Hossein Godazgar is Visiting Professor at the Department of Sociology, the University of Warwick. He has worked at universities in Iran and the United Kingdom at the capacities of a researcher and an academic member of staff. His most recent position has been Professor in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and Director of the Centre for the Study of Islamic Diversity, Education and Ethics at the Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education, Dundee, UK, where he has also served as Principal and Vice Chancellor. Before joining the College in 2010, he conducted teaching and research at the universities of York, Warwick, East London and Tabriz, the second oldest and one of the most prestigious universities in Iran, where he also served as Deputy Vice Chancellor and Academic Vice Chancellor.

 

He has a background in Islamic studies, comparative religions, sociology of religion as well as moral philosophy and practical ethics, with special reference to bioethics, the environment, and the foundations of law. He has conducted research on the theoretical and empirical aspects of religion and spirituality in relation to globalisation, rituals, organisations, political ideology and their impacts on public policy and various aspects everyday life, such as (higher)education, consumerism, environment, religious minorities, ethno-religious identities, IT and mass media, ethics, the value of human life, and physician assisted suicide with special reference to the social contexts of Iran and/or the United Kingdom as well as the traditional and modern conceptions of ‘ummah’ and ‘Islamic jihad’. In addition to the dissemination of his research findings, his current research focuses on the theoretical and empirical aspects of ‘religion’ in association with ‘(im)morality’ in medical settings.

 

He is the author of The Impact of Religious Factors on Educational Change in Iran: Islam in Policy and Islam in Practice, Edwin Mellen Press, 2008. In addition, he is guest editor of Social Compass, special issue on Iran, 2007. He has published several articles and chapters in English and Persian in peer-reviewed journals and edited books, and he is a regular reviewer for publishers worldwide. His most recent article is: ‘From “Islamism” to “spiritualism”? The individualization of “religion” in Iran’ Religions, special issue on Religion, Power and Resistance: New Ideas for the Divided World 11(32) 2020: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/11/1/32/pdf

 

Research Interests

Social theory and religion; moral philosophy; religion and bioethics; religious pluralism; Islam and multiple modernities; Islam and Europe; Iran and the Middle East/Central Asia and the Caucasus

Hossein Godazgar

Visiting Professor of Sociology
Email: h.godazgar.1@warwick.ac.uk
Room: E0.24 Social Sciences
Tel.: +44(0)24 765 23499