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NORTON - Wheaton College first-year students and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton share an interest.

Understanding Iran is a priority for both of them.

As Clinton began a trip to Europe and Asia to discuss Iran's suspected nuclear program, first-year Wheaton students last week watched "Dress Rehearsal: The Brave Hurr's Ta'Zieh."

The documentary continued a monthly Iranian Film Festival that's introducing Wheaton freshmen to Iran and Iranian culture. Films are shown on the second Wednesday of every month.

All first-year students this summer read "Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood," Marjane Satrapi's first of two graphic novels about growing up in Iran. Since then, Satrapi and Wheaton assistant professor of art history Touba Ghadessi Fleming have addressed the students.

Fleming discussed "Iranian history and her mom's experiences in the recent election," said Professor of Computer Science Mark LeBlanc, who is among the Wheaton faculty members touching on Iran in their first-year seminar courses.

The summer reading, the films and the guest speakers seek to help students understand a "topic that isn't going to go away," LeBlanc said.

"These are tomorrow's leaders," LeBlanc said. "Here at Wheaton, a lot of people go into public service.

"I have very modest aims. I want my students to be intellectually curious about Iran."

LeBlanc said he is learning, as well as the students.

"I really don't know much about this country, except what I see on the BBC," he said.

Toward better understanding Iran, the first-year seminar students this summer read Satrapi's "Persepolis," about being a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.

Satrapi describes the male-female dynamic in Iran during the 1980s, the conflict between pop culture and Iranian culture, and her perspective on her nation's politics.

Wheaton students are too young to have seen the actual events unfold. "The (1979) hostage crisis, it's sort of like World War I for us," LeBlanc said. "We know that it's history. But we didn't live it, so it feels very abstract."

LeBlanc said Wheaton sociology professor John Grady had suggested having a film festival, which started Sept. 9 with a screening of "White Balloon."

A film festival flier says "White Balloon" is about a 7-year-old Iranian boy's attempt to buy "a new goldfish in time for Tehran's annual New Year's Day festivities."

The films portray everyday life in Iran, and illustrate that, during a time of strained relations, "not every Iranian hates the U.S.," LeBlanc said.

"This is not something you get from the BBC or NPR," he said.