Alireza Doostdar, University of Chicago
Assistant Professor
Chicago, Illinois
doostdar@uchicago.edu
Office:
(773) 702-8227
Bio/Research
Alireza Doostdar teaches courses on social theory, modern Islam, and Iranian politics and history. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University. His first book, forthcoming with Princeton University Press, is titled “The Iranian Metaphysicals: Explorati...
Click to Expand >>
Click to Expand >>
Bio/Research
Alireza Doostdar teaches courses on social theory, modern Islam, and Iranian politics and history. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University. His first book, forthcoming with Princeton University Press, is titled “The Iranian Metaphysicals: Explorations in Science, Islam, and the Uncanny.” The book examines the rationalization of the supernatural “unseen” since the early twentieth century through scientization and campaigns against superstition. It argues that rather than diminishing the domain of the Islamic unseen, these practices have expanded and transformed it by making it commensurable with a range of modern Western esoteric knowledges and practices – including Spiritist séances and New Age therapeutic spirituality. Doostdar's other interests include Islamic spiritual cinema and the decades-old project of Islamizing the social sciences in Iran.
Click to Shrink <<
Click to Shrink <<