2019 Election

I received my PhD from Harvard University in History and Middle East Studies in 2005 and decided to give up a scholarly life, move to Paris, and write a novel. To my great surprise, Paris went through Waltham, MA where I joined the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at its moment of birth. I never made it to Paris so I never wrote the novel. Yet, as Associate Director and now Director for Research, I have been part of the leadership of one of the most exciting research centers for the study of the modern Middle East. The skills I developed in those roles alongside my diverse scholarly profile are qualities I hope to bring to the presidency of AIS.
In his history of AIS, Houchang Chehabi notes that the association was founded in 1967 by a number of graduate students, all of whom became prominent scholars in Iranian Studies. It had a fitful start as it was accused of being close to SAVAK, of being against the Shah, of not being political enough, of being too political. It was, and remains, a seemingly contradictory space as it reflects the passions of its time and yet attempts to create a dispassionate forum for the exchange of ideas and knowledge. That push and pull remains in our association and I believe it is one of its strengths.
As its past attests, the association is a meeting ground for the fresh perspectives of graduate students and junior scholars, and the experience and the foundational knowledge of more senior scholars. As more scholars of every period and discipline think beyond the nation-state and place the study of Iran in conversation with new bodies of knowledge, they not only enrich our field but also expand the canvas on which we can, and should, exchange our ideas. To enable this, I will build on the work already begun to increase our membership, build connections to other intellectual communities, and diversify our leadership to reflect where the field is today and where it has the potential to be—in terms of who is studying Iran and the Persianate world, and also the questions they are asking.
In the current political climate, Iranian studies has been cleaved apart. Many of our members who live outside of Iran are unable to visit their main research site and many of our Iranian colleagues are unable to attend our conferences and meetings. The association has ameliorated this divide by holding biennial meetings outside of the US. I will work with membership to find innovative ways to address this cleavage through digital technologies and analog human connections. We need to think of new ways to provide more access to the scholarship of our colleagues in Iran, new ways to think about archives, ethnography, and data, new ways to work collaboratively to counteract the obstacles thrown into our paths. In doing so, I believe AIS could be at the forefront of solutions for scholars who have also been affected by conflicts and politics, and face limited access to archives, field sites, and intellectual exchanges with their global counterparts.   

I am honored to be nominated for president-elect of AIS. I am a life-member of this beloved association. Since my graduate studies at The University of Michigan, I have served on several AIS election and ad-hoc committees. I have also served as the editor of the association's Newsletter (1998–99) and as a book review editor of Iranian Studies (2004–08). I further served as an elected Council Member of the association (2009–11).
At the University of Arizona, where I teach as a professor of Persian and Iranian studies, I have established, and direct, a robust Persian program in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. In 2016, I also founded the Roshan Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Persian and Iranian Studies in the Graduate College.
I have published numerous articles and books (often interdisciplinary in their approach) on issues related to gender, sexuality, ideology, literature (contemporary & classical), history, and language pedagogy including the acclaimed and award-winning The Politics of Writing in Iran: A History of Modern Persian Literature and Modernity, Sexuality, and Ideology in Iran: The Life and Legacy of a Popular Female Artist.
I aspire to bring to the leadership team my organizational and scholarly experiences as well as fresh ideas regarding fundraising, grants, publications, and (inter)disciplinary and geographic expansion of the association, and to work with all members for the excellence of our association.