Nina Ansary

discusses

Jewels of Allah:
The Untold Story of Women in Iran

in conversation with Dr. PARDIS SABETI

Co-sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University

This event includes a book signing

Date

Jul
1
Wednesday
July 1, 2015
7:00 PM ET

Location

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Tickets

This event is free; no tickets are required.

Harvard Book Store welcomes philanthropist and activist NINA ANSARY and Harvard professor DR. PARDIS SABETI for a discussion of Ansary's book Jewels of Allah: The Untold Story of Women in Iran.

The popular narrative about women's lives in Iran over the last forty years goes something like this:

"During the Pahlavi Monarchy, women were on an upward trajectory. In a nation on the cusp of modernity, women actively participated. They were given the right to vote and free to be in public without veils. They wore miniskirts on university campuses. Then came the Islamic Revolution in 1979, with Ayatollah Khomeini at the helm. The burgeoning freedoms for women were extinguished. The veil was required and institutions were segregated by gender. The Islamic Republic had thus achieved its goal of resurrecting the image of the traditional Muslim woman."

The problem with popular narratives is that, despite their convenient half-truths, the real story is more complicated, unexpected, and less tidy.

Inspired by author Nina Ansary's scholarly journey, Jewels of Allah is a provocative roller coaster ride that shatters the stereotypical assumptions and the often misunderstood story of women in Iran today. Highlighting many courageous female leaders and advocates throughout Iran's history, the book illuminates the unanticipated consequences of the Islamic Revolution and the unexpected twists and turns leading to a full-blown feminist movement within a post-revolutionary patriarchal society.

Dr. Pardis Sabeti
Dr. Pardis Sabeti

Dr. Pardis Sabeti

Dr. Pardis Sabeti is an Associate Professor at the Center for Systems Biology at Harvard University, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and a Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Dr. Sabeti is a computational geneticist with expertise studying genetic diversity, developing algorithms to detect genetic signatures of natural selection, and carrying out genetic association studies. Dr. Sabeti completed her undergraduate degree at MIT, her graduate work at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and her medical degree summa cum laude from Harvard Medical School as a Soros Fellow. She is a World Economic Forum (WEF) Young Global Leader and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, and was named a TIME magazine ‘Person of the Year’ as one of the Ebola fighters. Her awards include the  Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Natural Science, the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise, the NIH Innovator Award, the Packard Fellowship, and an Ellis Island Medal of Honor. She has served on the MIT Board of Trustees and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Women in Science, Medicine, and Engineering. Dr. Sabeti is also the lead singer and co-song writer of the rock band Thousand Days.

Nina Ansary
Nina Ansary

Nina Ansary

Born in Tehran, Iran, Nina Ansary left her country of birth at the onset of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has not returned since. As an avid philanthropist, she serves on the Middle East Institute Advisory Board at Columbia University, on Columbia University's Global Leadership Council, the Board of Trustees of the IAWF (Iranian American Women's Foundation), and the Advisory Board of the Pacific Youth Foundation. She is an elected member of the Everychild Foundation and the Pacific Council on International Policy, and a member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the National Organization for Women (NOW), and the U.S. National Committee for U.N. Women (USNC) organizations dedicated to public policy and supporting education, charitable and gender-related causes. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Beast, the Huffington Post and Women's eNews, an award-winning news website which recently honored her as one of the 21 Leaders of the 21st Century. She is one of the Top Influencers on Iran on Twitter.

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Walking from the Harvard Square T station: 2 minutes

As you exit the station, reverse your direction and walk east along Mass. Ave. in front of the Cambridge Savings Bank. Cross Dunster St. and proceed along Mass. Ave for three more blocks. You will pass Au Bon Pain, JP Licks, and TD Bank. Harvard Book Store is located at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Plympton St.

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Event Co-Sponsor(s)

The Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University: http://cmes.fas.harvard.edu/

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