Assist Prof Dr. Leila Chamankhah | Political Science | Best Researcher Award

Associate Professor Dr. Leila Chamankhah completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, Exeter, UK, in December 2017. Her doctoral thesis focused on “The Concept of Guardianship (wilāya) in Iranian Intellectual Tradition from 1800 to 1989.” Prior to this, she earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science from Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran, in December 2006, with a thesis titled “Pahlavi Policies toward Bahāʾī Minority: 1953-1979.” She also holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran, completed in December 2000, with a thesis on “Mohammad Reza Shah and the New Middle Class: 1953-1979.” Dr. Chamankhah obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Tehran University, Tehran, Iran, in July 1997.

Academic Work Experience:

Dr. Leila Chamankhah has an extensive academic and professional background in literature, philosophy, and religious studies. She has served as a visiting research scholar at the Guru Gobind Singh Chair at Punjabi University, Patiala, India, from December 2022 to March 2023, and as a visiting faculty member in the departments of Languages, Religious Studies, and Political Science at the same university from March 2022 to March 2023. Additionally, she was a member of the Advisory Council for the Averroes Centre for Philosophical Studies at the Islamic University of Science and Technology, Kashmir, India, from April to December 2022. Dr. Chamankhah has also taught as a lecturer at the University of California, San Diego, during the Spring Quarter of 2021, where she taught a seminar in Religion. Prior to that, she served as an adjunct faculty member in the Philosophy Department at the University of Dayton, OH, from August 2016 to January 2022, teaching Introduction to Philosophy. She also held leadership roles as the President of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS) from March 2018 to March 2021 and as the Adjunct Faculty Representative to the Academic Senate at the University of Dayton from July 2018 to April 2019. Earlier in her career, she worked as an Instructor of Persian at the Communiversity, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, from June 2015 to May 2016.

Awards and Grants:

• Research Internship, Center for Islamic Shi’a Studies, London, UK (March 2016).
• Research Grant, the British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), December 2014, $1000.
• DAAD Institute (German Academic Exchange Service), Host: Ludwig-Maximillians University, Munich, Germany (Summer 2009), €2500.
• Master of Arts (MA) Thesis Award, Jahād-i Dānishgāhī (June 2001).

Academic Activities:

• Local coordinator for a Two-Day Conference on Interreligious Understanding and Programming for Sustainable Goals of Equality and Fraternity.
• Visiting Professor at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia, teaching courses in “Classical and Contemporary Islamic Thought” and “Middle Eastern Studies.”
• Visiting Professor at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
• Visiting Professor at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), Yogyakarta, Indonesia, teaching courses in “The Social Scientific Study of Religion” and “Islamic Politics.”
• Member of the Advisory Council of Averroes Research Centre for Philosophical Studies, The Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST), Awantipora, Kashmir.

Memberships:

• Board Member and President of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS).
• Member of Editorial Board and Reviewer, Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.
• Member of Editorial Board and Reviewer, Journal of Cultural and Religious Studies.
• Member of Middle East Studies Association (MESA).
• Member of American Academy of Religion (AAR).