Afsaneh Najmabadi
Encyclopedia
Afsāneh Najmābādi (born 1946) is an Iranian-American historian
and gender theorist. She is professor of History and of Studies of Women
, Gender
, and Sexuality at Harvard University
. At present she chairs the Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. She is further Associate Editor of Encyclopaedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, in six volumes.
Afsaneh Najmabadi moved as student from University of Tehran
to Radcliffe College
in 1966. She obtained her BA
in physics
in 1968 from Radcliffe College, Harvard University, and her MA
in physics in 1970 from Harvard University. Following this, she pursued social studies, combining academic interests with engagement in social activism, first in the United States of America and later in Iran
. She obtained her PhD
in sociology
in 1984 from University of Manchester
, United Kingdom
.
Professor Najmabadi has been Nemazee Fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
, Harvard University (1984–1985), Fellow at Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women
, Brown University
(1988–1989), at Harvard Divinity School
(Women's Studies in Religion Program) (1988–1989), at Institute for Advanced Study
, Princeton University
(1994–1995), and at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University (2000–2001). After nine years of teaching and research at the Department of Women's Studies of Barnard College
, in July 2001 she joined Harvard University as Professor of History and of Women's Studies. Under her tenure as chair, the Committee on Degrees in Women's Studies changed its name to the Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality.
Professor Najmabadi's most recent researches have been concerned with the study of the ways in which concepts and practices of sex and sexuality have transformed in Iran, from the late-nineteenth-century to the present-day Iran.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and gender theorist. She is professor of History and of Studies of Women
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
, Gender
Gender studies
Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study which analyses race, ethnicity, sexuality and location.Gender study has many different forms. One view exposed by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: "One is not born a woman, one becomes one"...
, and Sexuality at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. At present she chairs the Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. She is further Associate Editor of Encyclopaedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, in six volumes.
Afsaneh Najmabadi moved as student from University of Tehran
University of Tehran
The University of Tehran , also known as Tehran University and UT, is Iran's oldest university. Located in Tehran, the university is among the most prestigious in the country, and is consistently selected as the first choice of many applicants in the annual nationwide entrance exam for top Iranian...
to Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
in 1966. She obtained her BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
in 1968 from Radcliffe College, Harvard University, and her MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in physics in 1970 from Harvard University. Following this, she pursued social studies, combining academic interests with engagement in social activism, first in the United States of America and later in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. She obtained her PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
in 1984 from University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Professor Najmabadi has been Nemazee Fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Middle Eastern studies
Middle Eastern studies is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, and geography of the Middle East, an area that is generally interpreted to cover a range of nations extending from North Africa in the west to the Chinese...
, Harvard University (1984–1985), Fellow at Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women
Pembroke College (Brown University)
Pembroke College in Brown University was the coordinate women's college for Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1891 and closed in 1971.-Founding and early history:...
, Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
(1988–1989), at Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. The School's mission is to train and educate its students either in the academic study of religion, or for the practice of a religious ministry or other public...
(Women's Studies in Religion Program) (1988–1989), at Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(1994–1995), and at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University (2000–2001). After nine years of teaching and research at the Department of Women's Studies of Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
, in July 2001 she joined Harvard University as Professor of History and of Women's Studies. Under her tenure as chair, the Committee on Degrees in Women's Studies changed its name to the Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality.
Professor Najmabadi's most recent researches have been concerned with the study of the ways in which concepts and practices of sex and sexuality have transformed in Iran, from the late-nineteenth-century to the present-day Iran.
Selected publications
- Afsaneh Najmabadi, Land Reform and Social Change in Iran, 246 p. (University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1987). ISBN 0-87480-285-7
- Afsaneh Najmabadi, Women's Autobiography in Contemporary Iran, 78 p., Harvard Middle Eastern Monographs (Harvard University Press, 1991). ISBN 0-932885-05-5
- Afsaneh Najmabadi, editor, Bibi Khanum Astarabadi'sBibi Khatoon AstarabadiBibi Khānoom Astarābādi was a notable Iranian writer, satirist, and one of the pioneering figures in the women's movement of Iran....
Ma'ayib al-Rijal: Vices of Men (Midland Printers, Chicago, 1992). - Afsaneh Najmabadi, The Story of the Daughters of Quchan: Gender and National Memory in Iranian History, 232 p., Modern Intellectual and Political History of the Middle East (Syracuse University Press, 1998). ISBN 0-8156-2791-2
- Afsaneh Najmabadi, Crafting an Educated Housewife in Iran, in Remaking Women: Feminism and Modernity in the Middle East, Chapter 3, pp. 91–125, edited by Lila Abu-Lughod, 314 p. (Princeton University Press, 1998). ISBN 0-691-05792-3
- Afsaneh Najmabadi, The Morning After: Travails of Sexuality and Love in Modern Iran, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 36, pp. 367–385 (Cambridge University Press, 2004). http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=243193
- Afsaneh Najmabadi, Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity, 377 p. (University of California Press, Berkeley, 2005). ISBN 0-520-24262-9
- Suad JosephSuad JosephSuad Joseph is Professor of Anthropology and Women and Gender Studies at the University of California, Davis and current President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America...
, and Afsaneh Najmabadi, editors, Family, Law and Politics, Encyclopaedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, 837 p. (Brill Academic Publishers, 2005). ISBN 9004128182 - Suad JosephSuad JosephSuad Joseph is Professor of Anthropology and Women and Gender Studies at the University of California, Davis and current President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America...
, and Afsaneh Najmabadi, editors, Family, Body, Sexuality and Health, Encyclopaedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, Vol. 3, 588 p. (Brill Academic Publishers, 2005). ISBN 90-04-12819-0 - Suad JosephSuad JosephSuad Joseph is Professor of Anthropology and Women and Gender Studies at the University of California, Davis and current President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America...
, Afsaneh Najmabadi, Julie Peteet, Seteney Shami, and Jacqueline Siapo, editors, Economics, Education, Mobility and Space, Encyclopaedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, 587 p. (Brill Academic Publications, 2006). ISBN 90-04-12820-4 - Suad JosephSuad JosephSuad Joseph is Professor of Anthropology and Women and Gender Studies at the University of California, Davis and current President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America...
, Afsaneh Najmabadi, Julie Peteet, Seteney Shami, and Jacqueline Siapno, editors, Practices, Interpretations and Representations, Encyclopaedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, 594 p. (Brill Academic Publishers, 2007). ISBN 90-04-12821-2
External links
- Encyclopaedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (EWIC), University of California, Davis (Home page), (Tables of Contents, Volumes I-VI).
- Beth Potier, Women with mustaches, men without beards: Research illuminates the elasticity - the politics - of sexual boundaries, University of Harvard Gazette, March 14, 2002. http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/03.14/03-najmabadi.html