Echoes of my father: an autoethnographic exploration of fatherhood, memory, and learning

This thesis is an autoethnographic exploration of fatherhood, memory, and learning in post-revolutionary Iran. Rooted in personal narrative, it traces how my relationship with my father, at once historian, teacher, and companion in thought, shaped my identity as a daughter and a learner. Through storytelling, reflection, and cultural analysis, I examine how his quiet presence, emotional attentiveness, and trust in my intellectual abilities challenged conventional expectations of gender and authority in our society. Rather than offering a general account of Iranian fatherhood or womanhood, this thesis traces the singular yet resonant story of one man whose gentle, curious, and steadfast way of being opened space for dignity, mobility, and learning. It considers how memory becomes a method of both inquiry and connection, allowing the past to speak not only through facts, but through gestures, silences, bookshelves, and everyday rituals of care. The work culminates in a return to my hometown of Tabriz, where I hope to fulfill my father's long-held dream of opening a public library in his name. In doing so, I reflect on how private histories can offer quiet resistance to dominant narratives and how acts of remembrance can become forms of continuity, rooted not in nostalgia but in commitment. This thesis contributes to broader conversations about education, cultural memory, and identity by foregrounding lived experience, especially the ways in which learning takes shape through relationships that honor presence, trust, and mutual growth.