Mr. Houman Riazi Jorshari

Pennsylvania State University

Bio

Houman Riazi Jorshari is an architectural historian and educator whose research examines the intersection of media, politics, and professional practice in twentieth-century Iran. His work focuses on journals, exhibitions, and cultural institutions to trace architects’ roles as cultural and political actors. He currently teaches design studios and seminars at Penn State and serves on the editorial board of hyphen, a student-led architecture journal.

Negotiated Modernity: Soviet Cultural Diplomacy and the Iran-Soviet Cultural Society in 1940s Iran

Abstract

This paper examines the Iran-Soviet Cultural Society (ISCS) as a central site of Soviet cultural diplomacy and leftist intellectual engagement in 1940s Iran. Through Payām-e No, the First Exhibition of Fine Arts, and the First Congress of Writers, it traces how socialist realism and Marxist cultural frameworks were debated, adapted, and institutionalized. It argues that Iranian leftist modernity emerged through negotiation, transforming Soviet influence into a flexible framework balancing political allegiance, critique, and creative autonomy.