Acadamic Profile

Studied theoretical physics (BSc, MSc) and history at the National University of Iran and University of London. Worked at Utrecht University, where he acquired MA and PhD. Head of the Department of the Middle east and Central Asia at the International Institute of Social History. Holds the endowed chair of Social History of the Middle East and Central Asia at the School of the Middle Eastern Studies, Leiden University.

  • Senior University Teaching Qualification, Utrecht University, 2005.
  • Senior Qualification University Research, Utrecht University, 2005.
  • Visiting Professor, European University, Summer Program, Budapest, Hungary, Summer 2005.
  • Iranian Heritage Foundation Fellow, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, Britain, 2003-2004.
  • Visiting Professor, European University, Summer Program, Budapest, Hungary, Summer 2004.
  • Visiting Senior Research Fellow, the Middle East Centre, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, Britain, Fall 1998.
  • Visiting Senior Fellow, Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, June1996.
  • Visiting Senior Fellow, Institute of Oriental Studies, Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, Baku, Azerbaijan, Spring 1995.
  • Visiting Senior Fellow, Institute of Oriental Studies, Tajikistan Academy of Sciences, Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Spring 1995.’

  • Head of the Department of the Middle East and Central Asia, International Institute of Social History.
  • Leiden University, School of the Middle Eastern Studies, Professor, 2006-present.
  • University of Amsterdam, Department of History, Endowed Chair of Social History of the Middle East and Central Asia, 2001-2006

Inaugural Lecture: Beyond Essentialism. Who Write Whose Past in the Middle East and Central Asia? University of Amsterdam, December 2002 / فارسی

  • International Institute of Social History, Senior Research Fellow, 1995-present.
  • Utrecht University, Department of Eastern Languages and Cultures, Associate Professor, 1991-2006.
  • Utrecht University, Department of Eastern Languages and Cultures, Assistant Professor, 1987-1991.

  • Member Editorial Board of Iranian Studies, Journal of the International Society for Iranian Studies, 2003 – Present.
  • Member of the Academic Committee of the International Institute of Asian Studies, 2003-present.
  • Director of European Council of the International Institute of Persian Speaking Societies, 2000-2003.
  • Member Council of the Society for Iranian Studies, 2001-2003.
  • Member Editorial Board of the Review of International Affairs, 2000 – Present.
  • President European Society for Central Asian Studies, 1998-2000.
  • Secretary European Society for Central Asian Studies, 1991-1998.
  • Member Editorial Board, Newsletter of the International Institute for Asian Studies, 2001-2003.
  • Member Editorial Board, International Journal of Azerbaijani Studies, 1998- present.
  • Member of Editorial Board, Journal of Iran and the Caucasus, 1997- present.
  • Member the Executive Committee of the International Convention of Asia Scholars, 1996-2002.
  • Consultant for BBC World Service on the current affairs of Iran, Central Asia and the Caucasus, 1988-present.
  • Consultant for Radio France International on the current affairs of Iran, Central Asia and the Caucasus, 1999-present.
  • Consultant for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on the current affairs of Iran, Central Asia and the Caucasus, 2000- present.
  • International observer, Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), monitoring the parliamentary election in Kazakhstan, 1994.
  • International observer (OSCE), monitoring the parliamentary election in Kyrgyzstan, 1995.
  • International observer (OSCE), monitoring the parliamentary election in Azerbaijan, 1995.
  • International observer (OSCE), monitoring the parliamentary election in Albania, 1996.
  • International observer (OSCE), monitoring the president election in Ukraine, 1999.
  • International supervisor (OSCE), supervising the municipal election in Kosovo, 2000.
  • International observer (OSCE), monitoring the presidential election in Armenia, 2003.


  • Member of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA), 1989 – present
  • Member of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA), 1989 – present
  • Member of the Societas Iranologica Europaea (SIE), 1989 – present
  • Member of the International Society for Iranian Studies (SIS), 1987 – present
  • Member of the European Society for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS), 1985 – present

  • Asian Historiographies and Political Regimes. Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (with Prof Willem van Schendel and Dr. Ratna Saptari), December 2005.
  • Historiography and Political Culture in Twentieth-Century Iran. University of Oxford, Wadham College, September 2004.
  • Young Movements in the History of the South. South-South Exchange Program for Research on the History of Development (SEPHIS), Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, October 2003.
  • The Triumphs and Travails of Authoritarian Modernization in Turkey and Iran. Twentieth-Century History from Below. International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, September 2003.
  • Repression, Deportation and Forced Migration in the Caucasus. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Centre for Documents and Diplomatic History, Tehran, Iran, May 2003.
  • Repression, Deportation and Forced Labor in the Caucasus 1920-1950 Tbilisi Institute of Asian Studies, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, October 2002.
  • Repression in the Caucasus 1920-1950. Ministry of Information of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan, July 2001.
  • Twentieth-Century Iran, History from Below. International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, May 2000.
  • Authoritarian Modernization in Turkey and Iran. International Institute of Social History, (with Prof. Erik Jan Zürcher), Amsterdam, May 1999.
  • The First World War in Iran University of Oxford, St. Antony’s College, the Middle East Centre, March 1998.
  • Islam, Soviet Legacy and Civil Society in Central Asia. Utrecht University, Department of Eastern Languages and Cultures, October 1997.
  • Comintern and its Southern Neighbors. Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan, May 1997.
  • Kurdistan in Search of Ethnic Identity. Utrecht University, Department of Eastern Languages and Cultures, June 1990.
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