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.

Hajar Ghorbani; Anthropology PhD Student receives Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship

The Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarships are the most prestigious graduate awards administered by the University of Alberta. They are awarded to outstanding doctoral students who, at the time of application, have completed at least one year of graduate study. Killam Scholarships are awarded for two years and include a stipend of $45,000 per year. Each award is renewable for a second year upon continued exceptional performance in a doctoral program at the University of Alberta.

Hajar Ghorbani is a sociocultural anthropology PhD student at the University of Alberta specializing in death studies. Her research centers on the intersections of death and modernity, as well as death and politics in Iran and the Middle East. She has been studying death and dying since 2011 and has conducted extensive fieldwork in Iran for six years. Hajar’s contributions to the field include published research in several journal articles and book chapters. She has also played a pivotal role in developing death studies in her country, serving as the editor of The Social Studies of Death in Iran (2020). In recognition of her expertise, Hajar Ghorbani was invited as a keynote speaker at the Center for Death and Society (CDAS) at the University of Bath, UK, in 2022. Currently, in her doctoral research project titled “Dead Bodies’ Agency and Western Politics”, she is advancing the conventional perspectives in social sciences that assume the living govern the dead. Her work explores the agency of dead bodies that affect the experience and actions of mourners and evoke memories of the past rather than serve their socio-political ends.

The Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Monthly Meetings: Knowledge on Sale: The Privatization of Sociological Teaching in Iran

I am pleased to share news about #The_Middle_Eastern_and_Islamic_Studies_Monthly_Meetings, a recurring gathering aimed at bringing together scholars and students in the field of Islamic/Muslim/Middle Eastern studies at the #University_of_Alberta. The meeting themes will be selected by presenters — professors and their graduate students.

I as the organizer of these monthly meetings hope that your active participation and support will not only bring our academic community together but also provide a valuable space for the consolidation of the #MEIS epistemic community and meaningful critical dialogue.

Our second meeting will feature a panel discussion titled “#Knowledge_on_Sale_The_Privitization_of_Sociological_Teaching_in_Iran“, with Professor #Zohreh_Bayatrizi and #Reyhane_Javadi, chaired by Dr. #Richard_Westerman. The program will also include a documentary titled: From Palace to Prison: The Trials of Sociology in Iran, followed by refreshments, a meet & greet, and informal networking.

We invite you to join us on Tuesday, January 29, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, at Tory Building 12-15.

The Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Monthly Meetings: Music and Conflict

Our inaugural meeting will feature a panel discussion titled “#Music_and_Conflict“, with Professor #Michael_Frishkopf and Dr. #Gabriel_Ojakovo, chaired by Dr. #Joseph_Hill. The program will also include a live music performance by #Kian_Morad, followed by refreshments, a meet & greet, and informal networking.

We invite you to join us on Tuesday, November 28, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, at Tory Building 12-15.

Anthropology PhD Student receives Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship

Hajar Ghorbani has received an Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship for her continued exceptional performance in the Anthropology doctoral program:

https://www.ualberta.ca/anthropology/about-anthropology/anthropology-news/2023/09-sept-12-dec/anthropology-phd-student-receives-the-izaak-walton-killam-memorial-2021-2022-vanier-canada-graduate-scholarship.html

M. Whitecotton-Carroll – 24 October 2023

University of Alberta Graduate Recruitment Scholarship

Hajar Ghorbani, a Ph.D. student of sociocultural anthropology, is the winner of University of Alberta Graduate Recruitment Scholarship in 2022.

The purpose of the Recruitment Scholarship is to recruit superior graduate students who have the potential to contribute to the University of Alberta’s community and research.

SSHRC Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Ranked 1st in Canada

Hajar Ghorbani, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Alberta, achieved 1st rank and received the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS).

Named in honor of Major-General Georges P. Vanier, the first francophone Governor General of Canada, the Vanier CGS program helps Canadian institutions attract highly qualified doctoral students. Valued for three years during doctoral studies, it considers three equally weighted selection criteria:

🥇 Academic Excellence
🔬 Research Potential
🌟 Leadership (potential and demonstrated ability)

Calls For Book Chapters

Title: Decolonising Death Studies

Co-Editors: Dr Panagiotis Pentaris, Dr Stacey Pitsillides & Hajar Ghorbani

Overview

Social and cultural factors can strongly influence how we approach death and dying, including attitudes towards death, rituals and practices surrounding death, and end-of-life care. The World Health Organization notes that understanding these factors is important for improving the quality of life and care for individuals facing life-limiting illnesses (WHO, 2021).

Hamilton et al. (2022) note that current knowledge in death studies tends to be influenced by Western views, conforming identities, specific disciplines, the English language, and a certain generation, which can limit its application to policy and practice. The authors argue that decolonising death studies requires exploring the nature of knowledge that underpins claimed expertise in this area, which has universal implications for policies, practices, theory, and research. This is not a new argument, but one which was noted in 1978 by Lofland, critiquing the happy death movement’s lack of diversity, claiming that its proponents were predominantly heteronormative, white and affluent. More contemporary research groups in death studies, like the Queer Death Studies Network (2016) and the Collective for Radical Death Studies, address this by collecting a wider body of literature in the field of death studies.

The increasing diversity and plurality of populations around the world necessitates further attention to diversifying evidence and knowledge to ensure that it effectively serves its beneficiaries (Mokhov and Pentaris, 2022). However, there is potential risk for re-colonising knowledge in this area due to the persistence of English-speaking, Western, and conforming expertise in the field that may or may not understand the connected histories of colonialism. To address this, networks of knowledge and expertise that challenge these limitations and seek to avoid the risk of re-colonisation to broaden the case of knowledge and key texts used by death studies researchers are needed. Such networks may be physical, contextual or digital, but they always lead to collective discourses that break free from the colonisation of death studies.

With that in mind, this book is looking to host the space for an interdisciplinary, international, especially from under-represented groups, dialogue which seeks to advance our exploration of both knowledge outside of the colonised and the degree of the current knowledge’s applicability in the field. Additionally, and drawing from Jansen’s (2019) thesis on the politics of knowledge focusing on the lack of postcolonial, indigenous and critical knowledge, the proposed book will become a beneficial tool for its ability to pool resources and expertise. This can help reduce gaps in the current knowledge base.

focusing on the exploration of the colonisation, re-colonisation and decolonisation of death studies – no matter the expertise of the contributors (e.g., assisted dying, AI and grief, art-based practices with dying individuals, etc.) – are welcome. The volume is particularly interested in the inclusion of minoritised voices and perspectives, in the collaboration of authors with people with lived experience, as well as the learning from different geographies and disciplines. Further, proposals linked with any of the many global issues and phenomena and how those manifest on the experiences of death, dying and bereavement are welcome. This volume will also welcome shorter forms of writing, for example: experiential essays, reflections on practice wisdom or autobiographic accounts.

The proposed book will be submitted to Routledge for consideration.

If you wish to discuss your idea about a contribution before submitting an abstract, please contact the coeditors directly.

How to submit your abstract

Please submit your abstract (approximately 350-500 words) to the co-editors at Panagiotis.Pentaris@gold.ac.uk, Stacey.Pitsillides@northumbria.ac.uk and hghorba1@ualberta.ca including a short biographical note of the proposed authors (approximately 50-100 words per author) by the 8th of December 2023. Please include all information in a single Word file which you can submit as an attachment via email.

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SOCIAL STUDIES OF DEATH IN IRAN

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

Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship Awards

The Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarships are the most prestigious graduate awards administered by the University of Alberta. They are awarded to outstanding doctoral students who, at the time of application, have completed at least one year of graduate study.

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

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 the pictorial and textual signs on the gravestones in the Takht-e fulad and interpreting them, what is revealed at first is that these signs express the job or profession of the deceased person. To find more precise meanings for these signs, we should find out the cultural relationship of these graphic patterns besides other signs on the gravestone. Combs are carved along with turbah, rosary, and some other signs, in some of the gravestones in this cemetery.

In the logic of determining the signs on the gravestones, the issue of being literate or illiterate in traditional culture is of great importance. So it seems in the era in which most people were illiterate. The text on the gravestone was a sign of the higher dignity of the deceased person, the best way to convey some information about the deceased person and his/her profession, and some other essential traits of that person, especially in the domain of religious values, was pictorial signs. In the past, signs like a wooden comb, rosary, and turbah were the distinguishing religious factors, and this was because of the presence of religious minorities in the city (Zoroastrians and Armenians).

For reading the whole paper please click: Cultural Semiotics of Visual Signs of Gravestones in Isfahan Takht-e Fulad cemetery