The Student Committee on the Middle East will host its spring panel, “Foundations of Reform in Iran: Culture, Religion, Society, and the Ideal of Freedom,” to discuss the prospects for liberal or secular reform of theocratic Iran.

Speakers include Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Professor Heshmat Moayyad and Professor Negin Nabavi of Princeton University. Some of the issues that will be discussed include the growth of secular and democratic undercurrents in Iran, the position of the Iranian intellectual and cultural elite, and the effect of the media on public opinion, as well as historical background on the 1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-supported shah, and on the human rights conditions since.

The panel will be held on Thursday, April 7 at 6 p.m. in Social Sciences 122, and will have refreshments. The event is being co-sponsored by the University chapters of Amnesty International and Americans for Informed Democracy, as well as the UC Democrats, College Republicans, Chicago Friends of Israel, and the Student Government Finance Committee.