I am a mythologist, an historian, and a linguist. I have a Ph.D. in Iranian Studies from the Department of History and Cultural Studies at Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany. My research is primarily focused on comparative mythology, history, material culture, and gender. This involves exploring the relationship between the various myths from diverse cultural contexts in order to identify any underlying similarities and trace their possible common origins.
By consulting primary sources in Avestan and other ancient Iranian languages (such as Old and Middle Persian, Soghdian, and Manichaean), I am able to highlight the relationship between mythology and history.
I have published a book, entitled Anahita: A History and Reception of the Iranian Water Goddess, which was published by I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury in January 2021. I also have published many refereed articles in various academic journals (such as Iranian Studies, Iran and the Caucasus, and Analytica Iranica).
I have attended a number of international academic conferences, including the European Conference on Iranian Studies, and meetings of the Association for Iranian Studies, and Association for the Study of Persianate Societies.
I have taught graduate and undergraduate courses on Iran (ancient to contemporary) on such topics as Myths of Ancient Iran and Mesopotamia, Zoroastrianism, Introduction to Iranian Civilization, Manichaeism, and also Persian language (introductory, intermediate, and advanced) in the Department of Religions and Cultures at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) for the past ten years.
In addition to my work as a scholar, I am a visual artist. I have had numerous exhibitions in Iran and Canada. I have been formally accredited as an Iranian artist by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran.