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The first installment of our four-part interview on Iranian nationalism with Dr. Ahmad Mohammadpour is now available. Sign up for our newsletter here to be notified when the next part is released.
Part 1: Early Scholarly Approaches to Understanding Iranian National Identity
This is part one of our four-part interview about Iranian nationalism with Dr. Ahmad Mohammadpour, a sociology professor at Bentley University. In this episode, Dr. Mohammadpour explores the distinctions and intersections between the terms “Persian” and “Iranian.” He examines scholarship formation on Iranian nationalism and identity, particularly as it was construed by Western orientalists, and analyzes the etymology of “Iran,” its association with the term “Aryan,” and the historical progression of Iranian nationalist thought.
Part 2: The Intellectual Enterprises of Akhunzadeh and Kermani
In this presentation, Dr. Mohammadpour examines the intellectual currents of Iranian nationalism and identity in the 19th century, with a specific emphasis on the writings of Akhunzadeh and Kermani. He delves into the themes and ideas present in their works, highlighting their racialized perspectives, particularly in their depiction of Arabs as “backward,” and their claims that Arabs are responsible for Iran’s inferior position.
Dr. Mohammadpour is a sociologist and anthropologist from Eastern/Iranian Kurdistan. He has a Ph.D. in Sociology from Shiraz University and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. His research focuses on raciolinguistic ideologies, statelessness, sovereignty, colonialism, Orientalism, race, ethnicity, and various other topics. His work has been published in numerous journals, including American Anthropologist, The British Journal of Sociology, and Third World Quarterly.
