Internationally Recognized UH Professor Releases Collaboration on Peace

Majid Tehranian's publications look at world civilizations and peace and war in the Middle East

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
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Posted: Apr 1, 2003

Majid Tehranian, professor in the School of Communications at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, has co-edited and released a publication entitled "Dialogue of Civilizations: A New Peace Agenda For A New Millennium."

The publication has been a work in progress since 1996, and responds to the United Nations declaration of the year 2001 as the "Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations." In the book, 19 peace scholars from seven civilizations including indigenous, Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, Judaic, Christian, Islamic, and Secular Humanist are engaged in a policy dialogue.

The book focuses on the scientific and religious perspectives on civilization, and also deals with the peace and policy agendas facing the 21st century, including problems of war and peace, participatory development, human rights, economy, full employment, education, and multiculturalism.

In addition to "A Dialogue of Civilizations," Tehranian has just released another book entitled "Bridging a Gulf: Peace building in West Asia," which is a collaboration with the first and provides perspectives on thoughtful alternatives to war in the Middle East. Written by 16 senior diplomats and scholars from the United States, Russia and the Middle Eastern region, the volume emerged from a project sponsored by the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, of which Tehranian is director, and its collaborators.

"We‘ve been working on these books for a long time and both deal with world problems at different levels. The first is a philosophical version and the second deals with burning issues of peace and security. They compliment one another with authors from all over the world who come from the same perspective, that war and violence do not solve problems" said Tehranian.

Tehranian received his bachelor‘s degree from Dartmouth College and his master‘s and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. He has taught at Harvard, Oxford University, Tufts University, University of Southern California, and Tehran University, with his teaching and research focused on the international political economy of culture, communication, development, democracy and peace. He also specializes in Middle Eastern and Asia Pacific affairs.

He currently edits "Peace & Policy," and the Toda Institute book series. He has authored more than 10 books and 100 articles that have appeared in a variety of scholarly journals. His works have also been translated into French, Spanish, German, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish, Slovenian, Korean, Japanese, Bahasa Malay, Arabic, and Persian.

Teaching at UH since 1981, Tehranian has served as chairman of the Department of Communication and a founding member and director of the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace. He has twice received the UH and East-West Center Collaborative Research Grant, the Hawaiʻi Interactive Television System‘s Curriculum Development Grant, a Presidential Citation for Meritorious Teaching, and the Fujio Matsuda Scholar Grant.

Tehranian is an internationally recognized scholar, who has been featured in Who‘s Who in the World, Who‘s Who in America, and Who‘s Who in Communications and the Media. He is the recipient of Soka University‘s Award of Highest Honor and Honorary Doctorate, a U.S. Institute of Peace research grant, and the Distinguished Service Award of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

"Bridging a Gulf: Peace Building in West Asia," was co-edited by David W. Chappel, a former UH professor and graduate chair in the Department of Religion. Other contributors include Haunani-Kay Trask, professor with the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, who wrote a chapter on "Indigenizing Human Rights," and Tu Wei-ming, former director of the East-West Center, who wrote a chapter on "Confucianism And Civilization."