OXFORD, Miss. – The status of women in Iran is to be explored Thursday
(Oct. 8) when a renowned women’s rights scholar visits the University
of Mississippi as guest lecturer for the Sarah Isom Center for Women
and Gender Studies.
The 15th Annual Lucy Somerville Howorth Lecture features Nayereh
Tohidi, professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of
California at Northridge, who plans to discuss “‘Women, Islam and
Democracy in the Middle East: The Case of Iran.” The program, set for 7
p.m. in Bryant Hall, Room 209, is free and open to the public.
“This lecture will first introduce the complexity and diversity of the
‘women question’ in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region by
describing the specifics of the gender gap, including the common
characteristics as well as variations in Muslim women’s status,” Tohidi
said.” Then the focus will shift to Iran explaining the contradictory
or paradoxical nature of women’s status.”
Tohidi also plans to explain why women played such a prominent role in
Iran’s recent post-election pro-democracy Green Movement by summarizing
the last 100 years of the Iranian women’s movement.
“Since our Western media have given much attention to the election and
protests in Iran recently, this will be an opportunity to understand
the topics of women, Islam and democracy from a non-Western source and
pre-eminent expert,” said Mary Carruth, director of the Isom Center.
Tohidi is the author of “Globalization, Gender and Religion: The
Politics of Women’s Rights in Catholic and Muslim Contexts” (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2001) and “Women in Muslim Societies: Diversity within
Unity” (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998). She also has consulted with
the United Nations on projects regarding gender and civil society
building. Selected articles by Tohidi are available on the Isom Center
Web site at http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/
The annual Lucy Somerville Howorth Lecture Series honors public
servant Lucy Somerville Howorth and brings distinguished speakers in
women’s studies to campus. A graduate of the UM law school, Howorth
achieved national prominence during her long career in public service,
including her enthusiastic support for women’s rights. A native of
Cleveland, she died in 1997 at age 102.
This year’s Howorth Lecture is co-sponsored by the Sally McDonnell
Barksdale Honors College and the Croft Institute for International
Studies.
For more information or for assistance related to a disability, call Kevin Cozart at 662-915-5916.