The 15th Annual Lucy Somerville Howorth Lecture features Nayereh Tohidi, professor of women's and gender studies at the University of California at Northridge, who plans to discuss "'Women, Islam and Democracy in the Middle East: The Case of Iran." The program, set for 7 p.m. in Bryant Hall, Room 209, is free and open to the public.

"This lecture will first introduce the complexity and diversity of the 'women question' in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region by describing the specifics of the gender gap, including the common characteristics as well as variations in Muslim women's status," Tohidi said." Then the focus will shift to Iran explaining the contradictory or paradoxical nature of women's status."

Tohidi also plans to explain why women played such a prominent role in Iran's recent post-election pro-democracy Green Movement by summarizing the last 100 years of the Iranian women's movement.

"Since our Western media have given much attention to the election and protests in Iran recently, this will be an opportunity to understand the topics of women, Islam and democracy from a non-Western source and pre-eminent expert," said Mary Carruth, director of the Isom Center.

Tohidi is the author of "Globalization, Gender and Religion: The Politics of Women's Rights in Catholic and Muslim Contexts" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001) and "Women in Muslim Societies: Diversity within Unity" (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998). She also has consulted with the United Nations on projects regarding gender and civil society building. Selected articles by Tohidi are available on the Isom Center Web site at http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/sarah_isom_center/howorth.html.