CIRA's Early History
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CIRA was created in 1980 by a group of graduate students in the Department of
Sociology at the American University in Washington, DC, in cooperation with some
faculty members in the DC area. The collective vision and aspiration among the
founding members was to establish an alternative organization to the
well-established Society of Iranian Studies at the time. This was perceived
necessary in order to present and discuss research findings, ideas, and critical
viewpoints on the more current issues involving Iranian society, the economy,
and the revolution. Among such individuals were, at the time, graduate students
Val Moghadam, Robert Hymer, Rostam Poorzal, Behzad Tohidi, Ali Mirsepassi, and
Mehrdad Mashayekhi and faculty members such as Dr. Thomas Ricks and Dr. Samih
Farsoun. The initial objective was to organize annual conferences, and to publish the proceedings of the conferences, a newsletter, and eventually a journal. Thanks to the hard work and devotion of the above students and faculty, and especially of Val Moghadam, the first two CIRA conferences were held in 1980 and 1981 at the American University, Washington DC, and the very first CIRA newsletters were published. The third year of CIRA's development was a particularly challenging one. The majority of the original officers were graduating or leaving the area. Indeed, the second annual CIRA business meeting at the end of the second annual conference, headed by Dr. Hassan Zavare'i, was somewhat chaotic. Pourzal and Valibeigi were the only registered and active members and officers in that meeting. Others were there on a casual basis. In the absence of any volunteer for the chairmanship of the "Steering Committee," Valibeigi agreed to become the acting secretary of the Center until a new steering committee could be formed and a new chairman elected. As a result of this situation and the lack of organizational capabilities, the third annual conference of CIRA was not hled until a year later. Occasional releases and newsletters were, however, being prepared and published due in large part to Val Moghadam's efforts. The year 1984 brought a new force and leadership to the CIRA. This development proved essential to the future course of CIRA's growth and popularity in the years to come. Dr. Hooshang Amirahmadi, who had presented a paper in the second CIRA conference, accepted the responsibility of the executive secretary of the Center. Soon after in cooperation with Dr. Val Moghadam and Dr. Manuchehr Parvin, he made a genuine effort to organize CIRA's meetings and to prepare a constitution and logo. He put together a well-organized CIRA conference at Rutgers University, New Jersey. Since then, Dr. Amirahmadi's role in the growth and viality of the Center has become indispensable. His incredible resourcefulness and intellectual energy, as well as his ability to generate innovative ideas, combined with Dr. Moghadam's remarkable vision, discipline and work ethics, paved the way for a sustainable development of the Center. The subsequent directors of the CIRA, including Dr. Hamid Zangeneh, Dr. Ali Akbar Mahdi, Dr. Nader Entessar, Dr. Kamran Dadkhah, and presently Dr. Mahmood Monshipouri, have all sought to carry on that tradition. |