25 Florence Street London N1 2DX
Fax: +44 (0) 870 130 8069 Tel: +44 (0) 7949 486 831 [email protected]
Dr. Kathryn Spellman
Personal National Insurance Number: PC557120A/A Information Work permit not required.
Employment/Posts 2001-Present Huron International University London Full-time Associate Professor Researched, designed and taught the following courses: Religion, Identity and Power
Migration and Diasporas Gender, Nation and Development Modern Social Theory
January 2003 - Present Syracuse University London Adjunct Professor Researched, designed and taught the following courses:
Religion, Identity and Power Migration and Diasporas Multicultural London
January 2005 - Present London Middle East Institute, SOAS London
Research Associate and Editorial Board Member – Middle East in London Magazine
September 2005 – Present Al-Fatah University Tripoli, Libya Research Fellow
April 2004 University of Sussex Falmer Tutor • Theories and Contexts of Sociological Inquiry
June 2002 – Present Visiting Research Fellow Sussex Centre For Migration Research and Centre For Culture, Development and Environment
Education
1995-2000 Birkbeck College, University of London London
Ph.D. Sociology Successfully defended viva voce examination 2 June 2000. Title of thesis: ‘Religion, Nation and Identity: Iranians in London’. Supervisor: Sami Zubaida Examiners: Joanna de Groot and Deniz Kandiyoti
1994-95 Birkbeck College, University of London London Master of Science (MSc.) in Politics and Sociology Religion, Culture and Politics Race, Ethnicity and Law Social Theory Political Sociology
1991-94 Richmond International University London Bachelor of Art (BA) with Honours in Combined Social Sciences
1989-91 Marquette University Milwaukee / USA Major area of study Sociology
Publications Publications
Books Religion and Nation: Iranian Local and Transnational Networks in London , Berghahn Books, Oxford and New York, 2005. Reprinted in paperback form.
Articles, reviews and book chapters:
‘Women, Gender and Conversion to and from Islam in Iran’ in Encyclopaedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (EWIC), Brill Publishers. (Completed April 2006)
‘A National Sufi Order with Transnational Dimensions: The Maktab Tarighat Oveyssi Shahmaghsoudi Sufi Order in London’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2004.
‘Women, Gender and Religious Associations: Iran and Afghanistan’ in Encyclopaedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (EWIC), Brill Publishers, 2004;
‘Gendered Spaces of Exchange: Iranian Women’s Religious Practices in London , Titley, G. (ed.) Re-Situating Culture . Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2004.
‘Change and Continuity: Iranians in Britain’, in Singer, Caroline (ed.) Middle East in London , Stacey International Publishers, 2003.
Spellman, K. and Lehmann-Hesse, K. ‘Iranian Religious Networks in Hamburg and London’ in Zuwanderung und Integration. (ed.)by Klaus Roth. München: Münchner Beiträge zur Volkskunde, 2003.
‘The Persian Community in Britain’. Published in Encyclopaedia Iranica , Columbia University Press, 2001.
Conference/ workshop papers 21 September 2006 University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Presentation of paper: Exile and Tradition - International Sufi Orders
5 August 2006 SOAS – International Society of Iranian Studies London Presentation of paper entitled: ‘Iranian Muslim’s Born Again’’
27 July 2006 Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen Guest at the Summer academy: ‘The Repositioning of Islam As a Contemporary Challenge’
17 February 2006 Syracuse University London Organised panel: ‘Women and the Shariah Law’ for the symposium, Encounters with Islam
20 March 2005 Al-Fateh University Tripoli, Libya Presentation of paper entitled: ‘Libya Unsanctioned’
22 February 2005 SOAS – University of London London Lecture and Book Launch: ‘Religion and Nation: Iranian Local And Transnational Networks in Britain’
6 May 2004 Exeter University Exeter Presentation of paper entitled: ‘Iranian women-only gatherings in London and Tehran’.
11 December 2003 Corpus Cristi College, Cambridge University Cambridge Speaker at ‘The Cross Talk Society’ on Muslims in Britain.
18 September 2003 European University Institute Florence, Italy Participant at workshop on Muslim Identities, consumption and public life.
11 December 2003 University of Bonn Germany Follow-up workshop on Muslim Identities, consumption and public life.
10-15 June 2003 Council of Europe and European Commission Budapest Selected participant at a Research Seminar on Resituating Culture: Reflections on Diversity, Racism, Gender and Identity in the Context of Youth.
26 February 2003 University College London UK Presentation of paper entitled: ‘Ethnographic Research Techniques: Grounding a Diaspora’.
10,11 January 2003 University of Sussex UK Presentation of paper for the workshop on ‘Transnational Islam’ at the Centre for the Comparative Study of Culture, Development and the Environment.
12 October 2002 University of Munich Germany Joint comparative presentation with Dr Karin-Hesse Lehmann entitled: Iranian Transnational Religious Networks in London and Hamburg
26 April 2002 ISIM ( International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World) Leiden, The Netherlands Key-note speaker on Civil Society and the Public Sphere in Muslims societies.
Scholarships/ Research Grants 2006 – Present Ford Foundation Research Grant Tunis, Tunisia Recipient of grant entitled: Social Beliefs, Practices and Gender Equality in the MENA region.
2005 March and July El- Fateh University Tripoli, Libya Exploratory research carried out on Libyan women’s informal networks between Tripoli and London.
2003 August Regional Civil Society Forum for the Middle East Kish Island, Iran
Participated in the Working Group on Gender and Information Society in the MENA region.
2001 15-28 July Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin Berlin, Germany
2002 4-17 August Dartmouth College New Hampshire, USA
Selected participant in the European and American Young Scholars’ Summer Institute 2001/2002: ‘Public Spheres and Muslim Identities,’ sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
1999 8 July to 26 August University of Tehran Tehran, Iran One of thirteen American doctoral students chosen to take part in a program of cultural exchange with Iran. Two months of intensive Persian language training.
Languages 1998 September Oriental Institute Beirut, Lebanon Participant of the Summer Academy of the Working Group Modernity and Islam. Presentation of a paper entitled: ‘Iranian religious gatherings and associations in London’.
Persian – Intermediate Arabic – Beginner (level 3 – Arabic course at SOAS)
Other activities Special Researcher for the English National Opera for the commissioned productions ‘Ghadaffy’ and ‘Kismet’.
Consultant for the visual artist, Steve McQueen, for his project that commemorates the British soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq. A project commissioned by the Imperial War Museum.
Editorial Board for London Middle East Institute’s publication, The Middle East in London .
Consultant for BBC, Immigration Lawyers and Home Office for matters concerning immigration, asylum seekers and refugees, mainly from the MENA region. April 2002 completed a training course administered by the Association of Visitors To Immigration Detainees (AVID) to become an official visitor to asylum seekers in Harmondsworth detention centres. October 2003 I became a ‘mentor’ with the role of introducing new visitors to detainees. Due to my familiarity with the MENA region and Muslims in London, I’m usually assigned to visit detainees from the Middle East.