Panel discussion with around 90 visitors at the VHS Bochum

The event "Iran between Dictatorship and Revolution: A Panel Discussion" took place last Monday, February 6, 2023 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the premises of the VHS Bochum at the city hall. Around 90 visitors took part in the event. 

In this panel discussion with experts who have been working on Iran for many years and some of whom are of Iranian origin themselves, different regions of Iran were highlighted and challenges that have always existed within the country were highlighted. Finally, possible future scenarios were discussed and the question: What can a future in Iran look like now? Is there unity in what the Iranian people want for the country?  

Tim Karis (Scientific Director of CERES) served as moderator for the evening. Kianoosh Rezania (Professor of West Asian History of Religion at CERES) opened the panel discussion with a look at the triggers of the revolution. Already at this point, the current explosiveness of the topic became clear once again. Neda Darabian (PhD student at CERES) took the visitors on an emotional journey into her childhood and showed how rigorously the strict rules already dominated her childhood in Iran and still do today. 

Ali Fathollah-Nejad (political scientist), Maryam Palizban (theater scholar and actress), Puyan Mahmudian (ethnologist and Islamic scholar) and Rozhina Hadi (law student at the RUB) then discussed the past and future of the country in about 1.5 hours together with Tim Karis. Finally, there was an open question and answer session for all visitors, in which all those present participated actively. It was about assessments but also about dreams and the question of how emotionally guided this revolution is and where it may lead. 

CERES would like to take this opportunity to thank our cooperation partner VHS Bochum and our panel guests.