Summer Teacher Workshop on Persia

The 2008 Teachers Workshop on Persia was held July 8 - 11, 2008 in Washington, DC. This exclusive workshop will offered 18 teachers from around the country the opportunity to meet with State Department and World Bank officials, academics, and other Persian experts in an intimate setting to gain a comprehensive understanding of Persia's politics and culture. The program was open to all high school educators and focused on Persian culture, history and politics.
 
The workshop was supported by a generous grant from the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), which also provided assistance in coordinating the guest speakers. 

The 3-day workshop was covered by CNN International's Jill Dougherty; coverage can be seen at: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/07/13/dougherty.us.teaching.iran.cnn?iref=videosearch.

Participating teachers and councils:

Greg Adams, WAC of Oregon
Saba Alavi, WAC of Columbia, SC
Adina Alexandru, WAC of CT-Hartford
Beth Boyd, SCIS-Atlanta
Jennifer Davis, WAC of Philadelphia
Michele De Collibus, Foreign Policy Association
Leonard Fitts, WAC of Wilmington, DE
Virginia James, WAC of Hampton Roads, VA
Anthony Joseph, WAC of Pittsburgh
Crystal Kadivar, Tennessee WAC
Sharon Kelley, IWA, Milwaukee, WI
Alyson Knanishu, Peoria Area WAC
Alyce Loesch, World Affairs Forum-Stamford, CT
Jeffrey Moore, WAC of Oregon
Elhadji Ndaw, IWA, Milwaukee, WI
Julie Phung, WAC of Dallas/Ft. Worth
Ed Tallon, Peoria Area WAC
Martha Williams, WAC of Dallas/Ft. Worth

Agenda

Tuesday, July 8
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm Registration opens at Lombardy Hotel

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Dinner with Ambassador Clyde D. Taylor

Wednesday, July 9
9:00 – 10:00 am Briefing at World Bank

11:00 - 12:00 pm Speaker: Sarah Groen, Desk Officer for Iran, State Department

12:00 – 1:30 pm Lunch Speaker: Daniel Twining, U.S. Department of State, Policy Planning Staff

2:15 – 3:15 pm Speaker: Mahnaz Afkhami on “Women in Iran”

3:30 – 4:30 pm Speaker: Iason Athanasiadis on “Children of the Iranian Revolution” photo exhibition (Woodrow Wilson International Center: 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW)

6:00 – 8:00 pm Dinner at Famous Luigi’s

Thursday, July 10
9:00 - 10:00 am  Speaker: Afshin Molavi on “Pink Floyd, Persepolis, and the Pasdaran: Culture, Politics and Globalization in Contemporary Iran”

10:30 –11:30 am Speaker: Cyrus Amir-Mokri on “Iran’s Constitutional System”

12:00 to 1:30 pm Lunch at Reid Ballroom with Speaker: Karim Sadjadpour on “Contemporary History of Iran”

2:00 – 3:00 pm Speaker: Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak on “Persian Literature”

3:30 – 5:00 pm Speaker: John Calabrese on “The U.S. and Iran Conflict: Sources and Scenarios”

6:00 – 9:00 pm Screening of Abbas Kiarostami’s “Ten” at Letelier Theater
Speaker: Farah Mokhtareizadeh on “Iranian Cinema”

Friday, July 11
10:15 – 11:30 am Smithsonian Exhibit Tour: Arts of the Islamic World

12:00 – 2:00 pm Luncheon and Wrap-up

For more information, please contact Laura Reidy, Education Director, at 202-833-4557 or laura@worldaffairscouncils.org.