Azar Nafisi
Executive Director of Cultural Conversations; Professorial Lecturer; Foreign Policy Institute Visiting Fellow

Expertise by Geographic Area:
Iran; Middle East

Expertise by Issue:
Culture, Religion and Politics; Developing Nations; Human Rights; Islamic Religion, Culture and Law; Women's Rights

Background and Education:
Served on the faculty at Tehran University and later Allemeh Tabatabai University; as visiting fellow at the University of Oxford, taught on the interactions between Western and Iranian culture; has earned international recognition for advocating on behalf of Iran’s intellectuals, youth and especially young women; Ph.D., English literature, University of Oklahoma

Languages:
Persian

Publications:
Things I Have Been Silent About (2008); La Voce Verde (2006); Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (2003); Anti-Terra: A Study of Vladimir Nabokov’s Novels (1994); numerous chapters and articles on issues related to promotion of democracy and human rights in Muslim societies, on women’s rights and on literature and culture; Reading Lolita has been on best-seller lists worldwide, has been translated into more than 30 languages and has won many literary awards, including 2004 nonfiction award from Booksense and the Frederic W. Ness Book Award