December 3, 2005

AFSANEH NAJMABADI
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION'S JOAN KELLY MEMORIAL PRIZE FOR 2005

Established in 1984, this prize is awarded annually for the book in women's history and/or feminist theory that best reflects the high intellectual and scholarly ideals exemplified by the life and work of Joan Kelly (1928-1982). The 2005 prize is awarded to Afsaneh Najmabadi, for: Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity, University of California Press, 2005. [Book excerpt]

Named in memory of Joan Kelly, this prize is awarded annually for the book in women's history and/or feminist theory that best reflects the high intellectual and scholarly ideals exemplified by the life and work of Joan Kelly (1928--1982). The prize was established by the Coordinating Committee on Women in the Historical Profession and the Conference Group on Women's History in 1983, to be administered by the American Historical Association and carries a cash award of $1,000 >>> Previous winners

Najmabadi's bio from Harvard University Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality: Born in Iran, Afsaneh Najmabadi came to Radcliffe College from Tehran University in 1966. With initial BA (Radcliffe 1968) and MA (Harvard 1970) degrees in physics, she later pursued social studies, combining academic interests with her engagement in social activism, first in the U.S. and then in Iran. She completed her Ph.D. (1984) in sociology in University of Manchester (U.K.).

Najmabadi's previous publications in English include The Story of Daughters of Quchan: Gender and National Memory in Iranian History (Syracuse University Press, 1998), and Women Autobiographies in Contemporary Iran, editor and contributor (Harvard University Press. 1991). She has been a fellow at Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (1994-95), Harvard Divinity School, Women's Studies in Religion Program (1988-1989), Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, Brown University (1988-1989), and Nemazee Fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University (1984-85).

After nine years at Department of Women's Studies, Barnard College, in July 2001 Najmabadi joined Harvard University as Professor of History and of Women's Studies. She currently chairs the Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality.

-- Najmabadi's page at Harvard
-- Features in iranian.com

* *

Who's your Iranian of the day? Send us photo