نشریه مطالعات دانشگاه
پیاپی 2 (زمستان 1401)

The second issue of "The Iranian Journal of University Studies" is dedicated to prehistory and history of universities in Iran. Previously, several papers were written on the subject by prominent researchers in the fields of history, sociology and political thought. However, most of them were compiled with the historiographical approach. This time, we have tried to publish articles that have considered approaches beyond historiography, theory-based interpretation of the events surrounding historical contexts and conditions leading to the emergence and movement of universities. I consider this to be an alternative approach in narrating the history of universities in Iran, an approach where institutional, cultural and social history has been taken into account. And in its narration, the influential moments of this and similar institutions are depicted in the process of social, cultural and political evolution of the Iranian society . Like the first issue, we again publish the articles by renowned professors of sociology, history, higher education and philosophy. As you know how difficult it is to maintain the quality of a scientific journal by publishing original works of renowned and thoughtful professors. However, with the support of the esteemed directorate of the Institute of Cultural, Social and Civilization Studies as well as our dear professors, we have managed to publish valuable articles in this issue as well.
The first two papers deal with the prehistory of the university in Iran. In the first, Professor Maghsoud Farasatkhah has discussed the historicity of universities in Iran through meta-analysis of previous studies by other researchers. He concludes that the university in Iran was a social domain before it could be a historical one. It is a phenomenon that arose from the objective transformation of the Iranian society prior to the Constitutional Revolution. In the second article, I, myself, talk about the legal conditions for the possibility of establishing modern educational institutions before the emergence of a university in Iran. The paper focuses on the fact that in the absence of such a scenario before and on the eve of the Constitutional Revolution, Tehran University would not have emerged as a modern educational institution in the following years. In this article, I have tried to deal with the experience of the establishment and collapse of Anjoman-e-Ma’aref as a modern institution in the field of education in the years before the Constitutional Revolution. It seems that the pattern governing its collapse can be seen as the constantly repeating pattern for the crumbling of all modern educational institutions in contemporary Iran.
In another article, Professor Reza Mansouri has examined the history of the emergence and development of the National Observatory of Iran as a grand plan for scientific development. The author believes that the socio-historical narrative of our macro national plan helps in policy making and correcting the processes in this field. In another article, Professor Alireza Mollayi Tovani has investigated the contexts and motivations of establishing humanities research institutions in Iran from 1965 to 1979. This historical period witnessed the proliferation of educational and research institutions in contemporary Iran. In other words, many universities and research institutes were then emerged and therefore, examining the history of this period is very important. The author concludes that the establishment of humanities research institutions in the last 13 years of the Pahlavi era was the result of a complex development process in Iran and its destructive effects on social and political stability. In another article, Reza Mahoozi focuses on the history of Abadan Faculty of Petroleum as a college with a specific mission. This article is considered important since there is still no coherent historical narrative about Abadan Petroleum College as a strategic institution. Another significance of this paper is that it shows how valuable cultural and social activities, especially among students, were inside a technical college with specific goals. Another article is by Seyed Abdolamir Nabavi about one of the most important periods in the history of university in contemporary Iran, i.e. between 1979 and 1981. He historically examines the issue of the university during the meetings of the Revolutionary Council. In other words, he tries to highlight the stances of important figures toward universities that were inherited from the Pahlavi era. In the last scientific article of this issue, Sadegh Absalan defies the common and obvious idea that the Cultural Revolution was the logical result of changes caused by the Islamic Revolution and its victory. Using the method of historical genealogy, he comes to the conclusion that what university has been encountering today in Iran is the result of conflicting and opposing forces, which have different interests and goals, rather than arising from general rationality and subject to specific necessity in post-revolution Iran. 
As I had pointed in my note for the first issue, the Journal of University Studies wishes to publish critical reviews of important works in the field of university studies. With the same milieu, Mohammad Hossein Badamchi has written a review on the important and influential book entitled The Venture and Historicity of University in Iran by Professor Maghsoud Farasatkhah. In this review, he points out a fundamental split, in terms of methodology and epistemology, which governs the author's historical narrative of the emergence and development of university in Iran.

University in Iran has become a social discourse, with its increasing tumult in our cities becoming a demographic issue as well. Questioning the idea of the university, its historicity and originality or whether the concept imported are part of this public debate as well as its legitimacy in Iran as an institution for itself. Did the idea and history of Iranian university come from "nothing"?  This study discusses the issue by applying a meta-analysis of previous studies which have already dealt with the emergence of the idea of university from a prehistory. University was a social domain before it was a historical one. The materiality was involved in the origin of this idea. In other words, the idea of ​​the university arose from the concrete transformation of Iranian context in the pre-constitutional period. Thus, a platform for the debate was formed. The scientific knowledge in Iran was an emergent movement in the minds; which arose and constructed from the very objective and concrete desires and new mobilities of the Iranian society. Before the actual date of the university calendar could be determined, this process was accompanied by struggles of about a century and a half. A combination of factors such as war, contagious disease, famine, destruction and misfortune, in addition to mobility and exchanges, a network of people and things and communications; all helped prepare groups of Iranians as "subjects" to master it mentally/technically. They spoke so much in the name of science (as a new knowledge base) until the birth of the university. The idea and the history of Iranian university, whether weak or strong, also need to be searched in the prehistory.

The history of new schools in Iran during the Qajar era goes back to the Constitutional Revolution that took place between 1905 and 1911. Many scholars believe that all those schools can be considered examples of modern educational institutions. But taking into account the theoretical-historical-sociological approach, the present article tries to show that not all those schools that emerged prior to the Constitutional Revolution can be called modern educational institutions. For that reason, the author argues that Dar al-Fonun that was founded the royal vizier to Nasereddin Shah and deemed as the first school was in fact not a modern educational institution because it was neither run autonomously nor did it provide equal opportunities for all in terms of education. The paper tries to explain that the possibility of establishing academic institutions, in general, and modern ones, in particular, in Iran required some kind of constitutional and legal change. In other words, a sign of change could be seen more than a decade after the establishment of Dar al-Fonun. The article concludes that this development eventually led to foundation of institutions such as Anjoman-e MĀREF. Despite its short life, Anjoman-e MĀREF was run in the style of a modern institution and played key role in popularizing education and hence, became a model for establishing modern educational institutions in later years.

Iran's national observatory is one of the macro plans, which many universities, companies and institutions have participated in its execution and implementation. This paper tries to examine the ups and downs of defining and implementing this grand project in a country that on the one hand tends to domestic and international scientific participation and on the other suffers from many non-academic interventions and obstacles in carrying out such plans.  This paper, after discussing the historicity of the formation of this plan and analyzing its motives, focuses on the long process of objectifying the said plan. The social history of macro scientific plans helps us in making policies in this domain and correcting processes and strengthening drivers. With the transformation of "National Observatory Plan" into "National Observatory of Iran", it is necessary to take into account issues including global vision and supervision on the macro scientific plan by the stakeholders in the policy of managing the construction of scientific equipment, for the development of science and technology in the country.

The establishment of humanities research institutions in Iran was historically slow as their numbers could not reach to that of the fingers of one hand by the 1960s. But in the last decade of Pahlavi's rule, more than 10 institutes and research centers were established in various fields of humanities. Undoubtedly, their emergence was neither accidental nor deliberate. The question arises as why did suddenly so many humanities research institutes emerge in Iran? The current study was carried out using the historical studies method. In this method, first, the required historical data were gathered from the main sources, archival documents and researches and then analyzed in order to provide a new account on causes and process behind the establishment of institutions between 1960s and 1970s, out of which, the Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences was formed. The article, with a brief insight into the developments in Iran after the White Revolution, finally comes to the conclusion that the reason behind the establishment of various research institutions was due to complex problems in the process of modernization, which made the Iranian government subject to contradictions between reforms and repression on the one hand and social and identity conflicts on the other. Since universities had an educational approach, they were practically unable to respond to the country's research needs. Therefore, humanities research institutes could help the government find ways to overcome modernization crises, attract the cooperation of intellectuals and critics in humanities fields, and also show Iran's cultural and civilizational capacities to the people of Iran and beyond. As such, the government put its effort to establish these institutions. The history of Iran's scientific institutions, especially research institutions, has not been documented and we are at the beginning of this path. The author hopes this article would prove a way forward in reminding its importance and necessity.

The Petroleum University of Technology, in continuation of the activities of "The Abadan Institute of Technical ", was the beginning of a new chapter of technical and engineering education in Iran with specific missions. This faculty, under the guidance and leadership of the American Council of Engineering and Professions, and on behalf of Lafayette Easton College in Pennsylvania, focused on the three pillars of science, art and engineering for its planning and specialized activity. The three pillars, in harmony with each other, presented a special type of education aimed at training capable leaders interested in the scientific development. This study has taken into account documents, historical study, interviews with graduates and faculty members of the 1960s. Focusing on the student activities of this faculty in the first decade of its establishment, this article tries to show how the educational structure played a key role in creating strong student identities with their participation and creative leadership. In this research, based on the three domains of "science, art and engineering", as symbols of the students’ identity of this center, it was found that as a result of theoretical and practical scientific training, life skills training and social responsibility training, the idea of artistic leadership as a goal and motto of the faculty was achieved with an acceptable percentage.

The victory of the 1979 Islamic revolution marked a new stage of academic life in Iran, especially affecting the relationship between the university and the political domain. The present article is seeking to review the documents of the Revolutionary Council; including resolutions and negotiation proceedings, examine the important period of February 1979 to July 1981 in order to determine what factors affected the decisions of this council. Accordingly, four-dimensional debates and resolutions were identified in this period to change the structure and arrangement, to manage current issues, to solve remaining problems from the past and, to respond to the demands and bargaining of different social and political groups.  Some of the resolutions have so far been reviewed by researchers, but the negotiation proceedings, although incomplete, have received less attention and analysis due to their recent publication. These negotiations, which include 10 months (March to December 1979), provide an interesting picture of the approaches of the revolution leaders regarding universities and have been analyzed with reference to the historical context. At first, the debates and resolutions are focused more on structural changes, but with the rapid emergence of problems, this is mixed with socio-political demands and pressures, and the council inevitably moves in several directions at the same time. This review shows that, firstly, in order to understand the evolution of academic universities in Iran after the revolution, we need to study the developments during the one-and-a-half-year period (1979 to 1981) after the victory of the revolution until the emergence of the Cultural Revolution. Secondly: the management and reconstruction of the higher education system in general, and the issue of the university in particular, has been an important concern for leaders and statesmen after the revolution, and they repeatedly spoke about the current developments, problems and unrests. However, there was no consensus or common perception among the members of the council, and there was anxiety about the power and position of the council and fear of what would probably happen due to the speed and extent of changes, has greatly influenced their stance toward the development of universities or students’ activities. The final result of this analytical presentation is not necessarily different from other studies, but perhaps it can draw a more accurate picture of a short and important period that is often given less attention and focus due to the importance of the Cultural Revolution.

The study intends to show the formation of the Cultural Revolution in Iran, which is commonly believed to be the continuation of the natural process and an outcome of the victory of 1979 Islamic revolution. Taking into account this idea, and expanding it further, the paper examines how it was possible historically and how those behind the Cultural Revolution could make the arrangement. In other words, what developments and events could shape the forces behind the Cultural Revolution? Asking this type of question makes a moment of history important, as it was often ignored under the macro and homogenized narrative of the dominant historiography in universities after the 1979 revolution. This momentary knowledge is important from different angles:  First, it overturns many common perceptions about the university after the revolution. Second: it traces the genealogy of the current order that has its sway over the university atmosphere. Third, it reviews the emergence of the Cultural Revolution in relation to events of that particular time and space.  To study this issue, Foucault's historical analysis or genealogy has been used. Genealogy concentrates on questions related to the present time, i.e. showing how the phenomenon emerged in its socio-historical environment, how did it work and what was made possible and impossible with its action? Results do not show any correlation between the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the Cultural Revolution of June1981. A real event that led to the closure of all universities just 15 months after the revolution was the result of a series of historical events. In the absence of those events, the Cultural Revolution couldn’t occur or possibly could have happened in a different way. Universities in their shape and form we see today were subject to the outcome of forces of uncertain ratio and fragile period of history rather than being influenced by general wisdom, specific human resources, unique aim and predetermined necessities.

The book " The Ventures of University" written by Maghsoud Farasatkhah is undoubtedly a reference book and research and education handbook in the field of university studies and historical and sociological studies of higher education in the Persian language, written by one of the most prominent scholars of the field in Iran. This book, under the title "Historical study of higher education and the economic, social, political and cultural developments affecting it", supposed to achieve two different but related goals: providing a comprehensive historical report of the institute of university in Iran, and providing a sociological analysis of its formation. It is the pursuit of this double goal that has increased the volume of the book to 780 pages, in addition to the fact that each of the eight chapters of the book, which covers a wide range from the ancient to the contemporary period in Iran and the world, in addition to the descriptive and analytical history of higher education, contains extensive material of the history of political, social, economic and cultural developments at every stage. However, a careful examination of the book shows that Farastkhah has not succeeded in the second goal of the book, which is to establish a connection between the external social changes and the internal developments of the institution of higher education, and this weakness, of course, has also undermined the historical narrative of the book. Despite the great effort and details, the book suffers from a fundamental split between the inside and outside of the educational institution, academic history, planning and administration of higher education; with the political, social, economic and cultural environment. This gap roots in the "positivist essentialism" in research methodology, and transhistorical and  transcendence understanding of the rational institution of the university which has prevented the realization of the second goal, i.e. reading university in the context of society, and so, has reduced the institution of university to just a tertiary educating institute by neglecting the epistemic, cultural and political implications of academic construction.