Tune into an online lecture followed by a discussion with Iranian author, journalist and academic Dr. Mahmoud Farjami titled The Woman, Life, and Liberty Movement on May 15, 16:00 via the online platform ZOOM – the link can be found here or in the blue box below. The discussion, which will be held in English as well as the lecture, will be moderated by Dr. Tomáš Drobík from the Faculty of Science of the University of Ostrava.

The lecture and the subsequent discussion will take place on the online platform ZOOM on May 15, at 16:00. The link is available here: https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/98297678704 (meeting ID: 982 9767 8704).

The lecture will be held with the support of the organization Scholars at Risk (SAR), which the UO is a member of. SAR brings together universities, research institutes and other institutions from around the world that want to contribute to the respect of academic freedom and freedom of speech and support academics, who find themselves in danger in their country. One form of support is to provide opportunities for these academics to share their insights and experiences in open lectures and discussions and in interviews on the Free to Think podcast.

Mahmud Farjami, PhD in Communications, is an Iranian writer and journalist. He has recently lived in Norway – teaching and involved in research first at Kristiania University College and later at Oslo Metropolitan University. You are welcome to learn more about Mahmud Farjami in an interview published by Kristiania, in 2020, here.

The UO calls for the support of freedom

This meeting is a follow-up to other UO events that aim to offer insight into the situation in Iran and seek to restore human rights in a country, where they are currently not respected.

Simultaneously, an exhibition called Women, life, freedom is ongoing, calling for support of freedom and respect of human rights in Iran. Works by Iranian artists Shimay, Yasminy Golshani and Soroushe Sanaei can be found in the foyer of the sports building of the new UO City Campus.

Last autumn, Ostrava academics published an Open letter from Iranians living in the free world on the global petition platform change.org and called on the leadership of Czech and international universities, students, and all those who care about the situation in Iran to sign it.

“We consider it our duty to speak out against the blatant disregard for human rights and to spread awareness of the suffering of the people in Iran. We want to lead students to take an interest in society and to take responsibility for how it is run, so we ourselves cannot be indifferent to these appalling events,” says Renáta Tomášková, Vice-Rector for International Relations at the University of Ostrava.

“Unfortunately, many people still think in stereotypes and trust the false idea that the regime in Iran is what the majority wants for the Iranian society. In my entire career, I have never met a colleague from Iran who would support the regime. None of them have ever been insensitive or presented themselves as superior to women. On the contrary, they actively fight the regime. Their situation is comparable to the situation in the Czech society in 1980s. The dramatic difference, however, is that the Islamic regime represses their protests with a brutality beyond our imagination. And they have enormous courage to face this brutality,” says Martin Štěpnička, Vice-Rector for Research and Creative Activities at the University of Ostrava and one of the organizers of the Ostrava Initiative for Supporting Freedom and Human Rights in Iran.