The Denison University Academic Lecture Fund will sponsor a convocation featuring Roxane Farmanfarmaian who will attempt to lift the veil of myth that surrounds Iran's society, culture, recent history and politics when she speaks on "Iran: Illusions versus Reality" at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday (March 2) in Higley Hall. The convocation is free and open to the public.

Farmanfarmaian is the author ofBlood and Oil: Inside the Shah's Iran(1997), co-written with her father, Manucher Farmanfarmaian. "Writing the book was a great opportunity to tap into the memory of my father and learn about Iran and its history," she said. For the American audience, the book aims to put a human face on Iran instead of what is generally seen as a "country of Ayatollahs and angry fanatics," while for Iranians it aims to chronicle the history of oil in a more truthful way, to remove the veil of mystery, according to Farmanfarmaian.

Farmanfarmaian founded theIranian, an independent weekly news magazine in Iran before the revolution. She is also editor of the Cambridge Review of International Affairs and editor and contributor of the Ministry of Defense/Cambridge Security Program'sA New Security Paradigm(2004). In addition she has contributed to CNN, BBC, NPR,The New York Times, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, Time, andVrij Nederland.

CALENDAR INFORMATION: Denison University,Denison's Academic Lecture Fund will sponsor a convocation on unveiling the Iranian myth with Roxane Farmanfarmaian, "Iran: Illusions versus Reality"; 7:30 p.m., Wednesday (March 2) in Higley Hall. Free and open to the public.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

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