<html><head><base href="x-msg://330/"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">Hi all:</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">I strongly encourage all of you to attend this. Aside from their intrinsic interest, Iranian culture and contemporary Iran's conflicted relationship with the west and its own history are becoming more and more relevant to us all. </span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">Please encourage your students to attend as well.</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">Best,</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">Robin</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><br></span></div><br><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div text="#000000" bgcolor="#ffffff"><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><b>Presented by the UCR MFA for Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts:</b><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><o:p> </o:p></span></div><p class="MsoTitle" style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-left: 0in; text-align: center; font-size: 16pt; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-weight: bold; "><u>Reza Aslan and Hooman Majd: A Conversation about Politics and Culture in Iran Today<o:p></o:p></u></p><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><b><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><span style="font-variant: small-caps; ">Wednesday, January 12, 2011 <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><span style="font-variant: small-caps; ">6:30 PM<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><span style="font-variant: small-caps; ">INTS 1128<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><span style="font-variant: small-caps; ">Open to the UCR Campus Community<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><o:p> </o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; ">Iranian-American authors Hooman Majd<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>(The Ayatollah Begs to Differ)</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and Reza Aslan<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>(Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East; No god but God)</i> will join Prof. Tom Lutz to discuss their unique and fascinating perspectives on the state of politics and culture in contemporary Iran.<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><o:p> </o:p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><span>PROF. REZA ASLAN, born in Iran, is an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. He serves on the board of directors of the Ploughshares Fund; Abraham's Vision, an interfaith peace organization; PEN USA; and he serves on the national advisory board of the Levantine Cultural Center, building bridges between Americans and the Arab/Muslim world. Aslan's first book, <i>No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam</i>, has been named one of the 100 most important books of the last decade. He is also the author of <i>How to Win a Cosmic War</i> and editor of the anthology, <i>Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; ">HOOMAN MAJD was born in Tehran, Iran in 1957, and lived abroad from infancy with his family, who were in the diplomatic service. He attended boarding school in England and college in the United States, and he stayed in the U.S. after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. <o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><br>Majd had a long career in the entertainment business before devoting himself to writing and journalism full-time. He worked at Island Records and Polygram Records for many years, with a diverse group of artists, and was head of film and music at Palm Pictures, where he produced <i>The Cup</i> and James Toback's <i>Black and White.</i> <o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><br>Majd’s book <i>The Ayatollah Begs to Differ</i> was published in 2008, and his latest book <i>The Ayatollahs’ Democracy</i> will be published in the Fall of 2010.<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><br>Hooman Majd has also written for <i>GQ</i>,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Newsweek,</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New Republic, The Financial Times</i>,<i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Foreign Policy</i>,<i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Politico</i>,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The New York Observer, Interview, The Daily Beast</i>, and<i> Salon,</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and has been a regular contributor to <i>The Huffington Post</i> from its inception. He lives in New York City and travels regularly back to Iran.<o:p></o:p></div><br><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; ">PROF. TOM LUTZ, chair of the Creative Writing Department, recently returned from an extensive journey through Iran, the Middle East and parts of Africa. He<span class="apple-style-span"> has taught at the University of Iowa, Stanford University, the University of Copenhagen, and the California Institute of the Arts. He is the author of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>American Nervousness</i>,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>1903</i>,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Cosmopolitan Vistas</i>,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Crying</i>, and, most recently,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums</i>. He has also written many shorter works in a variety of genres. </span><o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><o:p> </o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify; "><o:p> </o:p></div><br><br><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1; "><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Bryan Bradford<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">MFA Coordinator<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">University of California, Riverside<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">900 University Ave<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">3014 INTN Building<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Riverside, CA 92521<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Phone: (951) 827-5568<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; ">Fax: (951) 827-3619<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "><o:p> </o:p></div></div></div></span></div></body></html>