Iran’s Ministry of Science says the course content of 36 university programs has been altered for the academic year that starts this fall.
The ministry says it has a committee in charge of reviewing university curricula, according to a report by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA,) and its work will continue beyond the 36 fields affected in this round.
Over the past two years, Islamic Republic officials and specifically the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei have called for the review of university subjects to make them more compatible with Islamic principles.
The officials have expressed greater concern about arts and humanities courses, which they claim are heavily influenced by "Western teachings."
The review of university curricula has been coupled with a widespread purging from academia of professors and lecturers whom the establishment has come to regard as not being aligned with "Islamic principles."
MirHosein Mousavi, the Iranian opposition leader who is currently under house arrest for rallying demonstrators in support of the recent Arab uprisings, reacted to the government assaults on academia last summer. He said the moves betrayed similarities to the totalitarian policies of Stalin’s regime in the old Soviet republic, maintaining: "The fate and methods of all autocratic regimes are the same all over the world."
