Menu
Criticism in the Age of Censorship:
Learning from the Invaluable Experience of Towfigh Satirical Journal
Dr. Abbas Towfigh
Lesson #1
Friday, June 27, 2025
Lesson #2
Monday, June 30, 2025
Lesson #3
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Lesson #4
Friday, July 4, 2025
6 to 8 p.m.
Room 304,
4 Bancroft Ave, Toronto, ON
$50 registration fee
(covers all four dates)
Doors open at 5:30 pm
Event begins at 6:00 pm
Registration Link for In-Person or Virtual Attendance:
my.alumni.utoronto.ca/lessonstowfigh
You are invited to “Criticism in the Age of Censorship: Learning from the Invaluable Experience of Towfigh Satirical Journal.”
Satirist Abbas Towfigh will reflect on 50 years of lessons gleaned from Towfigh (1922-1972) — the single most influential satirical journal in the modern history of Iran. Hosted by the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies, this four-part seminar will delve into questions of censorship, the politics of humour and the function of satire as critique.
Abbas Towfigh is the doyen of Iranian satirists. Former editor, publisher and proprietor of the banned magazine Towfigh — launched in 1922 by Hossein Towfigh — Abbas is a cartoonist and humorist, a Sorbonne- trained historian of the Persian-language press and a shrewd polemicist.
All ticket sales support Iranian studies at the University of Toronto.
To further your support of the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies, consider donating to the Director’s Trust Fund. Donations will support the institute’s most immediate needs and priorities, as designated by the director.