After 1979 the new Islamic republic wanted to Islamize the university curriculum, especially in the social sciences and humanities – which were seen as “Westernized” and “colonial” – with the help of theological schools.
The Cultural Revolution (1980 – 1983) was a period following the Iranian Revolution when the academia of Iran was purged of Western and non-Islamic influences (even traditionalist unpolitic Islamic doctrines) to bring it in line with the revolutionary and Political Islam.
The term “Cultural Revolution” was first coined in China. Mao Zedong, leader of the Chinese Communist Party in the early 1970s, sought to change the cultural and social structure of the country.
After the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, the universities and higher education centres became a place of conflict between the political opinions and beliefs of various groups, leaving no room for scientific and educational work. These groups established their own political – sometimes military – camps in the universities, and there were daily disputes among their supporters inside the universities. The leaders of these groups were all students.
The events prompted a large number of university students to call for remodelling the universities and demanding that the country’s educational system be changed. They believed that the dominant culture in the educational centres of the country was the “colonial culture” and survivor of the Pahlavi times and that the result was a shift in dependence on the foreign power hubs.
Ayatollah Khomeini, in a message on the occasion of the Iranian New Year in 1359 (March 1981), called for significant changes in the country’s higher education system, saying that universities and the educational environment should become Islamic. According to Khomeini, the Islamic university is not just about teaching Islamic knowledge, but about nurturing young people with Islamic upbringing and making them independent of Eastern and Western culture so that the youth can work for themselves and their nation and thus be useful to their country.
Many groups’ insistence on partisan activities inside the universities prompted the Islamic Revolutionary Council to give them a three-day deadline to abandon the universities. On the first day, the pro-revolutionary Muslim groups welcomed the decision of the Revolutionary Council by evacuating their offices. The deadline lapsed on April 21, 1980, but that day there were still struggles between followers and opponents of the closure of the offices around the University of Tehran.
The following day, at the invitation of the Revolutionary Council, people and the members of the Council gathered at the University of Tehran to celebrate the departure of political-military groups from the university.
By order of the Revolutionary Council, after the student exams were over, universities were closed until the higher education system changed. The council initially believed that university closure would not be prolonged. In a message on May 13, 1980, Ayatollah Khomeini emphasized the necessity of a cultural revolution and called it “a betrayal of Islam and Iran” if delayed.
He also appointed a delegation of clergy and academics to determine the future cultural orientation of the universities, called the Cultural Revolution Staff.
The shutdown of the universities was preceded by attacks on foreign forces on university campuses. On April 18, 1980, after Friday prayers, Ayatollah Khomeini gave a speech harshly attacking the universities:
“We are not afraid of economic sanctions or military intervention. What we are afraid of is Western universities and the training of our youth in the interests of West or East.”
The main theme of the movement was to purify the universities and education system of foreign influences. In his original letter, Ayatollah Khomeini wrote:
“Set yourselves free from any “-ism” and “-ist” belonging to the East and the West. Be self-dependent and do not expect any help from foreigners.”
The process of university shutdown and the development of the country’s new higher education system took longer than expected, and lastly, on December 18, 1982, the university centres reopened after more than two years of closure.
The Cultural Revolution sometimes involved violence in taking over university campuses. Higher education in Iran had many leftist forces who were opposed to Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic state in Iran.
The government’s process of censoring foreign influences has not been without conflict. In addition to interrupting the freedom, education and professional livelihood of many, and striking “a major blow to Iran’s cultural and intellectual life and achievement,” it contributed to the emigration of many teachers and technocrats.
Outside of the universities, the Cultural Revolution affected some non-academic cultural and scientific figures who it publicly denounced, and the broadcasts of Iranian radio and television, which were now limited to religious and official programs.
The Cultural Revolution Staff later continued – with changes in staff members – to oversee the cultural flow and higher education of the country under the new title of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution.
The most important achievement of the Cultural Revolution was the establishment of the Tarbiat Modares School, later renamed Tarbiat Modares University (Professor Training University).
Established in 1982, Tarbiat Modares University is the first comprehensive graduate school in Iran. In particular, the majority of Ph.D. programs in basic sciences and engineering were initially offered at Tarbiat Modares University. As an elite exclusively postgraduate university, its primary mission is to train academic staff and researchers committed to the Islamic Revolution in the required disciplines of the country’s universities and higher education centres as well as providing an environment for world-class research. Tarbiat Modares University currently offers M.A/M.Sc. degrees in 171 academic programs and Ph.D. degrees in 132 academic schedules, with more than 7300 and 3700 students in each level, respectively. At present, there are 17 faculties and 14 affiliated research centres in the university. The university enjoys the cooperation of more than 700 full-time academic members. To date, more than 7,000 have graduated from the university and are teaching in higher education centres.
In 1985, the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution formed the Organization for Research and Computing University textbooks in the Humanities (SAMT) to make fundamental changes to the humanities courses of universities. With the help of committed university professors, the organization has authored several hundred academic book titles that are currently taught in many academic disciplines.
The Cultural Council has over forty members, most of whom hold other government posts as well.
Archive of The History of the Islamic Revolution
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