ReOrientations Blog

Mona is a Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. She completed her BA in Sociology at the University of Tehran, followed by her MA and PhD at the University of Leeds. Her doctoral thesis, Kemalism: The Grammar of Racism in Iran, examines the traces of Islamophobia in the formation of racism and racial identities in Iran. Her research interests include Critical Muslim Studies, decoloniality, Islamophobia, nationalism, and national historiography.

Johanna is a Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. She holds an MA in Islamic Studies with a course specialisation in ‘Islam in Europe’ from the Freie Universität Berlin. During her MA, a scholarship allowed her to pursue Religious Studies at New York University and Columbia University. Before that, she gained her BA in Islamic Studies and Geography from the Universität Bern. Her research interests include Islamophobia, decoloniality, subtle forms of nationalism, (re-)construction of national identity, liberal democracy, and processes of racialisation.