Hajar Ghorbani is a PhD candidate in sociocultural anthropology at the University of Alberta, where she is honored to hold the prestigious Killam Scholar award (2023) and the SSHRC Vanier Graduate Scholarship (2024). Her academic journey has led her to specialize in the nuanced realm of death studies within the context of non-Western cultures. Over six years of fieldwork primarily in Iran, Hajar has developed an in-depth perspective on the subject. Her editorial endeavors culminated in the publication of Social Studies of Death in Iran, the first book dedicated to the subject of death and dying in Iran. She has also published several articles and chapters on related topics. As Iran’s ambassador at the Association for the Study of Death and Society (ASDS), she actively works to elevate the discourse on death in Iran to a global stage, particularly within Western academ ic circles. Her PhD research explores the politicization of death, positioning Iran as a compelling case study for a fresh anthropological perspective. The last paper she has published titled “Governing the Dead Territories.”
