Behnaz Mirzai is Professor of Middle Eastern history at Brock University, Canada. She has authored numerous articles on slavery and the African diaspora in Iran; edited “The Baluchi and Baluchistan” (a special issue of the Journal of the Middle East and Africa); co-edited Slavery, Islam and Diaspora, and Africa and Its Diasporas: Rethinking Struggles for Recognition and Empowerment; and produced two documentary films, Afro-Iranian Lives and The African-Baluchi Trance Dance. The former film received special mention at the Zanzibar International Film Festival. She is the author of A History of Slavery and Emancipation in Iran, 1800–1929, which was shortlisted for the 2018 Canadian Historical Association Wallace K. Ferguson Prize. Her book, “Mahboob [Sweetheart]: The Journey of an Enslaved African to Iran, An Autobiography,” is under review for publication.
Mirzai, Behnaz
Brock University