Maziar Behrooz (; born 1959) is an Iranian-born American historian of modern Iran, and educator. He lives in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

Biography

Maziar Behrooz was born in 1959, in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, to Sara Khosrovi-Azarbaijani and Jahangir (Changiz) Behrouz. He received his high school diploma from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Behrooz received his B.A degree in History-Political Science from

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic college in Moraga, California, United States. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs w ...

(1982), his M.A. degree in Modern History of Europe from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

(1986), and his PH.D. in Modern History of the Near East from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(1993). He has taught at a number of universities and colleges including the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

; Saint Mary's College of California;

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

; Bridgewater State College; and is currently professor at the History Department of San Francisco State University where he teaches various courses concerning the modern history of the Middle East. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters on Iran and is the author of two books on the history of the left movement in Iran. His first book is ''Rebels with a Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran'' (I.B. Tauris and Co., 1994), which was based on his doctoral research. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 249 libraries and has been translated into Persian (2001) and Turkish (2006). One of his recent research project is about late-18th century to early 19th-century encounters between Iran and the Western world. In 2023,

launched an investigation after a student complained that Behrooz had shown a depiction of Muhammad while teaching a class on the history of the

Islamic world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

; the investigation was strongly criticized by the

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), formerly called the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit civil liberties group founded in 1999 with the mission of protecting freedom of speech on col ...

as an "unacceptable — and unconstitutional" violation of

academic freedom Academic freedom is the right of a teacher to instruct and the right of a student to learn in an academic setting unhampered by outside interference. It may also include the right of academics to engage in social and political criticism. Academic ...

Publications

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References

External links

Faculty profile
at San Francisco State University {{DEFAULTSORT:Behrooz, Maziar 1959 births Living people Writers from Tehran Writers from Berkeley, California San Francisco State University alumni Saint Mary's College of California alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Iranian emigrants to the United States Historians from California