Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

Abstract Social criticism is considered one of the most fundamental concepts in modern social sciences, which has played a pivotal role in the analysis of power structures, dominant ideologies, and social representations since the Enlightenment. The present study, relying on the documentary method and a qualitative approach, analyzes and compares four prominent schools of thought - the Frankfurt School, feminism, post-colonial studies, and post-modernism - that have been more loyal to the social critical movement than other schools of thought, in relation to social criticism. The data were collected through a systematic review of theoretical texts and previous studies and examined with an analytical approach. The results of this analysis show that although these schools differ in terms of epistemological foundations, methodology, and historical origins, they all consider criticism to be a political, revealing, and liberating act that aims to deconstruct dominant discourses and challenge the status quo.Based on these analyses, the present study extracts five key components of social criticism—politicalness, exposure, liberation, focus on the underdog, and social construction of reality—that are considered in all four schools of thought, and provides a theoretical framework for analyzing and evaluating critical discourses. The present study has attempted to present a structured picture of the nature and function of social criticism in the theoretical context of contemporary schools of thought through case analyses.
 

Abstract Interdisciplinary studies emerged in the second half of the twentieth century as an academic response to theoretical and research challenges that single disciplines could not adequately address. Within the social sciences, where issues are complex and deeply intertwined, such approaches have gained particular significance. Consequently, the latter half of the twentieth century witnessed the development of multiple interdisciplinary fields. One of these is mathematical sociology, which bridges sociology and mathematics. Its aim is to provide meaning to seemingly unrelated bodies of social data, to render social processes more tangible, and to contribute to the precise construction of theoretical frameworks in sociology. Although initial explorations at the intersection of sociology and mathematics began in the early second half of the twentieth century, the institutionalization of mathematical sociology as a distinct field only took shape toward the end of that century. Despite more than fifty years of research in this domain, however, the field has received little attention within Iranian academia. This article, employing a descriptive–analytical approach and drawing on scholarly sources, reviews the relationship between mathematics and sociology. It emphasizes the critical role of mathematics in sociology and argues for the establishment of mathematical sociology as an academic discipline in Iran. The discussion first outlines the broader context of interdisciplinary studies, then situates mathematical sociology within this framework, and finally explores the applications of mathematics in sociological analysis. Despite existing contributions, mathematical sociology remains underdeveloped and has been largely overlooked by both sociologists and mathematicians. In Iran, this neglect is so pronounced that, despite its significance, mathematical sociology has not yet been introduced even as a university course.

Abstract Science diplomacy is an interdisciplinary concept, and specifically in the discussion of Iraq, areas such as science and technology, international relations, foreign policy, the military-field, and the discursive field are the most important conceptual sources that form it. This research seeks to answer the question of how the scientific diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran with Iraq is formulated and what are the most important challenges of scientific cooperation between Iran and Iraq? This multidimensional research was conducted in a qualitative paradigm. The data and information collection method was a combination of documentary and library sources, semi-structured and interactive interviews, participant observation, expert interviews, and holding expert panel meetings and obtaining the views of relevant institutions and organizations. In this study, the four dimensions of educational, research, cultural, and executive science diplomacy between Iran and Iraq will be examined. Increasing the role of overseas agents in the field of diplomacy, especially strengthening the role of scientific advisors and technology advisors in identifying the capacities of the destination country and introducing Iran's capacities, developing a roadmap centered on the institutions responsible for the science and technology sector, regulating the bureaucracy of international interactions between academic and industrial actors, and facilitating consular procedures for non-Iranian nationals, Developing an input and output database for higher education institutions in order to strengthen networking and benefit from individual expertise, continuously assessing the market needs and environmental conditions of the destination country, striving for a unified and realistic definition of the world and international relations, increasing the cultural literacy of players in the field of scientific diplomacy and the internationalization of universities in particularو Investing in increasing the quality of human resources in this field can be effective in advancing Iran's scientific diplomacy.

Abstract The theory of social understanding of texts was first introduced by Mohammad-Javad Mughniyah in his book Fiqh of Imam Sadiq (AS) as a novel approach to deriving rulings from juristic evidence, and Martyr Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad-Baqer Sadr, by providing a rigorous formulation of it, considered this approach a turning point in the history of Islamic jurisprudence. The subject of discourse analysis, meanwhile, involves examining any semiotic phenomenon, including texts, speech, communicative events, and so on. The most significant common ground between discourse analysis and the theory of social understanding of texts can be considered the domain of “language.” According to linguists, meanings do not exist independently in the mind; rather, meaning resides in language, and to access meaning, one must understand the structure of language. In the social understanding of texts, it is also emphasized that the emergence of speech is not fully realized through literal, situational denotation alone; rather, the social implications of speech—that is, the rational presuppositions within the context in which the text is issued—must be considered, and a final interpretation is achieved through the combination of situational and social denotation. In this article, using an interdisciplinary approach and descriptive-comparative method, the social understanding of texts from the perspective of Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad-Baqer Sadr is examined alongside discourse analysis from the perspectives of Foucault, van Dijk, and Fairclough. Subsequently, the role of employing discourse analysis and the development of interpretive tools in jurisprudential cases is discussed.

Abstract This article, grounded in Linda Zagzebski’s Exemplarist Moral Theory, explores the moral capacities of television narratives—particularly Iranian drama series—for fostering moral understanding and the cultivation of character. In contrast to rule-based ethical theories, Zagzebski locates the source of moral knowledge in lived encounters with virtuous individuals—encounters that begin with moral admiration, unfold through moral imagination, and culminate in emulative identification. On this account, narrative fiction—including serialized television—can serve as a potent medium for such formative moral encounters. Methodologically, the study employs a combination of conceptual analysis in moral philosophy and narrative analysis in media studies. It first explicates core notions from Zagzebski’s framework—such as moral admiration, knowledge by acquaintance, and moral emulation—as analytical tools. It then examines five influential Iranian television series (Hezar Dastan, Once Upon a Time, The Tales of Majid, Imam Ali, and The Times of Gharib) through the lenses of gradual narrative development, character-centered storytelling, and ethical complexity. The findings indicate that these series—through layered character arcs, dramatization of moral conflict, and evocation of responses such as admiration or revulsion—create conditions in which viewers engage with figures like Morad Beyg, Reza Tofangchi, Dr. Gharib, and the grandmother in Majid not merely as spectators but as affective and imaginative participants. Such engagement enables a non-propositional moral grasp and the internalization of virtue. Finally, the article argues that the cultural embeddedness of these series—through vernacular language, historical context, and collective memory—plays a vital role in reinforcing the moral accessibility and exemplariness of their characters.

Abstract This article examines the experiences of transgender individuals in Isfahan and argues that gender reassignment is not a linear or complete process, but rather an unfinished and suspended condition that is continuously negotiated at the intersections of family, religion, law, and medicine. The study draws on more than eighty hours of in-depth interviews with fifteen transgender participants and participatory ethnography conducted in group therapy sessions, collective camps, and everyday contexts. These lived experiences are analyzed in dialogue with the perspective of legal and psychological professionals to illuminate their institutional context. The methodology combines thematic and narrative analysis: basic themes were derived from participants’ narratives and subsequently reframed conceptually in dialogue with sociology of law, social psychology, and gender studies. This interpretive process was refined through months of reflexive engagement with the field. Findings suggest that “suspension” does not signify the absence of identity, but rather an institutional and social condition in which individuals must navigate contradictory procedures to secure recognition of their stabilized selves. The process of gender reassignment in Isfahan is shaped both by the city’s particular socio-cultural environment and by the broader medico-legal discourse at the national level. By bridging Foucauldian analyses of power/knowledge with George Herbert Mead’s interpretive account of the self-in-interaction, this study extends the theoretical project of scholars such as Afsaneh Najmabadi. It demonstrates how transgender subjects, through “micropolitics of survival” and everyday strategies, reclaim agency within these intersecting structures of regulation and continually reconstitute their identities.