Duke Libraries Hosts Discussion About 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis

Duke University Libraries will host a panel discussion, "Witnessing Iran: 1979 and 2009," on how eyewitness accounts are used to write historical narratives, particularly in Iran.

The featured speaker is Mark Bowden, author of "Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam," who will talk about the interviews he conducted in the aftermath of the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979. The event will be held at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in Room 217 of Perkins Library, and is open to the public.

Duke Libraries holds the interviews that Bowden conducted with hostages and hostage-takers as well as accounts he received from military officials about the failed rescue attempt. The Libraries also holds interviews that form the basis for the book "444 Days: The Hostages Remember," by Tim Wells.

Bowden is a national correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly. He is the author of several books, including "Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War" (1999), an international bestseller that was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Negar Mottahedeh, associate professor in Duke's literature department and author of the award-winning book "Displaced Allegories: Post-Revolutionary Iranian Cinema," will also speak. She will discuss how social networks and new media played a role in unrest this summer following national elections in Iran.

The discussion will be moderated by Bruce Kuniholm, dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy. For more information, go to guides.library.duke.edu/witnessing_iran.