Lecture Series

Lecture 68: Medical Ethics in Iran: An Overview

When: Thursday January 9, 2014 – 7:30 PM
Where: Montgomery Community College (Rockville Campus) – Humanity Building (HU), Conference Room 009 (Get Directions, Campus Map )

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Speaker: Kiarash Aramesh, M.D
Language: Farsi

Synopsis:

Rooted in an old tradition of religious and philosophical ethics, Medical Ethics in the contemporary Iran has its own unique specifics. Moral teachings in this tradition have several sources: Islamic (Shiite) teachings and thoughts, philosophical works influenced by ancient Greek schools of thought, ancient Iranian religions and traditions, and Sufism which is Islamic in origin but somehow influenced by other schools of thought. On the other hand, newly founded institutions working on Bioethics and Medical Ethics are greatly influenced by the Western and modern ideas, thoughts and debates.
Abortion, stem cell research and cloning, live unrelated kidney transplantation and research ethics are among hot topics of Bioethical debates in the contemporary Iran. Iranian scholars are recognized by their unique models and approaches to some of these practical and theoretical challenges. Like other countries of the world, Iran has its own obstacles and unresolved problems in the area of bioethics and medical ethics.

About the Speaker:

Born and raised in Iran, Kiarash Aramesh is a medical doctor and his specialty is in Community Medicine. He is an Associate Professor and Vice-President for Research at the Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Research Center of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Over the past eight years, from teaching and research duties to curriculum development and supervision of doctoral theses and from membership in Research Ethics Committees to organizing and leading several workshops on biomedical research ethics for faculty members of universities throughout Iran, his participation in Iran’s burgeoning field of medical ethics has covered a wide-range of activities. As a faculty member he was responsible for designing and conducting several domestic and internationally funded research projects concerning different aspects of medical ethics, including research ethics. Dr Aramesh played a leading role in developing and updating of the first set of specialized ethical guidelines for biomedical research in Iran. The results of his work and research have been published in a number of well-known peer-reviewed journals in English and Persian and have been presented in national (mostly as invited lecturer) and international conferences. Dr. Aramesh is a visiting scholar at the department of bioethics of National Institutes of Health, NIH. /p>

Fee (including dinner): $5 Students, $15 Public

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Lecture 67: Global Mega Trends and their Implications, Part II

When: Thursday December 12, 2013 – 7:30 PM
Where: Montgomery Community College (Rockville Campus) – Humanity Building (HU), Conference Room 009 (Get Directions, Campus Map )

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Speaker: Nicolas Gorjestani
Language: English

Synopsis:

To be successful in the 21st Century, societies, organizations and entrepreneurs will have to navigate the economic, demographic and technological sea changes that are taking place globally. The mega trends forecast a smarter, flatter, hotter and more populous planet. Moreover, the compass of global economic activity will increasingly point towards the East and South. As the organizing principle shifts from a paradigm of scarcity of factors of production to a paradigm of abundance of knowledge, we will have to learn new rules of survival. The intelligent societies of the future will increasingly revolve around the principles of innovation, collaboration, sustainability and harmony. The emerging knowledge-based, innovation-driven organizations of the 21st Century will be seen less as mechanical systems and more like living organisms. The former hierarchical structures will have to adapt to more network-driven alliances that will require different management practices and behavioral incentives to motivate the knowledge workers. The first lecture (on September 12) was set the scene with an overview of the global mega trends, and the second lecture (on December 12) will explore the societal and organizational implications.

About the Speaker:

Nicolas Gorjestani is a former senior official of the World Bank. An economist by training, Mr. Gorjestani had held a variety of senior staff and management positions at the World Bank for more than three decades, before retiring in July 2007. He now devotes his time to advising, lecturing and writing on knowledge-based development strategy, innovation, intelligent cities and organizations, organizational learning, and leadership development issues. Since retiring from the World Bank, Mr. Gorjestani has also been Senior Adviser/Consultant at the World Bank; Adjunct Professor in Knowledge Ecology at the Polytechnic University in Hong Kong; Executive Director, Global Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation Partnership; member of the Learning Innovation Laboratory at Harvard University; and a member of the New Club of Paris, a think tank focused on issues of the global knowledge economy. A recognized international thought leader on knowledge-based development, organizational change, innovation and learning issues, Mr. Gorjestani has published on knowledge-based development and organizational change topics and keynoted at several major international events.

Fee (including dinner): $5 Students, $15 Public

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Student Scholarship Award 2013

When: Thursday November 14, 2013 – 7:00 PM
Where: Matt’s House of Kabob (15108 Frederick Rd #A Rockville, MD 20850, Phone: (301) 444-4744 )

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Agenda:

7:00 Registration

7:20 Opening Remarks by Dr. Aram Hessami

7:35 Dinner

8:30 IAAP, and the Scholarship Award Selection Criteria, Dr. Manouchehr Farkhondeh, President, IAAP

8:50 Scholarship Awards Mr. Hossein Ebneyousef, Chair of Student Scholarship Committee and short remarks by awardees

10:20 Closing Remarks

Fee (including dinner): $5 Students, $15 Public

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