Academic relations between Iran and the United States involve a branch of cultural relations between the two countries that became widespread, especially during thePahlavi dynasty era.
Higher education in Iran during the modern era generally begins with the establishment of the academy ofDar ul-Funun. However, there have already been a number of activities to establish higher education institutions in Iran, in which theAmericans have played a major role.
"Yokhanan Sayaad Abaajlou", a graduate ofDr. Joseph Cochran atUrmia University of Medical Sciences, went toNew York City in 1887 for postgraduate studies, making him the first Iranian student to go to the United States for higher medical education.[1]
Other Iranians who went to the United States for the first time to study include the following:
The Memorial School was founded in 1881 and was run by religious missionaries of the AmericanPresbyterian sect.[6] This school was one of the institutions founded by American expeditions that had served in the city of Tabriz since the mid-nineteenth century. EightyMuslims and 135Armenian andAssyrian Christians were enrolled in the school.[7][8]
In the early years of its existence, the Memorial School did not matter. The students there were exclusivelyIranian Armenians. Number of them were also limited, but later the school gained importance, and a group of Muslim students also began to study there. After theConstitutionalism and the cultural movement, the Memorial School has become more important.[9]
Kasravi writes: "Before theconstitutional movement and also in the early years of that movement, the American School in Tabriz (Memorial School) was valued by libertarians because it was the only place where English and European science were taught and many wise young people came there. At this time, a story was created about the solidarity between that school and the constitutional movement, and that was the joining ofMr. Baskerville, one of the teachers there, to the Tabriz revolutionaries and his killing in the way of theIranian constitution."[10]
Vartan Gregorian is one of the graduates of this school who immigrated to the United States to continue his education and after studying in the United States, he taught and researched and became the president ofBrown University, the president ofNew York Public Library and finally the president ofCarnegie Corporation of New York.
It was in 1932 that theAlborz High School and theAmerican Girls' School in Tehran were officially chartered byState University of New York.[11] One of those who worked hard for the development of these American pre-university institutes wasDr. Samuel M. Jordan, an American who some has been called him the "father of modern Iranian education."[12]Jordan Street in Tehran was also named in honor of him.
In medical sciences, while the "Maderseye Tebb" and theDar ul-Funun in Tehran are often considered the first institutions of higher medical education in Iran, modern medical education in Iran was actually established in 1878 inUrmia.[13] Founded by the AmericanDr. Joseph Cochran, the institute delivered a total of 26 graduates between 1878 and 1909.Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar himself signed the graduation certificates of some graduates.[14]
Dr. Cochran and almost all of the American faculty (including Dr. Wright, Dr. Homles, Dr. Van Norden, and Dr. Miller) were all buried inUrmia, and the institute eventually becameUrmia University of Medical Sciences.[15]
In 1976, at the end of thePahlavi period, Iran had the largest number of foreign students in American universities among the world, with 20,000 students.[16][17] On the other hand, at least 59 American universities were involved in the development or establishment of higher education in Iran. For example, the following can be mentioned:[16][17][18][19][20]
AfterWorld War II,Mohammad Reza Pahlavi gradually decided to change the model of Iranian higher education institutions from the French university system to the American system. That's why thePahlavi government tried to get American universities to cooperate in the late 1950s. In the meantime, following the invitation of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi from president of theUniversity of Pennsylvania to Iran, after several negotiations,Shiraz University came under the supervision and assistance of the renownedIvy League University, so that scientific and cultural relations between these two universities became the strongest scientific and cultural relations between Iran and America and continued until the last days of the Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's rule. The development of many courses, the design and development of university campuses, the training of professors, and the founding of many research institutes atShiraz University (then known as Pahlavi University) were all made by the Ivy League University.[21]
In the design of the Pardis Of Eram campus, an AmericanMinoru Yamasaki, was the designer and architect of the student dormitory buildings on the Eram hill.[22] This project coincided with theIranian Revolution of 1979 and remained unfinished.
In the late 1940s, the teaching and research structure of theUniversity of Tehran gradually began to emulate the American university system.[23] The faculty of agriculture of this university, for example, was developed with the help of theUniversity of Utah.
In 1954, the Institute of Administrative Sciences of the University of Tehran (now the faculty of management[24]) began offering doctoral degrees with the help of theUniversity of Southern California, headed by "Dr. Harry Marlow".
In 1958, the Journalism Institute of the University of Tehran was established with the help of theUniversity of Virginia and "Dr. James Wallard".
AndJohns Hopkins University which in 1965 established a doctorate in cytopathology at the University of Tehran.
Another prominent example of close academic and cultural ties between Iran and the United States was the "Aria Mehr University of Technology" in Tehran (nowSharif University of Technology), which was modeled directly onMIT in the United States.[18]
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, the president of "Aria Mehr University of Technology", was an MIT graduate.
The main and original designers of "Aria Mehr University of Technology of Isfahan" (nowIsfahan University of Technology) both in terms of academic structure and organizational foundation were:[18]
It was "Dr. Brown" who established the first six faculties ofIsfahan University of Technology.[28] In his final report, about the comprehensive plan of "Aria Mehr University of Technology" in Isfahan is mentioned:[29]
"The main purpose of this educational institute is to avoid the current and classic university structure, and instead, to organize and focus the academic activities of this university on the important technological issues of Iran. The reality of today's needs for Iran's rapid development requires that the country's education system not be merely a copy of Western educational institutions. Instead of following the example of Western systems and the twenty-year-old models that have become obsolete in the West, the Iranian educational system should be based on Iranian culture and the characteristics of Iranian society."
In 1979, the scientific-cultural relationship between Iran and the United States atAcademy of Gondishapur inAhvaz was so extensive that at least 30 American professors taught at this academy.[16][17]
TheIran University of Medical Sciences became one of the most important medical information centers internationally through direct satellite communication with the American Medical Information Center. The university was then designated by theWorld Health Organization as the library and information center of the vast Eastern Mediterranean region. In 1976, with the cooperation ofHarvard University,Columbia University andCornell University together, educational planning and development activities, determination of spaces, provision of necessary equipment and manpower forIran University of Medical Sciences were carried out. The original buildings of this university were designed and built byWilliam Pereira, an American architect.[30]
Many Iranian government officials are graduates ofUtah higher education institutions.[31]
In 1950, the United States in line withHarry S. Truman's policy andPoint Four Program, established a plan called "USAID". It was from here that Utah State University undertook to cheapen its agricultural technology to developing countries such as Iran between 1951 and 1954, which continued into the 1960s.[32]
TheUniversity of Utah also established extensive relationships, especially with theUniversity of Tehran, to exchange students and researchers, which lasted for years.[33]
Many graduates came from these relationships, includingArdeshir Zahedi andAli Asghar Soltanieh.
However, the universities of Utah had established scientific-cultural relations and exchanges with Iran for many years (due to the climatic similarity between Iran and Utah). The first Iranian student to travel to Utah to study dates back to 1912.[34] And in 1939,Reza Shah Pahlavi asked the United States to send agricultural specialists to Iran.Franklin S. Harris, a professor and president ofBrigham Young University, came to Iran in response to Reza Shah's request.[35]
In addition toThe Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago's relationship withIran duringWorld War I, a committee called the "American Persian Relief Commission" was formed inNew York City to finance and support those who worked for thePersian Relief Committee.[36] The committee chaired byDr. Harry Pratt Judson, president of theUniversity of Chicago.
According to a report, amount of $2,271,570, as well as some grain for planting and trucks to transport food fromIndia to Iran, has been donated by the "Persian Relief Committee".[37]
Mohammad Khatami delivered a lecture atSeton Hall University in 2001.[38][39]Mohammad Javad Zarif also delivered several lectures at US universities, includingPrinceton University in 2006.
On the other hand,University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center had contacts with Iranian universities, such asTehran University of Medical Sciences, through theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science.[40] In the same year, delegates exchanged betweenJackson State University andShiraz University of Medical Sciences to find ways to provide low-cost medical care to rural Mississippi.[41]
Despite the desire of both sides to improve and develop scientific and cultural relations, obstacles (such assanctions against Iran) remain in the way of these goals. For example, in December 2008, "Glenn Schweitzer", director of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science in Europe and Asia (who has worked hard to exchange professors between Iran and the United States), twice inTehran for nine hours in his hotel room, he was arrested and interrogated by plainclothes security agents, which was strongly protested by theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science.[42] The detention of someSharif University of Technology professors in the United States has also been protested by the university professors.[43] On the other hand, an Iranian professor who had been invited by theBBC to a debate at theAmerican University of Beirut was removed from the debate by the university, which strongly objected to by him.[44]
۱۳۳۲
ISBN 0-8108-2994-0 and 978-0-8108-2994-7
Reports - Research; Opinion Papers
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Volume 2 of The Fundamentalism Project.
Edition 2
Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
Original from the University of Michigan. Digitized Oct 16, 2006.
ISBN 1-58684-112-2 and 9781586841126
ترجمه محمد باقر آرام، سال ۱۳۶۸
