An autoethnographic narrative of the relationship between sexuality and university in post-revolutionary Iran

Abstract

The main question that is addressed in this presentation is how we can interpret the situation of sexual relations in the context of higher education in Iran. The article is formed as an autoethnography, focusing on the relationship between sexuality and university in post-revolutionary Iran. Data are gathered from my own lived experiences at university both as a student and as a lecturer during about 25 years of academic life and interpreted by the technique of systematic introspection. I explore specific problems regarding sexuality at Iranian universities, such as sexual harassment and the relationship between male university professors and their female students. I conclude with a set of questions that require further investigations. The whole article, however, can be regarded as the process of the transformation from a sexually ignorant typical Iranian male student to a more or less gender-sensitive Iranian male university professor.