چکیده:
American Studies is a well-documented tradition that was initiated by the United States government outside the country as a part of US public diplomacy efforts during the Cold War. On the other hand, it also has its roots in twentieth century United States academia. Hence, like the much older tradition of Oriental studies, this interdisciplinary field of inquiry has its roots in ‘the West’ and this by itself has significant implications with regards to the nature of the production of knowledge in this area of study as well as its broader social, cultural, and political implications. It also seems that strong similarities exist in the American exceptionalism existing in much of American Studies and the Eurocentrism pervasive in the much older field of Oriental Studies. This is important to keep in mind when attempting to understand some of the reasons why the University of Tehran chose to initiate what is officially North American Studies, but what students and colleagues at the university usually call American Studies.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Establishment of American Studies program in Tehran University was an academic response to a political entity, which had a hostile history toward the post-Revolutionary Iran.
The American Studies program in Iran seems to pursue two broad goals: first to generate knowledge and educate expertise for practical reasons; second to have a cultural approach toward a formerly politicized entity.
Contrary to the claims made by a small number of Americans about the inability of colleagues in Tehran to objectively and competently study the United States, and what implications that may have for the study of Iran in the US, the significance of the North American studies program at the University of Tehran is at least partially linked to the fact that it attempts to deal with these absences in an academic fashion.
Despite of the unfavorable views of the majority of Iranian students toward the US government and its foreign policy, their approach is quite different about cultural aspects of the United States and American people.
It can be argued that the North American Studies program in Iran has been able to enhance and balance student’s view toward the United States.
Students’ attempts to understand and interpret social, cultural and political structures of the United States from a critical point of view have challenged the "myth and symbol" approach of many mainstream American Studies programs.