This lecture will attempt to show that contrary to colonial literature and present day Western media Iranian women have not always been oppressed and inactive. It will explore the position of women in Iran from its ancient past to the present day. It will start with the Sassanid Empire 224-624 A.D, continues with the Muslim conquest of Persia in 642 A.D., the Mongol conquest in 1220-1501, the renaissance of Persian society under the Safavid dynasty 1501-1702, the Qajar dynasty 1795-1925, the Pahlavi dynasty 1925-1979 and the Islamic Republic of Iran established in 1979. It will show that at each stage in its history the position of Iranian women has been determined by political considerations and the ideology of the ruling dynasty. Women's bodies have been used to demonstrate to the outside world the fealty of their ideological beliefs. However, at each stage, whether the regime permitted women to be active or not Iranian women continued being active and striving for their rights. This has been amply proven by the activities of Iranian women under the Islamic.
Shireen Mahdavi was born in Tehran, Iran received her secondary education in England, her B.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, M.A from the University of Utah and holds a Ph.D. from the University of London. Prior to the Iranian Revolution, she taught at the Institute of Social Research in Tehran, was involved in research in the field of social affairs and served as an advisor to the government on women's affairs. She has participated in numerous international and national conferences. Currently she is an independent scholar associated with the Department History of the University of Utah. She has written extensively on various aspects of Iranian history, with special emphasis on the
nineteenth century and women. Her articles and reviews have appeared in scholarly journals and publications such as Encyclopaedia Iranica and Encyclopedia of Islam 3rd Edition. Her publications include: For God, Mammon and Country, Westview press, 1999, "Shahs, Doctors, Diplomats and Missionaries in 19th Century Iran " British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies vol. 32 no.2 2005, "Amusements in Qajar Iran" Iranian Studies, vol. 40 no. 4 2007, "Review Article: Iran, Revolution, Intellectuals and Women" British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies December 2007 34, (3). She is married to the Iranian architect Reza Khazeni.

Rita Nakashima Brock, Ph.D., is Founding Co-Director of Faith Voices for the Common Good. She is also a Visiting Scholar at the Starr King School for the Ministry, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, where she served on the Board of Trustees from 1992-2001. During 2001-2002, she was a Fellow at the Harvard Divinity School Center for Values in Public Life. From 1997-2001, Dr. Brock directed the Fellowship Program at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, formerly known as the Bunting Institute. Before her arrival at Harvard, Dr. Brock taught religion and women's studies for 20 years at a number of colleges and universities. From 1985-89, she directed the Women's Studies Program at Stephens College, in Columbia, MO. Her work continues to interweave religious questions with issues of justice in the U.S. and international contexts.

MECLogoSaving Paradise offers a fascinating new lens on the history of Christianity, from its first centuries to the present day, and asks how its early vision of beauty evolved into one of torture. In tracing changes in society and theology that marked the medieval emergence of images of Christ crucified, Saving Paradise exposes the imperial strategies embedded in theologies of redemptive violence and sheds new light on Christianity's turn to holy war. It reveals how the New World, established through Christian conquest and colonization, is haunted by the loss of a spiritual understanding of paradise here and now.

Dr. Brock will have a limited number of books available for purchase.