University of Texas at Austin faculty are available to provide expert perspectives on issues related to the political unrest over Iranian election results, including President Barack Obama’s stance on Iran policy, the violent crackdown on protestors in Tehran and the revolutionary impact of social media.
Iran’s Road to Democracy
Jason Brownlee
Assistant Professor, Department of Government
512-232-7304
brownlee@austin.utexas.edu
Brownlee studies Middle East politics, international democracy promotion, U.S. foreign policy, dissent and repression. An expert on authoritarianism, Brownlee has conducted research in Egypt, Iran, Malaysia and the Philippines to explain the varying fates of autocratic rulers who experimented with multi-party elections. He is available to discuss Iran’s electoral process, the violent protests and how this could affect Iran’s global relations.
Kamran Scot Aghaie
Associate Professor, Department of Middle Eastern Studies
Director, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
512-475-6400
kamranaghaie@austin.utexas.edu
Aghaie studies modern Iranian history, Middle Eastern history and Islamic rituals. He is author of “The Martyrs of Karbala: Shi’i Symbols and Rituals in Modern Iran,” which explores patterns of change in Shi’i symbols and rituals over the past two centuries, revealing how modernization has influenced the societal, political and religious culture of Iran. He is available to discuss the political unrest in Iran and the impact of the election controversy.
U.S.-Iran Relations
Bruce Buchanan
Professor, Department of Government
512-232-7212
bruceb@mail.la.utexas.edu
Buchanan specializes in presidential and American politics, American institutions, public policy and political behavior. He is closely following President Obama’s Iran stance and is available to comment on the divergent ways in which the Obama administration and its Republican opponents view the nature of American power and the president’s role in speaking to political dissent outside the borders of the United States.
Women’s Defiance in Iran
Faegheh (Fawn) Shirazi
Associate Professor, Department of Middle Eastern Studies
512-471-1365
fshirazi@uts.cc.utexas.edu
An Iran native, Shirazi studies material culture and its influence on gender identity in Muslim societies. She examines the challenges facing Iranian women, who are struggling to gain equal status with men in every aspect of their lives. She is available to discuss the challenges Iranian women face as they fight to secure freedom of equal rights and personal expression. Learn more in the feature stories “Behind the Veil” and “Many Voices of Feminism.”
Iran’s Social Media Revolution
Joe Straubhaar
The Amon G. Carter Centennial Professor of Communication
College of Communication
512-471-5304
jdstraubhaar@mail.utexas.edu
Straubhaar studies the global and regional aspects of traditional, new and social media, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, satellite TV and government radio, such as the British Broadcasting Corporation and Voice of America, as well as global media and international communication. He has been closely following the role of social media in the Iran election protests.
Iran’s Nuclear Threat
Eugene Gholz
Associate Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs
Director, Global Policy Studies Program, LBJ School of Public Affairs
512-471-5882
egholz@alum.mit.edu
An expert on American grand strategy and military policy, Gholz is available to comment about the U.S. foreign policy response to the situation in Iran, including the implications of the post-election protests for diplomacy surrounding Iran’s nuclear program.
