Aria Fani (he/him/his)

Assistant Professor
Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Professorship in Persian and Iranian Studies
Director of Persian and Iranian Studies Program
Photo by Soolmaz Dadgari

Contact Information

Denny M 220E (new office)
Office Hours
By appointment only

Biography

Ph.D., 2019, University of California, Berkeley
B.A., 2009, San Diego State University
A.A. 2007, San Diego Miramar College
Curriculum Vitae (321.47 KB)

Aria's classroom is a place of laughter and reflection where we learn how to lean into the sociability of humanistic education to cultivate real hope (with minimal reliance on edibles outside of class). Aria remembers the loving memory of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi whose courage and moral clarity forever changed the UW community for the better. He will use his platform to keep alive her name and memory for Ayşenur no se murió, sino se multiplicó.   

Aria's research and teaching focus on modern Persian literature and translation studies. His first book, Reading across Borders: Afghans, Iranians, and Literary Nationalism, published by the University of Texas Press, details the dynamic and interconnected ways Afghans and Iranians invented their modern selves through new ideas about literature (adabiyāt). Its Persian translation was published by Shirazeh Press in Iran in September 2024. Shape of Extinction, his co-translations of the modernist poet Bijan Jalali (d. 1999), done with Adeeba Shahid Talukder, will be published by Asemana Books in May 2025. 

Aria co-directs the Middle East Center at JSIS as well as the Translation Studies Hub, funded by the Simpson Center for the Humanities. In the academic year 2024-25, TS Hub will be laying the groundwork for a minor and an advanced certificate in translation studies. Aria engages in social advocacy for non-citizen Americans, particularly Central American asylum seekers, which richly nourishes both his teaching and research. 

Teaching (2025/26):

  • Summer '25: Roads to Mecca: Muslim Pilgrimage Writings (syllabus)
  • Autumn '25: Media Persian (syllabus)
  • Winter '26: seminar on Orientalism (syllabus)
  • Spring '26: The Epic Tradition in Iran (syllabus) and seminar on Translation Studies (syllabus forthcoming)

Research

Selected Research

Courses Taught

Resources & Related Links

Affiliations

Professional Affiliations
Ph.D. Program in Near and Middle Eastern Studies; Middle East Center

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