Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2008-026-002
Judith (Judy) Brown (nee Detrich) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran from September 1966 to June 1968 as an English teacher. She trained at Reed College in Oregon. During her first year, she worked at the University of Tehran, where a student strike began in March 1967. Following her May 1967 marriage to another Peace Corps volunteer, she taught in the town where he was stationed, Behbahan, for a short time. Afterwards the couple moved to the town of Shushtar where Brown worked at a girls school. Her time in southern Iran contrasted strongly with her experience in the capital city of Tehran. Brown taught large classes with up to 80 students, and did not get to know her students as much as she did her adult neighbors. In the interview, she compares her own marriage and that of a Muslim couple, and discusses how Iranian culture challenged her personal beliefs and caused her to re-examine her assumptions. Brown also describes how her Peace Corps experience led her to a career in public service, and how she has reconnected with Iran through her recent experience tutoring an Iranian woman. Interviewed and recorded by Susan Luccini, February 2, 2008. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).