Author: Ghorbani Hajar

Hajar Ghorbani is an Iranian scholar and pioneer in the field of death studies in Iran. She is an esteemed anthropologist and the founder of death studies in Iran. Hajar serves as the Iranian ambassador to the Association for the Study of Death and Society (ASDS). She has been recognized with prestigious awards in Canada, including the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship at the University of Alberta and the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, where she ranked first nationally. Hajar has published several influential papers and chapters on the study of death and dying in Iran and is the editor of the first volume dedicated to the social studies of death in Iran.

SOCIAL STUDIES OF DEATH IN IRAN

Ghorbani Hajar

this edited volume, Hajar played a pivotal role, commencing with proposalpreparation and funding application from Tehran’s municipality and Behesht-e Zahra cemetery. Shesuccessfully assembled twenty-five distinguished scholars from diverse fields in social sciences andhumanities across four countries. Engaging actively with each contributor, she fostered insightful discussionsto align their chapters seamlessly with the book’s overarching themes. With refinement, she ensured acoherent integration of ideas and unwavering commitment to the central concepts. Beyond editing, Hajarauthored the book’s introduction and a chapter of her own.

Cultural Semiotics of Gravestones’ Visual Signs in Isfahan Takht-e Fulad Cemetery: The Sing of Combs

Ghorbani Hajar

This paper (presentation) is a part of my fieldwork in Isfahan Takht-e Fulad cemetery in 2011. The Takht-e Foulad cemetery is located in Isfahan and the south of Zayandeh-rood River. This cemetery took its power from the Safavid dynasty, which was a Shiite dynasty. [Azimi, 1379 AP., p.193]. The gravestones in Takht-e Fulad are of three kinds: horizontal or horizontal box and flat, mast and horizontal beside each other) Moreover, it is divided into two main parts (surrounded by Takaya and open.). The signs on the gravestones in this cemetery can be divided into two signs, including visual signs and textual signs. By observing Read more…

The Bureaucratic Professionalization of Funeral Rites in Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery

Ghorbani Hajar

This article is a part of my fieldwork at the Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra cemetery from 2014-2015. I published another version of this idea in Persian in Iran in 2017. In the first version, I had a collaboration with Jabbar Rahmani, anthropologist, and this version I had a collaboration with Zohreh Bayatrizi, sociologist. The idea of these papers came to my mind during my fieldwork in the cemetery. […] Tehran’s current cemetery is called Behesht-e Zahra (literally, The Paradise of Zahra, named after Prophet Mohammad’s daughter) first opened on 314 ha of land in the southern outskirts of the city in Read more…

Risk, mourning, politics: Toward a transnational critical conception of grief for COVID-19 deaths in Iran

Ghorbani Hajar

Mourning with the world: The loneliness of grief in a pandemic Zohreh, Bayatrizi, Hajar Ghorbani and Reza Taslimitehrani […] In the case of COVID-19 deaths, we see these dynamics at play again on local, national and transnational scales. The emerging evidence in Iran indicates that contagion both as a biological fact but also as a social fear and stigma might have led to the increasing loneliness and even stigmatization of the dying and the grieving relatives. In personal interviews, survivors identified separation from the dying and dead relatives as the worst aspect of grief during contagion. A woman who had Read more…

My Resume

Ghorbani Hajar

Personal InformationKillam Scholar 2023Vanier Scholar 2024 University of AlbertaDepartment of AnthropologyTory Marshal Building; 14-22Edmonton, Alberta. Educational Information: Ph.D. Student of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, CanadaThe Tentative Thesis Title: The Agency of Dead Bodies in Contemporary IranSupervisor: Marko ZivkovicGPA: 3.9 Research Funding History 2024/9 -2027/9 SSHRC Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Ranked 1 among 193 applicants) 2023-24 Bryan Gruhn Research Award 2023/9 – 2025/9 Killam Trusts, Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship Awards2023/9 – 2024/5 The University of Alberta, The Middle East and Islamic Studies, State of KuwaitDoctoral Award in Islamic Studies2023/9 – 2024/5 Killam Trusts, Killam Differential Fees Award— Total Funding 2023/11 – 2023/11 Read more…

About Hajar Ghorbani

Ghorbani Hajar

I was born in a large family in Shiraz, Iran. My high school education experience was quite unique. Even though my passion was for art, my father initially opposed me attending an art school. As a result, I decided to secretly drop out of school without their knowledge. Over the course of four years, I had complete flexibility to explore various interests, including painting and martial arts (specifically, Kung Fu). During this time, I was developing my skills in drawing and painting, particularly focusing on pastel painting. Additionally, I achieved success in various Kung Fu competitions. After four years, I Read more…