Somayeh Karimi
Somayeh Karimi
PhD Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies (IHCS), Tehran, Iran
Emails:
ORCID: 0000-0001-9368-770X
Career background:
2017-18 Assistant Professor at Asian Cultural Documentation Center for UNESCO, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
2018-present Assistant Professor at Social Studies department, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
2022-2024 Director of the Humanities Achievements Dissemination Department, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
2024-2026 Head of the Research Group on Social Issues studies in Iran
Higher Education & Post-graduate Studies:
- PhD in Cultural Anthropology
2009 – 2013 Faculty of Philosophy (Frankfurt am Main, Germany).
- Master of Arts in Anthropology
2003 - 2005 Faculty of Social Sciences, Tehran University
- Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology
1998 - 2002 Faculty of Social Sciences, Tehran University
Research projects & Studies
2025-2026 Project Director and researcher in “An Anthropological Study and Explanation of Ethnic Jokes and Stereotypes in Iran: Phase II – Dissecting the Construction of ‘Ethnic Types’ in Cinematic Comedy and Popular Culture, 1941–1979 (The Second Pahlavi Era)”, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
2023-2024 Project Director and researcher in “A Critique of the Neo-Colonialist Orientalist Discourse Based on the Works of Edward Said”, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
2022-2024 Project Director and researcher in “An Anthropological Study and Explanation of Ethnic Jokes and Stereotypes in Iran: Phase I – Analyzing the Formation of Stereotypes in the Transition Era (The First Pahlavi Era)”, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
2021-2022 Project Director and researcher in “Anthropological study of cultural interactions in public space: Ethnic Restaurants in Tehran", Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
2019-20 Researcher in the project "An anthropological study on values, attitudes and manners of tourists in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran", carried out by Cultural heritage, Tourism and handicrafts of West Azerbaijan, Orumiye and Anthropological Research Center, Cultural and Handicraft Research Institute.
2018-2019 Project Director and researcher in “Anthropological study of ritual-pilgrimage spaces in formation of culture of Tolerance", Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
2018-19 Researcher in the project "Interdisciplinary study on Ecological Pollution of Rivers based on Corporate Social Responsibility concept in Rasht with anthropological, management and microbiological approach", carried out by Anthropological Research Center, Cultural and Handicraft Research Institute.
2013 Project director and researcher in "Documentation and pathological study of activities of Institute for the intellectual development of children and young adults", Institute for the intellectual development of children and young adults, Tehran.
2008 Researcher in the project of "Structuralizing the strict identity of Tehran", carried out by Manistar Parseh engineering consultancy company.
2007 Researcher in the project "Anthropological study of Bam earthquake", carried out by Anthropological Research Center, Cultural and Handicraft Research Institute, Tehran.
2006 Project Director and researcher of "Economic Anthropology: Tehran's Bazaar" Anthropological research Centre, Cultural and Handicraft Research Institute, Tehran
2006 Project director and researcher "Iranian Anthropology (Selected Essays, Books and Films in Iran)", Anthropological research Centre; Cultural and Handicraft Research Institute, Tehran.
2005 Researcher in project of "Child Abuse in Iran" project carried out by UNICEF, Orumieh, Iran
2005 Project Director of "Chronological Lexicography of Iranian Rituals; Religious Ethnicities in Iran" Anthropological research Centre, Cultural and Handicraft Research Institute, Tehran.
2005 Researcher in "A Study in the Possibilities of Higher Education Development based on Ethnical-National Identity Diversities" project carried out by Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.
2004 Researcher in "Ethnic-Communal Bazaars in Iran" project carried out by Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Tehran.
Publications:
Books (as author)
2013 Ethnicity and Normativity, An anthropological study of normativity in daily life of Gilak people in north of Iran (PhD Thesis),UvA Proefschriften (Amsterdam University Press).
2009 Sweet Apples of Kabul; A Study on Afghan Children In Iran, (co-writer: Bahram Rahimi) Afkar publication (in Persian, English and Pashtu).
2008 Economic Anthropology: Tehran's Bazaar, Afkar publication and Anthropological Research Center.
Books (as editor/translator)
2023 Translation of Edward Said and Post colonialism, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, IHCS publication (under press), Tehran.
2017Norouz, cultural diversity and culture of peace (collection of articles on Norouz as a peace culture), Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization publication, Tehran.
2015 Norouz ,peace and life (collection of articles on Norouz as a peace culture), Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization publication, Tehran.
Articles
2025 “Ethnic Bodies in the Arena of Competition: An Anthropological Inquiry into the Symbolic Boundaries of Identity among Turkmens, Mazandaranis, and Gilak” in: Journal of Iranian Anthropology, 22(40), 171-197. doi.org
2025 “The Architecture of Anxiety and People's Lived Experience of Space in Wartime: An Ethnographic Study of the Twelve-Day War in Tehran” in: Athar, 46(110), 65-84. Coauthored with A. Hasanzadeh, M.Moradi. https://doi.org/10.61882/Athar.2865.2035
2025 “The Horizon of Iranian adolescents’ expectation Anthropological research in the cultural areas of Sistan and Baluchistan, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Golestan and Tehran” in: Cultural Society Studies Quarterly, Vol.15, Issue 4. Coauthored with A. Hasanzadeh. Doi: 10.30465/SCS.2024.47927.2819
2024 “Dimensions of Contemporary postcolonial thought” in: An introduction to Advanced Colonial Studies, edited by Musa Najafi. Tehran: Publication of Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, pp.153-178(in Persian, Arabic English).
2024 “Cultural Difference (CD) and the Discourse Clash of Travel Case Studies: Gilan and Western Azerbaijan” in: Biquarterly journal of sociology of social institutions, Vol.11,Issue 23, pp.31-66, , Coauthored with A. Hasanzadehm Doi: 10.22080/SSI.2024.26548.2161
2022 “The Interaction between Language and Ritual in the Pilgrimage of Shabe-Arus (Wedding Night)” in: Anthropology of middle east, Vol.17, Issue 2, pp.118-139, Coauthored with A. Hasanzadeh (in English) https://doi.org/10.3167/ame.2022.170208.
2022 “Jokes as a response to Corona Virus pandemic” in: Culture in the shadow of the Covid-19 Pandemic, edited by A. Hasanzadeh, M. Asadzadeh,Tehran: Research center for culture, art and communication (in English).
2021 "An Anthropological Approach to Ecological Issues" in: The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Environmental Sustainability, Vol.17, Issue1, pp.34-44, Coauthored with A. Hasanzadeh (in English).
2021 “Mystic Conceptualization of Death as Wedding Ceremony”, in A Pictorial Encyclopedia of Iranian Rituals, Vol.1, edited by M.Mirshokraei and A. Hasanzadeh, Tehran: Cultural heritage research center.
2020 " Happiness Culture and Childhood Experience in Iran Ritual Happiness and Public Sphere” in: Journal of Anthropological Studies.Vol.3 Issue3, pp.243-255. (in Persian).
2019“Anthropological Analysis of Pir-e patar Healing as Presence in the Ultrastructure Community and Reintegration the Patient's Identity” in Iran South Medicine Journal, Vol.22, Suppl.1, pp. 36-49, coauthored with A. Hasanzadeh & S. Borhanzehi (in Persian).
2019 “Tolerance and Pilgrimage: The experience of tolerance at Mevlana JalalAd-Din Rumi mausoleum” in Biquarterly journal of sociology of social institutions, Vol.12, pp.29-50 (in English).
2018 "Horizon of ethnic expectation" in: The International Journal of Critical Cultural Studies, Vol.16, Issue 3-4, pp.1-13, Coauthored with A. Hasanzadeh (in English).
2018 "Ritual of Holy healing in northern Iran" in: The Anthropologist, Vol.33, Issue 1-3, pp.80-90, Coauthored with A. Hasanzadeh (in English).
2017 "Folk medicine, rural Belief and retention of newborn in Iran", in: The journal of research on history of medicine, with M. Rakhsha (co-author). Vol.6, No.1,Suppl. Pp.91-98 (in Persian).
2017 "Rural Community and the symbolic meaning of food", in: Food in the mirror of culture. A. Hasanzadeh (ed.) Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization publication (in Persian).
2016 “A critique on feminism paradigm”, in: Analysis of patient stone. Karen Miller (ed.) Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization publication (in Persian).
2014 “Cooking as an art: from nature to culture”, in Cultural journal of Korsi. Vol.14, pp.68-71,(in Persian).
2012"Meaning, culture and social life", in Journal of Anthropological researches of Iran, Vol.2, Issue 4 (in Persian).
2011 "The Challenge of discourses: Normative orders and ethnicity", in International Journal of the Humanities, Vol.9, Issue 8, pp.83-94 (in English).
2010, "Textualization and Ethnic identity" in: International Journal of the Humanities, Vol.8, Issue 2, pp.359-366 (in English).
2010, "The Formation of Non – State Normative Orders and the Rituals of Pilgrimage in Iran", in:International Journal of interdisciplinary social sciences, Vol.5, Issue 3, pp.287-298, Co-authored with A. Hasanzadeh (in English).
2008, "Women Anthropologists" in:Memories of Iranian,Anthropologists, ed. J. Moshiri, Afkar Publication, Tehran (in Persian)
2008, "Methodology ,ethnic memory and anthropology" in:Memories of Iranian Anthropologists ,Ed. J.Moshiri. Afkarpublication,Tehran (in Persian).
2008, "Applied anthropology and answering to society problems" in: Journal of Karagah,Tehran, (in Persian).
2008, "Food and the system of exchange" in: Food and culture,ed.A. Hasanzadeh.Mahrnamag,Tehran (in Persian).
2006, "Sacred Economy", in: Journal of Research Centre, Cultural Heritage, Handicraftand Tourism Organization, Tehran (in Persian).
2006, "Culture of poverty and crime”, in Crime and Culture ,ed.Q.Biabani,Karagah Publication, pp27-86.Tehran, (in Persian).
2006, "Escape and Crime" with A. Hasanzadeh, in: Journal of Karagah, criminal anthropology, Tehran (in Persian).
Conferences, Seminars & colloquiums:
2026 Participating in the seminar "Rasht: The City of Rain and Memory" by presenting the paper "Rasht as a Lifeworld: An Anthropological Reading of Rain, Food, and Memory", Iranian National Committee of Museums (ICOM Iran), Dafineh Museum, Tehran, 4 January.
2025 Delivering a lecture and anthropological critique in the 12th Specialized Seminar on Iranian Anthropological Cinema by presenting the paper "An Anthropological Critique of the Documentary Film 'On the Shores of the Caspian'", Research Center of Anthropology, Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT), Tehran, 4 October.
2025 Participating in the seminar "Analysis of Domestic Violence and Strategies for Confronting It" by presenting the paper "Honor (Namus), Shame, and the Body: Semantic Systems of Domestic Violence", Department of Women and Family Studies, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies (IHCS), Tehran, 9 November.
2025 Participating in the seminar of the Iranian National Committee of Museums (ICOM Iran) by presenting the paper "Cultural Diversity and National Solidarity in Iran", House of Humanities Thinkers, Tehran, 16 April.
2025 Participating in the meeting of the Scientific Circle of the Research Center of Iranian History by presenting the paper "A Re-reading and Critique of the Book 'Social History: Problems, Strategies, and Methods' by Miles Fairburn", Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies (IHCS), Tehran, 4 March.
2024 Participating in the national conference on "world day of cultural heritage and museums" by presenting the paper "Anthropology and Heritage Sciences", Cultural Heritage Research Center, Online, 18 May.
2024 Participating in the colloquium of the Department of Social Studies, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies (IHCS), by presenting the paper "Ethnic Restaurants in Iran and Intercultural Interactions", Tehran, 29 February.
2023 Participating in the "Humanities and Tourism" seminar series on "Gastronomy Tourism" by presenting the paper "Cultural Tourism and Ethnic Food", Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies (IHCS), Tehran, 16 October.
2023 colloquium of Social Studies department, Institute for the Humanities and Cultural Studies, by presenting the paper "Ethnic Restaurants in Iran and intercultural interaction", Tehran, 1March.
2023 Participating in national conference on “world anthropology day” by presenting the paper the role of anthropological narrative among other narratives in Iranian Society, Cultural Heritage research center, Online,25 Feb.
2021 Participating in national conference on “Norouz and happiness culture” by presenting the paper Happiness culture and rituals, Cultural Heritage research center, Online, March.
2020 Participating in international conference on “Reinventing cultural heritage” by presenting the paper Trans-national identity in Pilgrimage of Konya: the role of language and rituals, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Science (EHESS,France) &Tehran University, Online, November.
2019 Participating in national conference on “National conference on social studies and cultural heritage” by presenting the paper Food, cultural identity and sustainable tourism, Babolsar University, Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization, Iranian Anthropological association. Babolsar, April 2019.
2019 Participating in national conference on “Ritual, Peace and Cultural Diversity” by presenting the paper From Literature to Ritual: Mevlana Rumi, Shab-e Aruz ritual and culture of Tolerance, Humanities thinkers house (khane andishmandan), Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization, Tehran, February 2019.
2019 Participating in seminar on “Comparative study of rituals in Rumi and Bidel Dehlavi mausoleums” by presenting the paper Rituals of pilgrimage in Rumi mausoleum in Konya, in Asian Cultural Documentation center for Unesco, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, February 2019.
2018 Participating in seminar on “Iranian Anthropology: past, present, future” by presenting the paper Anthropological Explaining on Cultural Diversity in Iran, in Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, September 2018.
2015 Participating in seminar on “Applied Anthropology and CSR” by presenting the paper Experience of CSR in Asian Countries, in Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization, Tehran, October 2015.
2014 Participating in national conference on “cultural and social researches in Iran”, by presenting the paper Applied Anthropology and Sustainable Development, in Society of Iranian sociology, December 2014.
2014 Participating in national conference on “Anthropological aspects of Ashoura culture” by presenting the paper Moharram mourning in Africa, in Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization Tehran, January 2014.
2014 Participating in national conference on “Anthropological aspects of Ashoura culture” by presenting the paper Anthropological study of Tekye Sadat,in Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization Tehran, January 2014
2014 Participating in seminar on "Norouz from Anthropological and mythological perspectives", published in Parpirar (social-cultural studies journal), Vol. 1,March (In Persian).
2011 Participating in International conference on new directions in Humanities, at Universidad de Granada by presenting the article: Formal Normative Orders and Limitation of Experience in Iran.a co-written work with A. Hasanzadeh. 8-11 June 2011.
2010 Participating in International conference on new directions in Humanities, UCLA, by presenting the paper Textualization and ethnic Identity. Los Angeles, 29June-2 July 2010.
2010 Participating in the Interdisciplinary Social Sciences conference, by presenting the paper:"Pilgrimage rituals in Iran", co-authored with A. Hasanzadeh,2-5August 2010 Cambridge University.
Memberships & social activities:
2024-2026 Appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees of Yousef Abad Neighborhood (District 6, Tehran) by the Mayor of Tehran.
2019-2024 Selected and active as a member of the Yousef Abad Neighborhood Council and elected member of the Board of Trustees in the 5th general election of Tehran Neighborhoods Council (August 2019).
2024 Appointed as an Urban Development and Planning Expert in the Advisory and Specialized Assembly of Yousef Abad Neighborhood by the Head of the Urban Development and Infrastructure Committee of the Tehran City Council.
2020 Appointed as peer reviewer of Common Ground Research Network, International Journal of the Constructed Environment.
2018- present, Member of scientific board of "Asian Cultural Documentation Center", by Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran
2016 Member of scientific board of conference "Anthropology of Death and Life", by Cultural and Handicraft Research Institute, Tehran.
2016 Member of scientific board of conference "Norouz: Peace Heritage", by Cultural and Handicraft Research Institute, Tehran.
2015-2018 Appointed and active as a member of Yousef Abad neighborhood Council and member of board of trustees in 4thpublic election of Tehran neighborhoods Council, March 2015.
2014 Member of scientific board of conference "Heritage of Narrative", by Cultural and Handicraft Research Institute, Tehran.
2013 Member of scientific board of conference "Anthropological Aspects of Ashura Culture", by Cultural and Handicraft Research Institute, Tehran.
2010 Appointed as an associated editor for The international journal of new directions in humanities, Vol.8.
2001-present, associate member of Anthropological Society of Iran (NGO).
2001 Member of implementation committee of Lore Culture National Conference, Tehran University.
Teaching courses:
2025-2026 Course name: Ethnicities and popular Culture in Iran. PhD, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, one semester, Tehran.
2023-2024 Course name: Urban Anthropology in Iran. M.A., University of Allameh Tabatabaee, one semester, Tehran.
2020-2021 Course name: Urban Anthropology in Iran. M.A., University of Allameh Tabatabaee, one semester, Tehran.
2018-2019 Course name: Cultural Anthropology of Iran.M.A., University of Soore Mehr, one semester, Tehran
2017-2018 Course name: Cultural Anthropology of Iran. M.A., University of Soore Mehr, one semester, Tehran.
2014-2016 Course name: Cultural Anthropology of Iran.M.A., University of Soore Mehr, four semesters, Tehran.
2014-2015 Course name: Cultural Anthropology. B.A., University of Allameh Tabatabaee, one semester, Tehran.
Awards & Scholarship:
2009-2012 PhD Scholarship, Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders", Goethe University Frankfurt.
2002 Selected for the Iran-Japan Student Exchange Program, Embassy of Japan in Tehran.
(updated in May 2026)