Iranians in the Minds of Americans

Iranians in the Minds of Americans PDF Author: Ehsan Shahghasemi
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781536151725
Category : Iran
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Iranians in the Minds of Americans is hitherto the most extensive study on perceptions American people have of Iranians. Also, though there are many books that study political relations between Iran and the US, this book tries to take an intercultural approach and reveal what is actually behind politics. This book not only studies perceptions Americans hold for Iranians, but also tries to put these views in the wider historical, political, cultural and social context. Therefore, we can see in this book a very well-documented history of American missionary work and life in Irans 19th century. The work of these missionaries, particularly in the field of education, changed the history of Iran forever. Also, missionaries provided the scene for the establishment of the first American legation in Iran. Therefore, in this book the historical relationship between these countries is depicted from before a time of formal relationships to present day. Through the introduction of the concept of cross cultural schemata by Shahghasemi and Heisey (2009), the book presents a framework for analysis and then it goes on to present results of a study on 1,752 American citizens across 50 American states. The results show clearly the negative role of American media in creating an unfavorable image of Iranian people. Also, we can see that historical events like Hostage Crisis have left a negative effect on Americans perception of Iranians. Conversely, American citizens who knew an Iranian citizen in person have shown much more positive perceptions about Iranian people.

Losing Hearts and Minds

Losing Hearts and Minds PDF Author: Matthew K. Shannon
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501712349
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
Matthew K. Shannon provides readers with a reminder of a brief and congenial phase of the relationship between the United States and Iran. In Losing Hearts and Minds, Shannon tells the story of an influx of Iranian students to American college campuses between 1950 and 1979 that globalized U.S. institutions of higher education and produced alliances between Iranian youths and progressive Americans. Losing Hearts and Minds is a narrative rife with historical ironies. Because of its superpower competition with the USSR, the U.S. government worked with nongovernmental organizations to create the means for Iranians to train and study in the United States. The stated goal of this initiative was to establish a cultural foundation for the official relationship and to provide Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with educated elites to administer an ambitious program of socioeconomic development. Despite these goals, Shannon locates the incubation of at least one possible version of the Iranian Revolution on American college campuses, which provided a space for a large and vocal community of dissident Iranian students to organize against the Pahlavi regime and earn the support of empathetic Americans. Together they rejected the Shah’s authoritarian model of development and called for civil and political rights in Iran, giving unwitting support to the rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

America and Iran

America and Iran PDF Author: John Ghazvinian
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0307271811
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 688

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Book Description
"A history of the relationship between Iran and America from the 1700s through the current day"--

An American in Persia

An American in Persia PDF Author: Richard A. Kauffman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781931038751
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Kauffman tells stories of his encounters with Iranians, their culture, and their politics, to give witness to ways walls can break down when the stories, culture, and history of others are attended to. "Americans aren't supposed to talk to Iranians. Thank God Richard Kauffman is a Mennonite and thus open to God turning enemies into friends. This book had me transfixed-and deepened the mystery of the meaning of words like American, Iranian, and ultimately, Christian," notes Jason Byassee, Executive Director, Leadership Education, Duke Divinity. Meanwhile David Cortright, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, believes that "Kauffman offers a rare and penetrating portrait of an ancient and proud land, and a people who are surprisingly friendly toward Americans. The book features gorgeous photographs that capture the dignity and grace of ordinary Iranians and depict the beauty of an unknown country. A must for all who want to build understanding and friendship with people our government would have us consider enemies." Laurie Blanton Pierce, Author, What Is Iran, sees the book as "much more than a travelogue. The story of his visit to Iran is interspersed with helpful background information on the country's history and culture. He examines controversial issues with thoughtfulness and an open mind."

American-Iranian Dialogues

American-Iranian Dialogues PDF Author: Matthew K. Shannon
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350118737
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Bringing together historians of US foreign relations and scholars of Iranian studies, American-Iranian Dialogues examines the cultural connections between Americans and Iranians from the constitutional period of the 1890s through to the start of the White Revolution in the 1960s. Taking an innovative cultural approach, chapters are centred around major themes in American-Iranian encounters and cultural exchange throughout this period, including stories of origin, cultural representations, nationalism and discourses on development. Expert contributors draw together different strands of US-Iranian relations to discuss a range of path-breaking topics such as the history of education, heritage exchange, oil development and the often-overlooked interactions between American and Iranian non-state actors. Through exploring the understudied cultural dimensions of US-Iranian relations, this book will be essential reading for students and scholars interested in American history, international history, Iranian studies and Middle Eastern studies.

The Iranian Americans

The Iranian Americans PDF Author: Maboud Ansari
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780773440814
Category : Iranian Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Iranian immigration to the United States is a relatively new political phenomenon and constitutes one of the highest status foreign-born groups in the United States. This book chronicles their immigration experiences through a sociological lens, how their culture adapts, and what drove Iranians to come to America.

The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay

The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay PDF Author: Hooman Majd
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0385535333
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
With U.S.–Iran relations at a thirty-year low, Iranian-American writer Hooman Majd dared to take his young family on a year-long sojourn in Tehran. The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay traces their domestic adventures and closely tracks the political drama of a terrible year for Iran's government. It was an annus horribilis for Iran's Supreme Leader. The Green Movement had been crushed, but the regime was on edge, anxious lest democratic protests resurge. International sanctions were dragging down the economy while talk of war with the West grew. Hooman Majd was there for all of it. A new father at age fifty, he decided to take his blonde, blue-eyed Midwestern yoga instructor wife Karri and his adorable, only-eats-organic infant son Khash from their hip Brooklyn neighborhood to spend a year in the land of his birth. It was to be a year of discovery for Majd, too, who had only lived in Iran as a child. The book opens ominously as Majd is stopped at the airport by intelligence officers who show him a four-inch thick security file about his books and journalism and warn him not to write about Iran during his stay. Majd brushes it off—but doesn't tell Karri—and the family soon settles in to the rituals of middle class life in Tehran: finding an apartment (which requires many thousands of dollars, all of which, bafflingly, is returned to you when you leave), a secure internet connection (one that persuades the local censors you are in New York) and a bootlegger (self-explanatory). Karri masters the head scarf, but not before being stopped for mal-veiling, twice. They endure fasting at Ramadan and keep up with Khash in a country weirdly obsessed with children. All the while, Majd fields calls from security officers and he and Karri eye the headlines—the arrest of an American "spy," the British embassy riots, the Arab Spring—and wonder if they are pushing their luck. The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay is a sparkling account of life under a quixotic authoritarian regime that offers rare and intimate insight into a country and its people, as well as a personal story of exile and a search for the meaning of home.

A Sliver of Light

A Sliver of Light PDF Author: Shane Bauer
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547985533
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
Three Americans captured by Iranian forces and held in captivity for years reveal, for the first time, the full story of their imprisonment and fight for freedom.

Unthinkable

Unthinkable PDF Author: Kenneth Pollack
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476733937
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
Examines Iran's current nuclear potential while charting America's future course of action, recounting the prolonged clash between both nations to outline options for American policymakers.

The United States and Iran

The United States and Iran PDF Author: Maryam Y. Yekta Steininger
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 0761846158
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
This book discusses Iranian culture before and after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. It covers the religion and literature of the Iranian people, their attitudes toward technology, work, family, and authority, and their attitude towards Western culture. After discussing the various concepts of culture and communication, this book focuses on Steininger's research conducted among American scholars who lived and worked in Iran before the Revolution of 1979. The scholars interviewed by Steininger knew the Persian language and had gained a deep understanding and appreciation of the Iranian people and their culture. This book also covers the cultural aspects of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the misunderstandings between Iranians and Americans that helped to bring about the hostage crisis. The final chapter focuses on how American and Iranian people might arrive at mutual understanding and respect, and be able to approach one another along the lines of Steininger's interviewees.