معرفی
Arzoo Osanloo is a Professor in the Department of Law, Societies, and Justice (LSJ) at the University of Washington and Director of the University of Washington Middle East Center. She holds adjunct appointments in the School of Law, Departments of Anthropology, Near Eastern Languages and Civilization, Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, and Comparative Religion. She earned a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Stanford University (2002) and a J.D. from The American University (1993). Her research explores the intersection of law, culture, and politics in Iran, focusing on human rights, women’s rights, and Islamic jurisprudence. Key works include Forgiveness Work: Mercy, Law, and Victims’ Rights in Iran (2020) and The Politics of Women’s Rights in Iran (2009). Current research examines the impact of international sanctions on Iranian society and the role of forgiveness in Islamic legal frameworks. Her teaching spans courses on human rights, refugee law, gender and law in Muslim contexts, and critical studies of Middle East knowledge production.
Osanloo’s work bridges anthropology and legal studies, emphasizing ethnographic fieldwork in Iran. She critiques Western-centric human rights discourses and explores how cultural practices like mercy and forgiveness shape legal systems. Her research on Iran’s criminal justice system reveals how victims’ rights intersect with Islamic principles of mercy. She also investigates how sanctions exacerbate socio-economic challenges and reshape Iranian identity.
Her courses include Reconciliation: The Politics of Forgiveness in a Global Age and Gender and Law in Muslim-Majority Societies, reflecting her commitment to interdisciplinary approaches. She has published extensively in journals like American Ethnologist and Cultural Anthropology, and her work has been supported by grants such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar.
