About
I am an Assistant Professor of Art History in the Art, Art History, and Design department and a core faculty in the Muslim Studies program at Michigan State University. I hold a Ph.D. in the History of Art and Architecture from the University of California, Santa Barbara, completed in March 2023. My research and teaching are primarily focused on the history of architecture and urbanism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with a geographic emphasis on Iran and the Islamic World. My book titled “Residing in the Neighborhood: A Narrative of the Formation of Tehran’s Dowlat Neighborhood in the Naseri Era” [Sokounat dar mahalleh: ravayati az sheklgiri-ye mahalleh-ye Dowlat-e Tehran dar doreh-ye Naseri] was published by Matn Press in Iran in 2021. My peer-reviewed articles and short-form essays are available in the International Journal of Islamic Architecture, Platform, react/review, and Asmaneh. I have also presented my research at various academic conferences and events including the College Art Association, Society of Architectural Historians, Iranian Studies Association, and Middle East Studies Association, etc., I am currently preparing my manuscript for publication titled “Urban Memory and Architectural Patronage in Post-Safavid Isfahan.” Education
Ph.D. in the history of art and architecture, University of California, Santa Barbara; 2023
MA in Iranian architectural history, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran; 2013
BArch in Architectural design, Shariati College, Tehran, Iran; 2009 Publications
Books
“Residing in the Neighborhood: A Narrative of the Formation of Tehran’s Dowlat Neighborhood in the Naseri Era” [
Sokounat dar mahalleh: ravayati az sheklgiri-ye mahalleh-ye Dowlat-e Tehran dar doreh-ye Naseri], (Tehran: Matn Press, 2021)
Peer-Reviewed Articles
“From Vision to Reality: Tehran’s Urban Expansion Under Naser al-Din Shah (1848–96),” in
International Journal of Islamic Architecture, Vol 12, Issue 1, Jan 2023, p. 71-99.
Short-Form Papers
“Promenading in Isfahan’s Chaharbaghs,” in
PLATFORM, (October 2021), in Persian and English
“
A Gendered Response to a Watchful Gaze,” in
react/review: a responsive journal for art & architecture, Vol. 3, fields of force: navigating power in space, place, and landscape, Spring 2023.
Blog posts on Asmaneh:
“The Smiths Family in Pahlavi Isfahan,” in
Asmaneh, (February 2021), in Persian,
link
“The Covid-19 World and the Relationship Between Public and Private Spaces,” in
Asmaneh, (April 2020), in Persian
“Chicago and the Kinetic Spatial Experience,” in
Asmaneh, (July 2019), in Persian
“Architecture from Jaberi Ansari’s Perspective,” in
Asmaneh, (January 2019), in Persian
“Periodization in Iranian History and the Eighteenth Century,” in
Asmaneh, (October 2018), in Persian
“Cultural Interactions: Periodization in the History of Islamic Art and Architecture,” in
Asmaneh, (July 2018), in Persian
“A Reflection on
The Historiography of Persian Architecture,” in
Asmaneh, (October 2017), in Persian
“The Architect and Geometry,” in
Asmaneh, (April 2016), in Persian
Upcoming Talks and Conferences
“Architectural Patronage and Biographic Dictionaries (Tazkira) in Post-Safavid Iran,” to be presented at MESA 2024, Annual Meeting, November 2024.
“Tracing A Type: Isfahan’s Legacy and Early Qajar Palace Architecture,” to be presented at the 113th Annual Conference of College Art Association, New York 2025.
Session chair: “Everyday and the Expression of Modernity: 19th-Century Architecture and Urbanism in the Islamic World,” a session organized by Samira Fathi and Maryam Heydarkhani and sponsored by the Historian of Islamic Art Association, the 113th Annual Conference of College Art Association, New York 2025. Memberships
Core Faculty in the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University
Iranian Studies Association
Historians of Islamic Art Association
Middle East Studies Association
Society of Architectural Historians
College Art Association
