Community in the Making:
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www.iranianalliances.org/conf07/
Iranian Alliances Across Borders recently brought to a close it’s Third International Conference on the Iranian Diaspora, held at New York University’s Kimmel Center on April 28-29, 2007. This conference, and the featured Saturday night concert by the Abjeez, were the satisfying culmination of many months of hard work and anticipation by IAAB’s young volunteer staff.
More than three hundred academics, activists, artists, professionals, and others convened from across the United States, Iran, Canada, and Europe for a weekend of community building and conversation regarding the unique opportunities and challenges currently facing the Iranian diaspora community. Six panels covering a wide breadth of relevant issues were presented, including identity, culture and expression, transnational collaboration, and the needs of the community.
Four workshops on Saturday, brought participants together to cover distinct topics such as language, women’s literature, documentary filmmaking, and student internships in Iran. On Sunday, an additional open forum gave participants the opportunity to discuss the role of the Iranian diaspora in the current political controversies between the US and Iran, and to hear about the experiences of several organizations working in various capacities regarding this issue.
Together, these events provided attendees with a wide range of opportunities to learn, discuss, and engage with some of the most critical issues currently facing the Iranian diaspora. A full schedule of the Conference, as well as information on speakers, is available online at www.iranianalliances.org/conf07.
The overarching vision of the event and the diversity of the speakers and audience allowed the conference to open a space for the deepening of understandings, expressing of concerns, and real community exchange. The overwhelmingly positive response from conference participants was often also a deeply personal one, as Homa Watts, a conference attendee attested: “I felt like a born again Iranian. I have never been so proud to be an Iranian or a woman.”
The inclusiveness and warmth that so many participants remarked upon as characteristic of the entire weekend is also what we feel sets IAAB apart from other organizations. Being part of IAAB has meant different things to different volunteers, but it has been an opportunity for all of us to deepen our understanding of ourselves, and build important friendships. In its own way, IAAB is building community from the inside out—friendship by friendship, alliance by alliance. In this sense we, as staff, have been the first to benefit from that enormous sense of warmth and solidarity that we are trying to create in the world at large.
In appreciation of the collaborative work and support that has gone into carrying this year’s conference to a successful conclusion, we would like to extend our thanks to everyone—participants and supporters—that have contributed to making this fantastic event possible. You are truly appreciated, and we hope to see you all at the 2009 Conference!
A multi-volume CD compilation of the entire weekend’s panel presentations are available for purchase ($50 for conference attendees, $75 for non-conference). To pre-order a copy, please contact conference@iranianalliances
