Trigger Warning - Death
“There is tension between what the leadership wants and what the people actually do,” said Petra Kuppinger, sociology and anthropology professor, “only the religious scholars can say what is right.” speaking about Iran in the Great Decisions Series. Great Decisions is a foreign affairs discussion series sponsored nationally by the Foreign Policy Association and in its 43rd year at Monmouth.
Iran has some progressive statistics in their country, such as 60% of students being women or having an average of 1.6 children per woman, which Kuppinger showed to be interesting due to the political climate of Iran. In September 2022, Iran’s government was scrutinized for the death of Jina Mahsa Amini at the hands of the moral police. Amini had been killed for being caught without a head covering in public, leading to massive protests within Iran. “They cut their hair in public to show solidarity,” said Kuppinger. “There is a sizeable unhappy group in Iran.”
Kuppinger played the song Baraye by Shervin Hajipour to show the fears of Iranian citizens. This song is meant to represent all of the things Iranian citizens are fighting for. Hajipour ends the song with the words “for freedom” sung in Farsi, the singer was arrested for the song.
Before speaking about this, Kuppinger started the lecture by speaking about the country's beauty. Rainbow Island and Mount Davamond are two examples that Kuppinger gave. She wanted to show that the country could become a fantastic tourist destination if political stabilization is achievable. Another fact that she gave to show this is that Iran is one of the largest flower producers in the world.
Hannah Pullen - Contributing Writer