Parvaneh Pourshariati

Parvaneh Pourshariati is an Associate Professor of History in the Department of Social Science at the New York City College of Technology, part of the City University of New York (CUNY). She specializes in the Late Antique and Medieval history of Western Asia and has made significant scholarly contributions to the study of Persianate societies and the Sasanian Empire.

Her research focuses on:

• Political and cultural history of pre-Islamic and early Islamic Iran
• Decline and fall of the Sasanian Empire
• Historiography of Persianate civilizations
• Numismatics and material culture of the Islamic world
• The 'Eastern Question' in historical context

Her acclaimed book, Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire, has been translated into Persian and Arabic and was shortlisted for Iran's Book of the Year award in 2021. Her work has been supported by major funding bodies including the Social Science Research Council, American Association of University Women, PSC-CUNY, and the Iran Heritage Foundation.

She has held visiting positions at:

• Institute for the Study of Ancient World, New York University
• Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
• The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Lady Davis Fellow)

She served as President of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (2012–2014) and is on the editorial board of several academic journals in her field. Her research has earned international recognition through fellowships, awards, and multiple publications.

She has previously taught at the University of Michigan, University of Massachusetts, and Ohio State University, where she spent 14 years before joining CUNY in 2014.