People

A woman with short brown hair, wearing colorful, round glasses, smiles warmly. She has a black-and-white top, with wooden shelves in the background.

Minoo Moallem

Director of Critical Iranian & Persianate Studies, Profesor of Gender & Women's Studies

Minoo Moallem is a cultural theorist who explores transnational feminism, diaspora, and the politics of religion and culture. She is a professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and the director of the Critical Iranian & Persianate Studies Program at UC Berkeley. She is also an affiliated faculty member in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Berkeley Center for New Media, the Center for the Study of Race and Gender, the Science, Technology, and Society Center, the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies, the Folklore Graduate Group, and the Graduate Group in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She is best known for her work on transnational and postcolonial feminism, Iranian cultural politics and diasporas, Islamic nationalism, and the intersections of gender and globalization. Read more

Core Faculty

Asad Ahmed

Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Magistretti Distinguished Professor of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Munis D. Faruqui

Professor of South and Southeast Asian Studies, Head Graduate Advisor

Ida Yalzadeh

Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies

Adam Benkato

Associate Professor and Bita Daryabari Presidential Chair in Iranian Studies; CMES Senior Research Scholars

Nora Jacobsen Ben Hammed

Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies

Roshanak Kheshti

Professor of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, Head Graduate Advisor

Salar Mameni

Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies

Christine Philliou

Professor of History, Department Chair of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Solmaz Sharif

Associate Professor of English, Shirley Shenker Chair

Wali Ahmadi

Professor of Persian Literature; CMES Senior Research Scholar

Affiliate Faculty

Amara Ali

Lecturer of Urdu in South and Southeast Asian Studies

Abhishek Kaicker

Associate Professor of History

Owen Cornwall

Visiting Scholar of South and Southeast Asian Studies

Dzovinar Derderian

Assistant Adjunct Professor of Middle East and Late Modern Europe

Staff

Lily Gee

Program Administrator

Graduate Students

Sumayyah Bostan

S. Shiraz Ali

Daniyal Channa

Sara Sohail 

Gaurav Banerjee

Subhobroto Banerjee

Mohammad A. Khan

Amar Zaidi

Aparajita Das

Evan Grennon

Marwan Tayyan

Dawny'all Heydari