KU to host discussion on Iranian public demonstrations

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas faculty, students and staff from the Iranian community will discuss the political demonstrations and unrest in Iran through the perspectives of research and shared experience as part of the Global Conversations series.

The hybrid presentation and panel discussion, Global Conversations: Public Demonstrations in Iran, will take place from noon to 1 p.m. April 4 in the Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center. Participants can also register to attend virtually on Zoom. 

Rana Esfandiary, assistant professor of design and technology, and a KU graduate student co-presenter will provide research-based context for recent events in Iran. They will explore the history of regional protests, their effect on the arts community, censorship from diasporic lenses and the differences between Persian culture and the Islamic regime.  A conversation among the KU Iranian Community Association will follow the presentation, including remarks by Homayoon Rafatijo, intellectual property attorney with Spencer Fane LLP.

Protests began in Iran shortly after the Sept. 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in police custody after being accused of violating Iran’s strict hijab laws. Since then, the Human Rights Activists News Agency has reported that more than 500 people have been killed in the anti-government protests and nearly 20,000 people have been arrested.

The event is the third in the Global Conversations series. The series focuses on critical conversations about equity in a global context with the hopes of expanding campus literacy on important issues that shape our world. These conversations leverage the knowledge and experience of campus experts as well as students, faculty and staff as they come together to discuss social, cultural and political reverberations of major world events. The series is one of several collaborations across KU that emphasize the value of engaging in internationalization and intersectionality as a core framework of Jayhawks Rising.   

The series is sponsored by International Affairs; the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging; and The Commons. The April 4 event is co-sponsored by International Support Services, KU Iranian Community Association, Global Awareness Program and the Center for Global & International Studies.