contemporary American musical traditions, including jazz, rock and psychedelic.  Sponsored in part by members of the audience, the banquet was attended by Dean Farvardin and Dena Harris, as well as such prominent scholars as Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of the monumental Encyclopaedia Iranica, and noted Iranian-American industrialist Dr. Akbar Ghahary. 

A special feature of the Conference was a photo exhibition titled “Once upon A Time Iran.” Sponsored by the Persian Cultural Foundation of New Jersey, this constitutional era photo exhibition went a long way in bringing alive Iranian life at the beginning of Iranian modernity for the new generations of Iranians, among them many members of UMCP’s Iranian Students’ Foundation and the Persian Cluster at the Language House. In addition, several area publishers and booksellers presented their holdings, among them many of the books authored by scholars presenting at the conference.  Lively author-meets-reader encounters and the ensuing book-signing rituals brought aspiring students into direct contact and conversation with the authors whose works have been a staple of courses since the establishment of the RICPS at the University of Maryland.  Finally, several area non-profits, such as the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and the Children of Persia, displayed their literature to conference participants. 

In addition to all its impressive scholarly implications, the Conference on the Iranian Constitutional Movement demonstrated the profound synergies that can result from university-community partnerships.  In this case, it provided reasonable assurances that the RICPS will continue to enjoy substantial and significant community support in its activities for years to come.  And as President Mote noted in his message, the conference went a long way towards showing that “The University of Maryland continues to serve as a hub of educational and scholarly activity in the State of Maryland and the greater Washington, D.C., area.”

 

Event Photos