EDUCATION
• New York University, New York, NY • Performance Studies, PhD • May 2021
Dissertation: "Dying to Be Somebody: Performances of Death, Power and Personhood in Postrevolutionary Iran."
*Selected as Tisch School of the Arts’ nomination for NYU’s University-Wide Outstanding Dissertation Award, AY22
• New York University, New York, NY • Performance Studies, MPhil, MA • May 2020, May 2011
• Harrisburg University of Science & Technology, Harrisburg, PA • Learning Technologies & Media Studies, MS • Concentration in multimedia instructional design • May 2023
• Purdue University, Hammond, IN • Communication, MA • Concentration in media, performance, and cultural studies • May 2010
• University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran • Chemical Engineering, BS • Concentration in process design engineering • July 2008
AWARDS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Scholarship • New York University •
Merit-based full tuition award • Academic Years 2019–20, 2010–11
• NYU Dept. of Performance Studies Travel Award • New York University •
Spring 2019, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
• GSAS Travel Award • New York University •
Dean’s Student Travel Grant Program • Fall 2018, Spring 2013
• GRI Fellowship • New York University, Washington DC •
Dissertation Writing Fellow • Summer 2017
• William P. Corrigan Five-Year Doctoral Fellowship • New York University •
Academic Years 2011–16
• Outstanding Graduate Student in Research • Purdue University Calumet •
Academic Year 2009–10
• Rank 23 in Iran’s National Foreign Languages Annual University Entrance Exam (Concours) • Academic Year 2002–2003
RESEARCH INTERESTS
aesthetics of everyday life • body-/bio-politics • cultural performance as political resistance • embodiment & excess • feminist theory • performance of fiction & performative writing • gender & sexuality studies • memory & trauma studies • narratives & poetics • media studies • queer theory • psychoanalysis • public affect • vision & visuality • temporality & rhythmanalysis
PUBLICATIONS
• “Staging Process: The Aesthetic Politics of Collective Performance.” Text & Performance Quarterly 41, 3–4 (2021): 343-46.
• “Postrevolutionary Retrojection: Azadeh Akhlaghi Stages 17 Deaths in Iran.” TDR: The Drama Review, (Spring 2020): 36-61.
• “Reflexiones sobre la serie de fotografías X post facto de Muriel Hasbún.” El Faro Academico (2013). https://elfaro.net/es/201310/academico/13627.
• “Tracing the Image, Imagining the Trace: Seeing Through, Looking Between, and Feeling with Muriel Hasbun’s X post facto.” e-misférica: On the Subject of Archives, 9.1-2 (2012): www.hemisphericinstitute.org/hemi/en/e91-hasbun-essay. Web.
• “Are We Neda? The Iranian Women, the Election, and International Media.” In Media, Power, and Politics in the Digital Age: The 2009 Presidential Election Uprising in Iran, ed. YR Kamalipour. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers (2010). 235-250. Print.
• “Fall: Neurotic Verses à la Reverie.” In Performing Fiction, ed. Barbara Browning. New York: lulu.com (2010). 57-68. Print.
• “A Brief History of Poverty in Iran.” Khayyam/Amir Kabir University’s Student Journal: Class Matters 8.3 (2006, Oct). Print. (Farsi.)
• “Buddhism: Religion or Philosophy?” Ravagh/Journal of Arts and Culture: Sanctity 2.1 (2005, Oct). Print. (Farsi.)
• “Meditation: Awareness or Admission?” Ravagh/Journal of Arts and Culture: Us and Modernity 1.1 (2005, Sep). Print. (Farsi.)
PERFORMANCES
• Restagings No. 3: Fall (CA)
10½ hour collective ritual conceived and choreographed by Abigail Levine and staged by her and a community of performers, writers, and their witnesses • Fridman Gallery, New York, NY • October 2019
• My Poetic Ancestry: Veiling and UnVeiling the Contemporary Persian Woman
Scripted and directed as final project toward earning an MA. Cast: Sareh Afshar, Ashley Calarie, Alexandria Govert, Stephanie Stroh. Purdue University, Hammond, IN • May 2010
PANELS, PAPERS, PRESENTATIONS, AND WORKSHOPS
• “If Knowledge Is for Cutting, What Is Cutting for? On Iranian Women Rising & Cuts that Wander.” Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting • Montreal, Canada • November 2023
• “‘Have You Ever...’: The Limits of the Sayable of Migrant Life.” PSi #28: Uhambo Luyazilawula – Embodied Wandering Practices • Johannesburg, South Africa • August 2023
• “Maintaining Legal Status: An Unseen Durational Performance.”
National Communication Association, 108th Annual Convention • New Orleans, LA • November 2022
• “Vast Voids: War, Mourning, and Holding Space Together in Gohar Dashti's Sticky Photographs.” American Comparative Literature Association, 2022 Annual Meeting • Taipei, Taiwan • June 2022
• “Portals to Other Worlds: Hypervisual Narrativization as Performative Tactic against State Repression.”
American Comparative Literature Association, 2021 Annual Meeting •
Palais de congrès, Montreal, Canada • April 2021
• “After the Cohort.”
A symposium in honor of José E. Muñoz, with Sareh Z Afshar, Joshua Javier Gúzman, Summer Kim Lee, and Daniel J. Sander •
NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Dept. of Performance Studies • 14 February 2020
• “Looking at You: An Immersive Techno Noir Opera for a Time of Total Surveillance.”
Post-Show Panel Discussion with Director Kristin Marting •
HERE Arts Center, New York • September 2019
• “The Performance of Unvisibility in Iran: Martyrdom and Self-Surveillance in the Age of Necropticism.”
“Screening Performance, Performing Screening” Symposium •
The Center for the Humanities, The Graduate Center at CUNY, New York • May 2019
• “Objects of Difference: Diasporic Bodies, Translocal Affects, and the Primacy of Passage over Positionality.”
“Forty Years and More: The Inaugural International Conference on Iranian Diaspora Studies” • The Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State University, CA • March 2019
• “En-Gendering Desire: Queering the Nationalist Projects of 19th-Century Iran.”
Guest Lecture for Prof. Ann Pellegrini’s Gender & Performance course •
NYU, New York • October 2018
• “Postrevolutionary Retrojection: ‘Seeing History Rather than Knowing It.’”
“Visualizing Theory: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Critical Theory” •
The Center for the Humanities, The Graduate Center at CUNY, New York • May 2018
• “Keeping Casual Time Together.”
Co-authored with Leticia Moreno-Robles
“The Between: Couple Forms, Performing Together” Symposium • NYU, New York • April 2018
• “The Grey Gap x Black Beats: Temporalized Space, Localized Time, and the Turbulence of Feminist Rhythms in Diaspora.”
“As Cities Overflow: Prolonging Performance in the Abiding Metropolis.”
PSi #23: OverFlow • Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany • June 2017
• “Performing Ethnicity: Feeling Differently before Feeling Cultural Opposition.”
Guest Lecture for Prof. Cristina Beltrán’s Contemporary Latino Culturescourse •
NYU, New York • October 2016
• “Staging Death in Iran: Extending the Limits of the Seeable through Azadeh Akhlaghi's ‘By an Eye-Witness’ Photographic (Re)Creations.”
American Comparative Literature Association, 2016 Annual Meeting •
Harvard, Cambridge, MA • March 2016
• “Good Liars Make Great Lovers,” Great Lovers Make Gifted Scholars: The Celebration of Generosity in/and Theresa Carilli’s Works.”
Central States Communication Association Annual Convention: “Convergence” •
Madison, WI • April 2015
• “Reflective Rhythms, Reluctant Realities: Shifting Tempos and Modified Imaginaries in Rakhshan Bani-Etemad’s Underneath the City’s Skin.”
“Abiding Cities, Remnant Sites: A Conference” •
The Center for the Humanities, The Graduate Center at CUNY, New York • November 2014
• “Secrets in Motion: Between Discovering, Uncovering, and Recovering, the City and Its Paradox.”
Hemi GSI Convergence 2014: Bodies-In-Transit • NYU, New York, NY • October 2014
Workgroup Co-Convener • Work Group: “What’s on Offer Today: Entering the City through Performance”
• “Vanishing Deaths: Where Have All the Martyrs Gone?”
NYU GSAS Intensive Dissertation Writing Workshop, Fellow •
NYU, New York • August 2014
• “The Secret Conspiracy of Everyday Life: An Experiment in Recovering the Potentiality of Secrecy Underlying Urban Experiences.”
Hemi Encuentro 2014: Manifest! Choreographing Social Movements in the Americas• Concordia University, Montréal, QC • June 2014 •
Workgroup: “Affect and the City: Remapping Theatrical and Social Movements”
• “Inevitable Engagements: Translocal Affects, Linguistic Transports, and the Iranian Brain Drain That Speaks.”
“Citizens, Places, Identities: A Symposium” •
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL • March 2014
• “Now Then, Here’s How It’s Going to Be: The Disciplined and Disciplinary Body of the Female Mannequin in Postrevolutionary Iran.”
PSi #19, Now Then: Performance and Temporality •
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA • June 2013
• “The Politics of New Media: How the Internet Has Shaped the Iranian Green Movement.” New York University’s Iranian Studies Initiative • NYU, New York • March 2012
Respondent to talk presented by Babak Rahimi, moderated by Peter Chelkowski
• “Nobody’s Baby but Mine: Ownership over Iran’s Young, Dead or Missing, Political Activists.”
National Communication Association, 97th Annual Convention: “Voice” •
Performance Studies Division • New Orleans, LA • November 2011
• “Together, Where Do We Stand? Locating Solitude for the Iranian Student as (Inter)National Solidarity Demonstrator.”
MA Symposium • Tisch School of the Arts, New York • May 2011
• “The Bitch is Back: An Analysis of Sexist Media Framing in Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Presidential Campaign.”
Co-authored with Natalie Wahlberg & Dorothy SnyderCentral States Communication Association •
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI • April 2011
• “Internet Censorship and Blogging in Iran.”
Purdue University Graduate Student Research Day • Purdue University, Hammond, IN • March 2009
• “The World 30 Years from Now.”
Purdue University Graduate Student Association Kick-Off Panel with the Chancellor, Panelist • Hammond, IN • February 2009
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
• Brown University, Postdoctoral Fellow • Providence, RI
–Instructor of record for the undergraduate level Woman*, Life, Freedom: Global Feminist Liberation Movements course at the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women
Spring 2024
• Montclair State University, Adjunct Faculty • Montclair, NJ
–Instructor of record for the upper undergraduate level Communication, Media, & Gender course at the School of Communication & Media
Spring 2020
• NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Adjunct Assistant Professor • New York, NY
–Instructor of record for the BA lecture The Performance of Everyday Life at the Dept. of Performance Studies
Spring 2019, Spring 2018
–TA for the BA lecture Gender & Performance at the Dept. of Performance Studies
Fall 2018
–TA for the MA seminar Final Projects in Performance Studies at the Dept. of Performance Studies
Spring 2016, Spring 2015
–TA for the MA seminar Intro to Performance Studies at the Dept. of Performance Studies
Summer 2015
• NYU College of Arts & Science, Adjunct Instructor • New York, NY
–TA for the College Core Curriculum Cultures & Contexts: Latin America at the Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese
Spring 2019
–TA for the College Core Curriculum Expressive Culture: Performance at the Dept. of Classics
Fall 2018
–TA for the College Core Curriculum Expressive Culture: The Necessity of Theatre at the Dept. of Classics
Spring 2018
–TA for the College Core Curriculum Cultures & Contexts: Contemporary Latino Culture at the Dept. of Social and Cultural Analysis
Fall 2016
• NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Adjunct Instructor • Brooklyn, NY
–Writing Consultant for EG1003, Introduction to Engineering and Design
Fall 2014 – May 2019
• Purdue University College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences, Graduate Teaching Assistant • Hammond, IN
–TA for the upper level BA lecture Fundamentals of Oral Interpretation at the Dept. of Communication & Creative Arts with Prof. Theresa Carilli
Spring 2010
–TA for the BA lecture Intro to Media Studies at the Dept. of Communication & Creative Arts
with Prof. Yahya Kamalipour
Fall 2009
• PAND English Institute, English Tutor • Tehran, Iran
–Private tutoring for pre-school and grade-school children
Fall 2006 – Fall 2007
• Shoosh’s House for Children, English and Arts Instructor • Tehran, Iran
–Voluntary teaching in association with the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child (Tehran-based NGO), with a student population comprised of Afghan girls ages 3 to 18 • Summer 2006 – Spring 2008
• Ayandeh-Sazan English Institute, English Instructor • Tehran, Iran
–Taught beginner and advanced-level English to diverse groups of students
Summer 1999
WORK EXPERIENCE
• Harlem United Community AIDS Center, Director of Program Development, Strategic Advancement • New York, NY
• October 2021 – Present
• NYU Moses Center for Students w/ Disabilities, Accessible Tech Specialist • New York, NY
• January 2020 – December 2020
• Sean Shahini LLC, Web Designer/Copywriter • New York, NY
• January 2020 – March 2020
• NYU Moses Center for Students with Disabilities, Administrative Assistant • New York, NY • May 2019 – January 2020
• NYU Libraries Knowledge Access & Resource Management Services, Middle Eastern Language Library Collection Graduate Assistant • New York, NY
• September 2017 – January 2018
• TDR: The Drama Review, Assistant Editor • New York, NY
Served on the editorial team of the quarterly journal of performance studies, committed to the critical study of performances in their social, economic, and political contexts; issues T215 through T220
• May 2012 – September 2013
• e-misférica, Managing Editor • New York, NY
Co-managed the compilation and completion of issue 8.1 of the Hemispheric Institute’s trilingual online journal, e-misférica, entitled Performance ≠ Life and devoted to tracing the interstices of performance art in the Americas (1957-2000)
• July 2011 – August 2011
• Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, Media/Web Intern • New York, NY
Assisted with design production, development, and maintenance of the platform and website of the Hemispheric Institute’s trilingual online journal, e-misférica, which brings together scholars, artists and activists throughout the Americas
• September 2010 – June 2011
• Purdue University Office of Institutional Research and Development, Graduate Research Aide • Hammond, IN
Collaborated with the department on critical projects geared toward continuous evaluation and improvement of strategic initiatives and processes at Purdue University
• Feb. 2009 – May 2010
• Purdue University Dept. of Computer Graphics & Technology, Graphic Designer • Hammond, IN
• January 2009 – May 2009
• Fanavar Petro Arya Engineering Co., Researcher • Tehran, Iran
Junior researcher in the company’s R&D section where duties included innovating new techniques of energy management and writing proposals for research grants
• May 2008 – August 2008
• Pars Drilling Fluids Co., Lab Researcher • Tehran, Iran
Helped formulate new, eco-friendly drilling muds by carrying out full analyses of their tri-phase fluid compositions
• Summer 2007
• Ravagh: A Journal of Arts & Culture, Co-Editor/Sales Manager • Tehran, Iran
Editor of Thought section, responsible for journal promotion and distribution among Tehran’s top universities
• Summer 2005–2006
ACTIVITIES
• Raha Feminist Collective: Liberation from Below, Member • New York, NY • October 2010 – December 2012
• Purdue University, International Student Organization Secretary • Hammond, IN • Fall 2009/Spring 2009-2010
• Hermes Publications, International Book Fair Sales Associate • Tehran, Iran • May 2009
• University of Tehran • Tehran, Iran
Graduate Ceremony Décor and Scenic Coordinator • Fall 2007
Graduate Ceremony Film Special Director /Actress • Fall 2007
Video Yearbook Developer and Interviewer • Fall 2007
Class Internet-based Group Administrator • Fall 2003 – Spring 2008
Freshman Class Representative • 2003–2004
• One Million Signatures Campaign for Ending Gender Discrimination in Iran, Voluntary Signature Collector 2008 – December 2012
SKILLS
• Bilingual • English and Persian; fluent in French; working knowledge of Arabic
• Computer-Proficient • Microsoft Office Suite, MS Project, G Suite for Education, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Audition, Final Cut Pro, Windows Movie Maker, Scratch, BranchTrack, ABBYY Finereader, Viewlet Builder, WordPress, JOOMLA, HTML, HYSYS 3.2, MATLAB, C/C++, Raiser’s Edge NXT, Salesforce