Cultural Studies Program Colloquium Series

The CULTURAL STUDIES COLLOQUIUM at COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO is a series of colloquia featuring local, national, or international contemporary cultural studies scholars;  the CSC brings together students, faculty, and speakers to engage in debates in the field.  The CSC provides Cultural Studies majors with opportunities to learn more about current work in cultural studies, to help them become more familiar with contemporary cultural studies practitioners and even establish contacts with some of them.  The CSC creates ongoing intellectual dialogue within our community and offers students the chance to interact with a diverse group of noted Cultural Studies professionals.  Cultural Studies majors can also take the Colloquium as a credit bearing class up to six times during their studies.  Those enrolled complete pre-reading assignments before and analytical papers following each speaker.  Previous and future speakers in the series include Larry Grossberg (UNC Chapel Hill), Paul Smith (George Mason University), Emilio Sauri (University of Illinois at Chicago), and Pablo J. Boczkowski (Northwestern University).

All lectures are free and open to the public

November 19 - 4:00 pm

Dr. Mehdi Semati
Associate Professor of Communication, Northern Illinois University

"Cultural Studies of Iran"

Mehdi Semati is Associate Professor of Communication at Northern Illinois University.  His research interests and writings address Iranian culture and media, cultural politics of global media, and cultural studies.  His writings have appeared as book chapters and as articles in various scholarly journals.  His books in English include Media, Culture, and Society in Iran: Living with Globalization and the Islamic State (Routledge, 2008). New Frontiers in International Communication Theory (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), and Studies in Terrorism: Media Scholarship and the Enigma of Terror (Southbound, 2003).  His work in Persian includes The Age of CNN and Hollywood: National Interest, Transnational Communication (Nashr-e Nay, Tehran, 2007).  His current research addresses Iranian cultural studies, popular culture and religion, and culture and technology in Iran.

Pre-Reading Articles
Semati, Mehdi, "Media, Culture, and Society in Iran: Living with Globalization and the Islamic State" , (Routledge, 2008).

Semati, Mehdi, "Communication, Media, and Popular Culture in Post-revolutionary Iran" Viewpoints, The Iranian Revolution at 30.

* Please note all readings are in PDF format.