Western media and historiography have exaggerated a lot about the relation of Persian Empire and Greece and presents a distorted picture and imbalanced view which blows the importance of Greece out of proportion. This trend actually started in the Classical Greece itself and has continued to our day. We hear ridiculous claims such as 'Greeks saved the civilization and guaranteed human freedom and liberty by defeating Persia' or clichés such as 'Eastern tyranny' and so. In the past couple decades this view has been questioned and critical research has started to reveal the true picture of Persian Empire and its relations with Greece. In this talk we are going to have a look at the history of Greece and introduce... more >>

The teaching of Law started in Iran when the "School of Political Science" was established on December 19th, 1899 by the Foreign Ministry during the fourth year of the reign of Qajar king, Mozaffar od-Din Shah. The School of Political Science was the only second specialised school of higher education to be established in Iran after Dar-Al-Fonoun's School of Medicine had been created. The main and the first aim of the School of Political Science were to educate and to train the administrative and managerial personnel needed by the Iranian State. The most important subjects on the syllabus of the School were subjects pertaining to modern law, Islamic law and also history. Over its 28-year history, 210 people graduated from... more >>

Farrokh Vahabzadeh is an ethnomusicologist. He has obtained his Ph.D degree on Social Anthropology and Ethnology from École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. His dissertation is an indepth study of the Dotar, a long necked, two stringed instrument which is available in variable forms in Central Asia and in the province of Khorassan in Iran. The research considers the study of music through a variety of perspectives, focusing not only on the classical sense of the word, but also on the physical aspects of the instrument, on performance traditions, on symbolism, mythology and other anthropological implications. After a detailed organological study of the instrument, and the provision of a complete guide to playing techniques, as well... more >>

Do societies follow a defined pattern of change? Are there parameters which could guide the social scientist to assess the change, or the social activist to substantiate the change in their society?Does the prevalent model of change in advanced industrial societies can be juxtaposed to other less technologically advanced non western societies? What are the strength and weakness of Historical sociology? Can sociologist make previsions with regards to the future of a society or should they leave the task to prophets?In his classical introductory book on general sociology, Guy Rocher answers some of these questions and delineates the fundamental concepts of sociology namely with regards to social actor, social structure and social change.In this session a summery of the third... more >>

CaféLitt is not a place; it is a gathering of minds. We are a group of mostly Persian young students, scholars and professionals who gather every Thursday evening around 19h00 in a café to discuss various subjects and share different ideas, ranging vastly from history to science, from literature to fine arts. We started these gatherings on Jan 18th, 2007. Each week, one of us takes the responsibility of presenting a topic (in Persian, English or French) for about an hour in a subject s/he is intimately familiar with or has an expertise in. Afterwards, the evening turns into a discussion forum and all members of the audience will have an opportunity to ask their question(s) and share their points of view.
CaféLitt is open to all comments, suggestion, collaboration and new ideas. CaféLitt provides an unparalleled opportunity for learning about culture, science and philosophy in a relaxed and friendly environment, and for sharing your knowledge and expertise with like-minded members of your community.
CaféLitt is officially registered as a non-profitable group and is a nonpartisan, nonreligious and nonpolitical entity.