Members

Current Members of NPWG@UCI

 

 

Mohammad Rafi received a B.A in Political Science in 2005 and a Master’s Degree in German Philosophy in 2008 both at the University of California, Los Angeles. He will complete his Ph.D. in the European Languages and Studies department in 2016. His research at UC Irvine focuses on Germany’s ideological influence on the development of Iranian nationalism throughout the twentieth century. He looks at what role Germany played since the First World War in shaping Iranian national ideology. Ideological currents such as the myth of a shared common Aryan identity influenced Iranian national self-understanding. Other anti-Modern currents, originating in Germany, were adapted by central Iranian intellectuals and made in accordance with Political Islam, playing a central role in the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The evolution of Iranian nationalism is connected to its sovereignty and of interest to the International Community due to a recent nuclear agreement. Mohammad has previously been awarded the Institute for International, Comparative and Area Studies Pre-Dissertation Fellowship from the University of California, San Diego and the Zarrinkelk Fellowship from the Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies at UC Irvine. Additionally, his work on Iran and Germany has been published with TELOS and also translated into German, Norwegian and Persian.