Ali Shari’ati is considered to be one of the most significant ideologues of the 1979 revolution in Iran- the events that overturned the Pahlavi monarchy and ushered in the Islamic Republic. Despite his death in 1977, just months before protesters spilled onto the streets of Tehran, Shari’ati’s lectures and published writings are said to have defined the tenor of the uprising. In some of his most influential lectures, delivered during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Shari’ati attempted to fuse…
Introduction The Iranian Revolution started 80 years before it would climax and produce the Islamic Republic of Iran. Essentially, the revolution was a struggle between the Iranian monarchy and the political Mullahs. Although the West participated as a model of opposition and imperialism. The Monarchy’s ignorance regarding the population’s devoutness and the political desires of the Mullahs led to analytical miscalculations. These errors in judgment helped drive the revolution and blinded…
Donald Wilber, one of TPAJAX chief operation’s planners, wrote his after action report (AAR) on the operation’s successful overthrow of Prime Minister Mossadeq and subsequent establishment of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as Shah. "CIA, Report, Clandestine Service History: Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran: November 1952 - August 1953, March 1954, Secret, CIA," simply known as the Wilber Report was published by the New York Times (NYT) in November 2000. The importance…
Aleh Ahmad’s work Occidentosis takes a bold stance at a turning point in Iranian history. At a time when Iranians were facing the dilemma of seeing where they fit within the ideologies of the West and the Soviet Union, Ahmad challenged Iranians to look inward and embrace the force most resistant to change from outside forces: Islam. In particular, I found the dichotomy between Reza Shah’s westernization reforms and Aleh Ahmad’s Islamic Republic as an ideological battle for the hearts and minds…
could either build or destroy an empire; in which Egypt experienced both. Egypt tremendously influenced the Chinese way of leadership in relation to the rise and fall type of dynasty. In early Egypt the rule was hereditary until the dynasty collapsed and a new dynasty came into power. Typically the first ruler of the dynasty had higher qualities of virtue, leadership, and good since of control and diplomacy. However, the following kings, who were either sons or grandsons, had corrupt and lazy…
The graphic novel Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi, recounts her childhood and early adulthood in the time of the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war that inevitably followed. During the revolution traditionalists attempted to refine what it meant to be an Iranian in fundamentalist Islamic terms in order to go against the ways of the West. Marjane Satrapi writes this story about how Iranians tried to deal with changes in their everyday life and how it changed the way they lived.…
I selected the Power Figure (Nkisi Nkondi) from The Brooklyn Museum’s Collections: Art of Africa. It was difficult to narrow the choice to only one. Each piece had so many eye catching elements. Each piece had its own story to tell and teach us about its history. The Nkisi Nkondi demanded my attention by the aggressive stature and glaring eyes. To fully appreciate this piece we need to learn its history. The Power Figure also known as Nkisi (in-KEE-see) Nkondi (in-CON-dee) came from the Kongo…
technical complexity of some of the most stunning terra-cotta and copper cast sculptures to ever be constructed. Chapter four serves as an analysis of the various body and facial marking seen in different figurines and their relation to different dynasties and their excavated…
Portrait of a Chief (Lefem), an African wood sculpture from 19th to early 20th century, is a portrayal of one of the ruler of Bangwa chiefdoms . In contrast, The Marble Statue of a Youthful Hercules, a Roman marble sculpture from A.D. 69 to 98, Flavian dynasty, depicts the Greek Mythology hero: Hercules . While the idealized man form is the subject of two sculptures, both sculptures contain concepts of the power and strength. However, the Roman sculpture reflects…
1953, a new Shah came to power, named Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. In the same year the people wanted Dr. Mohammad Mossadeq as their Prime Minister because they were not too fond of the Shah that the United States and the British put in power. The Shah finally gave in to the pressure from his people and appointed Dr. Mossadeq Prime Minister (Andrew…