Persia to Iran: History, Politics and Visual Culture of a Civilization in the Headlines
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA
Admission: $500
How much do our students know about Persia/Iran? This program begins in the ancient period with Achaemenid Persia (550–330 B.C.E.), examining Persian ingenuity, political culture and history as we understand it through the historical and archaeological record. The second part of the program jumps forward in time to 20th- and 21st-century Iran, using the Harvard Peabody Museum’s “From Iran: A Visual Testimony” photographic exhibition as an entry point to more recent historical events and Iranian perspectives on them. We will then delve into Iran’s political history and international relations from the early 20th century forward, noting historical continuities with the past as well as ruptures. Bring your questions and curiosity, regardless of the grade level you teach — this will be a remarkable opportunity to engage with expert historians and curators! This program is in collaboration with the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard.