Thanks to many of you who attended our Movie of the Week yesterday. Anyone interested can borrow my copy (it’s 90 + mins) or rent it from the MRC or Blockbusters. This film (based on the Graphic Novel by the same name) follows the life of young Marjane Satrapi from about 1978-1990. It presents the overthrow of the Shah as a Nationalist struggle, one that was fought by Marxists and Islamic Fundamentalists against the Western-leaning Shah. In the end the Theocrats won out … fought a long difficult war against Iraq and suppressed human rights in the process. There are many other themes to consider in this film including: the portrayal of the liberal grandmother, Marjane’s identity crises (growing up in Austria & not fitting in there or in Iran), and more. Please share your thoughts or post questions about the film here. THANKS!
Category: Optional Response Questions
Iran’s Connections to Dubai
Listen to this NPR Podcast and consider the PROXIMITY of Dubai to Iran across the narrow Straight of Hormuz. What other illegal markets flow through Dubai and how do they relate to LOCATION?
Expectations … etc.
As we enter Week 4 of class, it might be good to restate some of the goals here, and give you a chance to give constructive feedback. We are traveling down SEVERAL paths simultaneously. On one, we are reading historical narratives, and as the semester progresses we will approach modern times. On another, we are reading standard ‘geography’ from the E-book. This text is organized regionally and we are starting with the ‘Arab’ Middle East. On still another we are beginning to discuss current events in class. These discussions should/will get more interesting as the semester progresses. On yet another we are beginning to add maps to our Google Maps. My hope is that the pieces to this puzzle will begin to come together for all of you in the coming weeks. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you understand the structure or content of this course. Thanks for your feedback!