Middle Eastern mindset for UQ guest lecturer

Australians need to know what is going on in Iran, rather than relax because it is so far away, a lecturer from The University of Queensland has warned.

Associate Professor in Linguistics Ghil'ad Zuckermann says Iran is a powerful nation crucial for Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

This is one of the reasons Prof Zuckermann is bringing to UQ a leading Israeli academic to talk about Iranian society and politics on Thursday.

Professor David Menashri will speak at UQ on Thursday afternoon as the guest of the Institute of Modern Languages and School of Political Science and International Studies.

Prof Menashri is the director of the Centre for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University, where he holds the Parviz and Pouran Nazarian Chair for Modern Iranian Studies. He has written numerous books about the country and its culture, religion and regime.

Prof Zuckermann said he had met Prof Menashri at Tel Aviv University while studying there in the 1990s after the Gulf War.

"He is a very knowledgeable mentsh and might say some unexpected things. I was born in Israel and grew up experiencing war. Iran is of tremendous interest for me." Prof Zuckermann said.

"And it is naïve to think since Australia is so far away we are unaffected by events in the Middle East.

"We need to familiarize ourselves with all corners of the globe."

Prof Zuckermann is also organising the first international conference in Australia on Afro-Asiatic languages and cultures, to be held in Brisbane on September 11-13.

Meanwhile, Prof Menashri will speak in Lecture Hall 222 of the Parnell Building, part of UQ's Great Court, from 5.30pm on Thursday.

Media: Ghil'ad Zuckermann (3365 1445, 0423 901 808, gz@uq.edu.au).