Daniel Sheffield

Daniel J. Sheffield is an Associate Professor of Near Eastern Studies and Director of Undergraduate Studies at Princeton University. He specializes in the religious, intellectual, and social history of the medieval and early modern Persian-speaking world, with a focus on Safavid Iran and Mughal India. His research explores Zoroastrian communities, translation studies, and the transmission of ideas from Late Antiquity to Early Modernity. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and previously served as a Link-Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton and a faculty member at the University of Washington.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Iranian and Persian Studies, Harvard University (2012)

Research Interests: Dr. Sheffield examines cross-cultural exchanges between Iran and South Asia, particularly how cosmopolitan theological vocabulary and Persian literary canons shaped Zoroastrian communities. His current project, On Translation and Toleration, investigates free-thinking intellectual networks in early modern Iran and India. He also explores language and translation's role in religious and historical thought.

Teaching & Outreach: At Princeton, he teaches courses on Iranian history, translation studies, and Persian historiography. He organizes a Classical Persian reading group and instructs ancient Iranian languages. His work bridges philological rigor with interdisciplinary approaches to cultural history.