The Iran Circle

The article profiles Amin Feizpour, the founder and manager of The Iran Circle, a non-profit organization aimed at fostering intellectual and educational content for Iranians. Feizpour, who completed his PhD at Boston University and is associated with Harvard Medical School, started the project with support from local faculty and Iranian student associations. The Iran Circle hosts monthly sessions and webinars on research about Iran, conducted in Farsi. Feizpour, with a background in engineering, science, and translational medicine, is also interested in humanities and social sciences, which led to the initiative's creation. The article also mentions other academics like Shahla Haeri, Houchang E. Chehabi, Ali Kadivar, and Pamela Karimi, detailing their research interests and contributions to the fields of anthropology, international relations, sociology, and art history respectively.

Iranian Revolutionaries in the United States

Dr. Manijeh Moradian discusses her book 'This Flame Within: Iranian Revolutionaries in the United States', which examines the role of the Iranian Students Association (ISA) in the US before the 1979 Iranian revolution. The book explores the ISA's connection to the Confederation of Iranian Students National Union (CISNU) and its impact as a diasporic movement against the Shah of Iran. Moradian highlights the ISA's revolutionary activism, its struggles for gender equality, and its solidarity with other global movements. The book also addresses the ISA's affective experiences and the challenges faced by Iranian revolutionaries, including their interactions with US policy and their participation in broader social justice movements. Dr. Persis Karim joins the conversation, emphasizing the historical context and the importance of gender in revolutionary movements. The discussion also covers the complexities of building solidarity and the misconceptions about the Islamic Republic of Iran.