“When Blood Has Spilled: Gender, Honor, and Compensation in Iranian Criminal Sanctioning,” PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review 35(2): 307–325, November 2012,

University of Washington, College of Arts and Sciences, Seattle, Washington Associate Professor, Department of Law, Societies, and Justice, 2009-present ·Adjunct Appointments: School of Law, 2009-present Department of Anthropology, 2009-present Program in Comparative Religion, 2009-present Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, 2002-present Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization, 2002-present Director, Middle East Center, Jackson School for International Studies, 2015-present ·PI, IFLE, Title VI, National Resource Center, Department of Education Award, 2018-2022 Chair, Middle East Studies MA Program, Jackson School for International Studies, 2015-present Assistant Professor, Law, Societies, and Justice Program and Anthropology, 2002-2009 Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey Visiting Fellow and Associate Professor, Center for Law and Public Affairs, 2011-2012 New York University, New York, New York Center Fellow, International Center for Advanced Study, New York University, 2005-2006


Jackson School for International Studies/Middle East Studies
Chair, JSIS/Middle East Studies, MA Program, 2015-present. Chair, Admissions and Scholarship Committee, 2015-present. Chair, Admissions Committee, JSIS/Middle East Studies MA, 2010-11, 2013-14. Near Eastern Languages and Civilization Faculty Search Committee, 2018-19. Third-Year Faculty Review Committee, 2015-16. Persian Studies Prize Committees, 2013, 2014 Executive Committee, 2010-present. Approach key human rights issues with aim of gaining deeper understanding of the meaning and practices of topics in human rights. Examine historical and theoretical foundations of human rights, institutions that make up the international and regional human rights systems, analyze complexities, including legal, social, economic, historical, and political, surrounding specific questions in human rights. Students are introduced to relevant topical issues such as nation-state sovereignty, crimes against humanity, genocide and ethnic cleansing, torture, and enforcement mechanisms. Consider, also, "culture" as an indicator of human rights variance.

Seeking Refuge: Perspectives on Asylum-Seekers and Refugees, LSJ 425/ANTH 497 (enrollment 25)
Anthropology & Law, Societies and Justice, University of Washington · Examine the creation, production and proliferation of law and legal categories relating to the status of refugees and asylum-seekers in the U.S and abroad. Course integrates anthropological perspectives on law's ability to create meaning in the examination of the deeper implications of asylum and refugee law in American society and beyond. Case studies shed light on disparately impacted groups, such as women and children.

Culture and Rights: Exploring Meanings and Practices of Human Rights, ANTH 150 (enrollment 25)
Anthropology, University of Washington · Approach two complex issues within the human rights context: culture and rights. Aim to gain deeper understanding of meanings and practices of human rights. Examine complexities of culture and rights-based concept of human rights while evaluating social, legal, political, and economic issues. Topics include nation-state sovereignty, crimes against humanity, genocide and ethnic cleansing, torture, gender-based violence, humanitarian intervention, and enforcement. · Seminar considers why we care about the suffering of others. Asks when do we decide to extend compassion to those living precarious lives? Explores ethical principles and institutions that guide these commitments. Takes anthropological and socio-legal approaches to understanding humanitarianism as an "ethic of kindness" that guides social, political, and moral debate around addressing the suffering of people far-away and bearing little resemblance to us. Readings examine which lives the international community sees as worthy of saving, and why. Begins with an examination of theories underlying social concern with suffering. Considers historical foundations and legal instruments of international humanitarian action and explores contemporary acts of humanitarianism in different upheavals, crises, and conflict situations.

Gender and Law in Muslim-Majority Societies, LSJ 510A (enrollment 15)
Law, Societies, and Justice, University of Washington · Seminar considers social realities of gender and law in Muslim-majority states. Examine postcolonial state-building as process contributing to contemporary articulations of Islam and gender roles and to building a coherent past in dialogue with modernity. Main questions of the course include: What are some of the different ways post-colonial states in Muslim-majority societies have taken shape? How are gender and law implicated in these processes? While we are interested in understanding the complexities of gender and law in Muslim-majority societies, we also question how such knowledge is produced. Challenges positivist assumptions about categories such as gender, law, and family, while taking critical view of how scholars write, research, and approach these subjects as research topics in Muslim-majority societies.

Law and Society in Muslim Contexts, LSJ 510 (enrollment 15)
Law, Societies, and Justice, University of Washington · Seminar brings insights from socio-legal studies to the study of Islamic law and society. Uses post-structuralist theories to trace meanings of 'shari'a' referred to as 'Islamic law' and 'umma' or 'Muslim community' in Muslim contexts. Considers socio-legal issues in Muslim-majority states by exploring state structures and civil institutions, especially juridical, which include 'fiqh' or 'Islamic jurisprudence,' hybrid legal systems, and operations of Islamic laws. Aim to unpack political, cultural and economic logics underlying regulatory systems to gain understanding of how Islamic principles (shari'a) are translated into law (qanun) through civil codes, how they operate legally and socially in Muslim-majority societies. Readings examine post-colonial statebuilding, integration of Islamic principles, family and personal status laws, and criminal sanctioning. Also consider jurisprudential debates among religious scholars often called upon to offer guidance on new issues with which Muslim communities are faced, such as human rights, death penalty, and gender equality.

Islam and Forgiveness, HUM (enrollment 15)
Simpson Center for the Humanities, University of Washington · In this micro-seminar, students examine the meaning of forgiveness in Islam through scriptural texts as well as sociolegal and anthropological studies in examine restorative justice practices in Muslim-majority societies.

Critical Reflections on Production of Knowledge in Middle East Studies, ANTH 569 (enrollment 15)
Anthropology, University of Washington · Seminar casts critical eye on the production of knowledge on and about the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Draws on anthropological tools for critique; focus on discerning how colonial and western histories, writings, and policies have shaped understandings of MENA. In doing so, question the seeming static nature of various topics and categories that we take for granted, such as modernity, Islamic law and practice, religious revival, gender relations, and the role of women. Also shed light on new approaches to the study of the region, particularly with regard to nationalism, diasporic communities, and the politics of rights.
Modernity and Anthropological Critiques, ANTH 567 (core graduate seminar; enrollment 15) Anthropology, University of Washington · Seminar explores key concepts in modernity and examines how anthropologists employ social theories of modernity, both in data collection and writing. Focus on formation of the triadstate, property and selfdefined and refined since the European enlightenment, and through which our contemporary worldviews are shaped, including the academy, the disciplines, and how we study 'others' and ourselves. Encounter critiques of modernity as a structured social order, a 'meta-narrative,' and singular epistemology.
Law, Liberalism and Modernity, ANTH 533 (graduate seminar; enrollment 15) Anthropology, University of Washington · Seminar examines relationship between law, culture and power in contemporary societies. Students grapple with modern liberal law through post-structuralist theories, including feminist and critical race, and consider subjectivity, agency and identity. Explore how law in society plays a constitutive and productive role, not just a repressive and coercive one. Consider relationship between liberal law and the body, possessive individualism and discourses of rights.