Aria Fani | Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Assistant Professor

Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Professorship in Persian and Iranian Studies

Director of Persian and Iranian Studies Program

Contact Information

ariafani@uw.edu

(206) 616-2390

Denny 233

Office Hours

By appointment only

Personal Website

Fields of Interest

Comparative Literature Iranian Studies Language Pedagogy Modern Persian Literature Nationalism Persian Translation Studies

Biography

Ph.D., 2019, University of California, Berkeley

B.A., 2009, San Diego State University

A.A. 2007, San Diego Miramar College

Curriculum Vitae (167.31 KB)

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). Aria engages in social advocacy for non-citizen Americans, particularly Central American asylum seekers, which richly nourishes both his teaching and research.

Aria serves as the current deputy editor of the Journal of Iranian Studies and manages the Mo Habib Translation Prize in Persian Literature (Listen to Radio Iranshahr's Persian-language episode on the prize here and read the English cover story in Perspectives, the newsletter of the UW's College of Arts and Sciences). Like last year, Aria is co-directing the Translation Studies Hub, funded by the Simpson Center for the Humanities. In the academic year 2023-24, TS Hub will be laying the groundwork for an advanced certificate in translation studies.

Teaching (2023/24):

Aria will be offering NEAR E 292: Politics and Poetics of Translation (Syllabus; Winter 2024) and Persian 456: Sufi Thought and Expression (Syllabus; Spring 2024).