Lecture 69: A scientific approach to anger
(Rescheduled lecture for Feb. 2014)

When: Thursday February 27, 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: Mohammad Soleimani
Language: English

Synopsis:

For the past 15 years, Mohammad Soleimani has been on a quest to understand anger phenomenon through the prism of scientific methodology, examining various aspects of the manifestation of this emotion and its related effects. Applying root cause analysis methodology, he has studied the fundamental of its origination with the hope that if we truly understand the origins of this emotion, we are best equipped to manage its harmful side effects. This IAAP meeting will be the first time that he will be discussing his work in public.

About the Speaker:

Since 2007, Mohammad Soleimani has served as Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer of Kastle systems, a leading provider of security and access control where he is responsible for all aspects of Kastle’s development and IT efforts. He is also serving as Chairman of the Board for SoleNet, Inc., an engineering services company he co-founded in 2001, focused on developing state of the art communications equipment. From 2006 to 2007, he served as Vice President Engineering for RFID at Motorola, Inc. His responsibilities included advanced development and architectural design of Radio-frequency identification (RFID) equipment. From 2004 to 2006, he served as Vice President of Engineering at Matrics, Inc/Symbol Technologies. Prior to that, he co-founded BitCom, Inc. in 1998. He also spent fifteen years as Senior Director for Hughes Network Systems (HNS), where he obtained tremendous leadership experience. He first served as Co-lead System Engineer for Thuraya, a mobile satellite voice and data communication system based in the UAE. He also became Lead Engineer for the first phase of DirecTV receivers.
He received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology and Master of Science in Electrical Engineering with honors from George Washington University. /p>

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

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Lecture 69 (cancelled): Looking into Possible Impact of Dutch Disease on the Economies of Developed and Developing Countries with Special Focus on the Iranian Economy: An Analytical Review of the Existing Literature for possible Policy Implications

When: Thursday February 13, 2014 – 7:30 PM
Where: Montgomery Community College (Rockville Campus) – Humanity Building (HU), Conference Room 009 (Get Directions, Campus Map )

 

Speaker: Jamshid Damooei, Ph.D.
Language: English

Synopsis:

In recent economic literature Dutch disease refers to the harmful consequences of large increases in a country’s income. Although Dutch disease is generally associated with a natural resource discovery, it can occur from any development that results in a large inflow of foreign currency, including a sharp surge in natural resource prices, foreign assistance, and foreign direct investment.
This presentation brings attention to the potential impact of Dutch Disease within an economy. It reviews and examines its theoretical arguments as well as the existing empirical evidences on the onset and the continuation of Dutch Disease in various developed or developing countries based on the structure of their economies, degree of coordinated wage determination, intensity of factor specificity, and the magnitude of income inequality. The focus of the presentation is to look into the impact of the disease on the Iranian economy and it influence on the resource allocation over the last four decades. The hope is to generate relevant discussions leading to ideas and suggestions for highlighting elements of pertinent policy implications for the near future and the long run.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Jamshid Damooei is Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting at California Lutheran University. He served as the Director General of the Department of Economic Studies and Policies of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance of Iran. Dr. Damooei worked as a Senior Economist for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) from 1988 to 1991. He continued to work as an international consultant for the UNDP and the United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS) after he left his position in the UN and returned to California Lutheran University. Dr. Damooei’s scholarly work includes a broad spectrum of current social and economic issues such as: project design and evaluation, crisis prevention and recovery, causes of economic imbalances, and economic and social impact assessments. He received his Bachelor of Science in Economics from Tehran University, Master of Sciences in Economics from the University of Surrey, MPhil in Economics from University of London and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Surrey (U.K.) in 1981. He is the president of Damooei Global Research, Inc. a consulting company focused on program and project evaluation, economic impact studies, needs assessment, and policy analysis.

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

 

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

Please click here to RSVP.