Farina Mir

Farina Mir is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of History at the University of Michigan, specializing in colonial and postcolonial South Asia. She holds appointments in the Department of History and affiliated programs including the Center for South Asian Studies and Global Islamic Studies Center. Her research focuses on religious, cultural, and social history of late-colonial north India, particularly Urdu ethics literature and Punjabi literary formations under British rule.

Education: Ph.D. in History from Columbia University (2002). Notable works include The Social Space of Language: Vernacular Culture in British Colonial Punjab (2010) and her forthcoming Genres of Muslim Modernity: Being Muslim in Late-Colonial India. She has been honored with major awards including the John F. Richards Prize and teaching accolades from the College of LSA and Rackham Graduate School.

Teaching includes courses on modern India/Pakistan, Islam in South Asia, and graduate seminars on Islamic histories. She has served as Director of Graduate Studies (2020-2022) and two terms as Director of the Center for South Asian Studies (2012-2018). Her research is supported by fellowships from the NEH, SSRC, and others.