Zahra Bahrami stars in Majid Majidi’s Baran.

Afghanistan course open to campus community

A spring quarter undergraduate course focusing on Afghanistan will open its class meetings to interested members of the Caltech community. Taught by Professor of History Robert Rosenstone, the course will feature several guest specialists, as well as dramatic and documentary films depicting the country’s culture and recent history.

Topics to be covered include the ancient art of the region, the formation of modern Afghanistan, Islam and sharia law, the Soviet invasion, the Taliban, Afghan family and tribal structure, the role of women past and present, and the current state and future of the country. Among the guest speakers will be Dr. Khalil Hashemeyam, former professor at Kabul University; Galal Elkholy, a retired Detroit prosecuting attorney and specialist in Islamic law; economist Mohammed H. Qayoumi, vice president of Cal State Northridge and an adviser to the current government of Afghanistan; and Nahid Massoud, a psychiatric nurse at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute and a specialist on Afghan women and family relations.

Films include the Iranian feature Baran, a love story that dramatizes the plight of Afghan refugees; Jung, an Italian documentary made shortly before the recent war, showing life and medical conditions behind the lines of the Northern Alliance; and another recent feature about life under the Taliban.
The course, which began April 2, is meeting Tuesday nights at 7:30 p.m., alternately in Baxter 127 or Moore 080 (on weeks in which films will be screened). For more information and a detailed schedule, contact Rosenstone at rr@hss.caltech.edu or ext. 4069. (Please not that in order to keep the class size manageable, outside attendance is open to members of the Caltech community only.)
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