In recent months, U.S.–Iranian relations have become more fraught than ever. Military and economic tensions have risen, and the fate of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the “Iran deal,” has been cast into doubt. Our April luncheon talk—“Iran and the United States: Continuing Tensions and Opportunities”—could not be more timely.

A linguist by training, William O. Beeman is professor and chair of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota. He has spent more than nine of the past 40 years in the Middle East and has also worked in Central Asia, the Caucasus, Japan, China, and South Asia. He is fluent in Persian, Arabic, and Turkish.

Recognized for special expertise in Iranian culture and linguistics, Beeman is the author or editor of more than 100 scholarly articles, 500 opinion pieces, and 14 books on an astoundingly broad range of topics ranging from history, politics, and media to art history, religion, and theater. Among book titles particularly relevant to his UMRA talk are Language, Status and Power in Iran, and The “Great Satan” vs. the “Mad Mullahs”: How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other.

In addition to Minnesota, Beeman has taught at Brown and, as visiting faculty, at Stanford, the University of Tokyo, and Keio University. He has conducted extensive research in technology and culture, has directed social science research for Brown’s Institute for Research in Information and Society, and has taught business anthropology in conjunction with the University’s Carlson School of Management.

Additionally, he has a passion for music, especially opera. He began singing as part of an extended project in the study of traditional performance, which led to many publications on the voice, emotion, and cognitive sciences—as well as performance in more than 50 opera roles. His forthcoming book, The Meistersingers: Opera Performance in Germany, centers on his experiences as a performer in a leading German opera house. 

Beeman has been a consultant on Middle Eastern affairs to the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the United Nations, and the European Union. He has frequently appeared on international and domestic television and gives generously of his time for talks to academic, government, business, and civic audiences.

In his talk for us, he will review past U.S. dealings with Iran and try to forecast prospects for the future—not an easy task given the uneven start to the Trump administration’s foreign policy, plus the uncertain outcome to the upcoming Iranian presidential elections.

— Chip Peterson, UMRA president-elect and Program Committee chair