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Shahla Haeri, assistant professor of cultural anthropology and director of the women’s studies program at BostonUniversity, will lecture on Iranian women in politics and show her documentary film Mrs. President: Women and Political Leadership in Iran7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2 in Kirby Hall of Civil Rights room 104.
The event, sponsored by the department of religious studies, the Women’s Studies program, the department of government and law, and the International Affairs program, is free and open to the public.
“This is an opportunity to learn about women in Iran and their attempts to participate in the political process,” says Robin Rinehart, associate professor of religious studies.
Having conducted research in Iran, Pakistan, and India and written on religion, law, and gender dynamics in the Muslim world, Haeri’s recent documentary film comes as no surprise. In the film, Haeri follows six educated, middle-class, professional Iranian women who nominated themselves for the Iranian presidential election in 2001.
While the women were allowed to register for the presidency, the Guardian Council, an exclusively male body, approved none of the qualifications of the 47 women who did so. These women contend that gender should not be a barrier to the presidency because they are also part of the political elite.
In pursuing this topic, Haeri’s documentary includes interviews with six of the women, commentaries from two well-known female journalists, and scenes from women’s political campaigns and Election Day in Tehran.
Aside from her film and teaching experience, Haeri is the author of Law of Desire: Temporary Marriage, Muta, in Iran, and No Shame for the Sun: Lives of Professional Pakistani Women. She has been awarded postdoctoral fellowships at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, HarvardUniversity, PembrokeCenter for Teaching and Research on Women, BrownUniversity, Social Science Research Council, Saint Anthony’s College, OxfordUniversity, and a Fulbright Grant.