#  Afsaneh Najmabadi 

 Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Emerita

 

 

 



   ![najmabadi.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum4421/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/history/files/najmabadi.jpg?itok=1fP7Umd2) 

 



 

 location\_on Boylston HallGround Floor G-33Cambridge, MA 02138 

 smartphone [617-496-7460 ](<tel:617-496-7460 >) 

 email <najmabad@fas.harvard.edu> 

 laptop\_windows [Women's Worlds in Qajar Iran](http://www.qajarwomen.org) 

 laptop\_windows [Harvard Iranian Oral History Project](http://ted.lib.harvard.edu/ted/deliver/home?_collection=iohp) 

 

 



 

Afsaneh Najmabadi is the Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University. Her book, [*Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity* ](http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520242630)(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), received the 2005 Joan Kelly Memorial Prize from the American Historical Association. With Kathryn Babayan, she co-edited [*Islamicate Sexualities: Translations across Temporal Geographies of Desire*](http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674032040) (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Middle Eastern Monographs, 2008). Her latest book, [*Professing Selves: Transsexuality and Same-Sex Desire in Contemporary Iran*](https://www.dukeupress.edu/Professing-Selves/) (Duke University Press, 2014) was a finalist for Lambda Literary Award in 2014, received the 2014 Joan Kelly prize from the American Historical Association for best book in women’s history and feminist theory, and was a co-winner of 2015 John Boswell prize, LBGT History, American Historical Association. A recent book conversation on New Books in Islamic Studies features this book: [http://newbooksinislamicstudies.com/2015/12/30/afaneh-najmabadi-professing-selves-transsexuality-and-same-sex-desire-in-contemporary-iran-duke-up-2013/](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__newbooksinislamicstudies.com_2015_12_30_afaneh-2Dnajmabadi-2Dprofessing-2Dselves-2Dtranssexuality-2Dand-2Dsame-2Dsex-2Ddesire-2Din-2Dcontemporary-2Diran-2Dduke-2Dup-2D2013_&d=CwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=wYnvzTyaHqfymdN4H9Obq7Jfx2mG1yFVO92hyG0TkYQ&m=QTkPnhKx2GiODZKv_4tau4Yu3rXHUOXkWf4MHpjYaus&s=lGMx-JvytBZR-w6St1zhAV2r8l0NXFlwLmUhMjGwLIA&e=)

Najmabadi leads a digital archive and website, [Women’s Worlds in Qajar Iran](http://www.qajarwomen.org/) ([www.qajarwomen.org](http://www.qajarwomen.org)). The project has been awarded three two-year grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and was recognized by the [White House Office of Public Engagement](http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/05/30/exploring-communities-muslim-women-throughout-history) in May of 2012.

[Curriculum vitae](/file_url/1051)

**Selected Publications**

- *Islamicate Sexualities: Translations across Temporal Geographies of Desire*. Co-edited with Kathryn Babayan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Middle Eastern Monographs (2008)
- "Beyond the Americas: Are Gender and Sexuality Useful Categories of Historical Analysis?" in *Journal of Womens History* 18: 1 (spring 2006): 11-21.
- *Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity* Berkeley: University of California Press (2005)
- *Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures* Associate Editor, a multi-volume project, E. J. Brill (2003-)
- *The Story of Daughters of Quchan: Gender and National Memory in Iranian History* Syracuse: Syracuse University Press (1998)



 

 

 





 

 

- ## Professors Emeriti
    
     [Emeriti](/professors-emeriti/emeriti)