On Tuesday, February 19, at 5:30 p.m. in the AOK Library Gallery, artist and UMBC alum, Hadi Gharabaghi will speak about the works in the exhibition currently on display in the gallery, Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography from Iran.

Gharabaghi, originally form Tehran, Iran, will speak about the photographs, shedding light on the appearance of some of the cultural, historic and religious symbolism and imagery depicted. The lecture will also touch upon the way in which the current political climate in Iran affects practicing artists.

Hadi Gharabaghi’s background in photography, film, art history, theory and criticism includes a B.A. in Photography from Montgomery College, a B.A. in Visual Art with a concentration in Art History from UMBC, and from numerous exhibitions and educational projects. He is a Jack Cooke Kent Foundation Scholar, and is currently a doctoral candidate in Cinema Studies at NYU where his focus is Iranian film.

This event is free and open to the public.

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• To work in close cooperation with officials of Baltimore City and the surrounding county governments and civic leaders in an effort to attract more businesses and employment to the area by engaging in endeavors which will include professional prospect handling, support and outreach power.

• To serve as a resource for the Greater Baltimore metropolitan area for the purpose of fostering economic development.

• To perform non-partisan analysis, study and research of various issues relating to doing business in the region. To make the results of such research available to the public by means of discussion groups, seminars and other educational activities.

• Update a comprehensive data center
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• Gather data and information to support the production of a wide variety of reports and publications to be issued by the Alliance

• Basic knowledge of public and private resources, data and information, including Census, BLS and BEA data
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• A student or recent graduate in business, planning, economics or other research and commerce related fields; knowledge of economic development is preferred
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• PC and software skills, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint; the ability to use other programs, such as Access, InDesign and Photoshop are desired, but not required
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