Contact
Faculty of Arts - Anthropology Dept
- hghorba1@ualberta.ca
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
Death Studies Scholar Ethnography Political Anthropology Body Art and Material Culture.
About
I am a Ph.D. candidate in the field of sociocultural anthropology at the University of Alberta, where I am honored to hold the prestigious Killam Scholar award in 2023. I am also honored to hold the SSHRC Vanier Graduate Scholarship in 2024, ranked 1st in Canada. My academic journey has led me to specialize in the nuanced realm of death studies within the context of Non- Western cultures.
Over the course of six years, I conducted extensive fieldwork, primarily centered in Iran.
My editorial endeavors have seen me collaborate with a diverse group of twenty-five experts spanning disciplines such as Sociology, Anthropology, History, Philosophy, Law, Art and Literature, Religion, and Architecture. Together, we published a seminal edited volume titled Social Studies of Death in Iran, which notably marked the first book dedicated to the subject of death and dying in Iran.
In my role as Iran's ambassador at the Association for the Study of Death and Society (ASDS), I've endeavored to elevate the discourse surrounding the topic of death in Iran onto the global stage, particularly within Western academic circles.
Furthermore, I've had the privilege of delivering keynote speeches, including a presentation on The Politicization of Death in Iran, at the prestigious Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath, UK.
Currently, as I diligently work towards the completion of my Ph.D., I am passionately exploring the agency of dead bodies. While traditional anthropological perspectives have often viewed the dead solely as symbols or political markers, I am pioneering a fresh perspective that attributes agency and voice to the departed, emphasizing their inherent ungovernability. My research centers on elucidating the significance of the agency and authority of deceased bodies, thereby contributing new insights to the contemporary understanding of Iran as a compelling case study.
Teaching
Teaching Assistant, Anthropology, University of Alberta
Course Title: Introductory Anthropology
Course Topic: Theories of Anthropology
Course Level: Undergraduate
Number of Students: 220
Featured Publications
Killable Bodies and Necrovalue in Times of COVID: An Ethnography of Death in Iran through a Feminist-Queer Lens
Mehrabi, T; *Ghorbani, H.
Routledge Handbook of Queer Death Studies. 2025 October;
Ghorbani, Hajar
Bristol University Press. 2025 May;
Bayatrizi, Z; *Ghorbani, H; Taslimitehrani, R.
Current Sociology. 2021 July; 69 (4):512-528 10.1177/00113921211007153
Ghorbani, Hajar
Anthropology Publication . 2021 February;
Bayatrizi, Z; *Ghorbani, H.
Springer . 2019 November;
Rahmani, J; *Ghorbani, H.
Quarterly of Social Studies and Research in Iran. 2017 August; 6 (3):409-430
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