Biography
Shahram Akbarzadeh is Research Professor of Middle East & Central Asian Politics.
He convens the Middle East Studies Forum (MESF).
He held the prestigious ARC Future Fellowship between 2013-2016, and was named as Australia's leading researcher in Middle East and Islamic Studies (The Australian Special Report 2020).
He has an active research interest in the politics of Central Asia, Islam, Muslims in Australia and the Middle East.He has been involved in organising a number of key conferences, including a Chatham House rule workshop on Australia's relations with Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan (2007), sponsored by the International Centre of Excellence for Asia Pacific Studies, and a conference on the Arab Revolution with Freedom House, sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
In 2000 Professor Akbarzadeh was the Middle East Studies conference convener and served as the Central and West Asia Councillor for the Asian Studies Association of Australia (1999-2004). He has promoted Asian studies through contacts with industry and the academia by research and publication. He guest edited a special issue of Asian Studies Review on the Middle East (Vol.25, No.2, 2001) and a special issue of the Journal of Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies on Globalization (Vol. 5, No.2, 2000).
He has published more than 40 refereed papers in leading outlets. Among his publications are a sole-authored book on Uzbekistan and the United States, a co-authored books on Presidential Elections in Iran, US Foreign Policy in the Middle East, Crisis Zone: Middle East Politics and International Relations, and Muslim Active Citizenship in the West.
Professor Akbarzadeh was the founding Editor of the Islamic Studies Series, published by Melbourne University Press, and a regular public commentator. He has produced key reports for the Australian Research Council (ARC) on Australian based scholarship on Islam, and also for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) on Muslim Voices and Mapping Employment and Education; and has produced a report on Islam in the Australian media. He acted as Convenor of the Islam Node for the ARC Asia Pacific Futures Research Network.
He is a member of the Editorial Board of leading refereed journals: Global Change, Peace & Security, the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, and the Journal of Asian Security & International Affairs.
He was the founding President of the Australian Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (AAIMS) -2016-2019.
For for info refer to http://www.shahram-akbarzadeh.com/
Read more on Shahram's profileKnowledge areas
Middle East politics
Central Asia politics
Political Islam and extremism
Islam in the West
Projects
Current:
Gerda Henkel Foundation: Smart Technology and Democracy in the Muslim World
Past projects:
ARC Future Fellowship: Role of Islam in Iran's Foreign Policy making
Qatar Foundation: Sectarianism in the Middle East
Carnegie Corporation NY: Proxy Wars in the Middle East and Central Asia
Publications
No publications found
Funded Projects at Deakin
Australian Competitive Grants
Islam in Iran's foreign policy: Central Asia and Afghanistan - Dr Shahram Akbarzadeh
Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh
ARC Fellowships - Future Fellowships
- 2016: $105,118
- 2015: $215,709
- 2014: $316,447
Indonesia - China Cooperation in the Context of COVID-19
Dr Josh Roose, Prof Greg Barton, Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh
Department of Defence - Strategic Policy Grants Program
- 2021: $175,097
New Directions in Radicalisation and Violent Extremism: A Literature Review.
Dr Josh Roose, Dr Vivian Gerrand, Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh
Department of Home Affairs - AVERT Research Network
- 2023: $255,493
Other Public Sector Funding
Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies (CRIS)
Prof Michele Grossman AM, Prof Fethi Mansouri, Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh, Prof Anita Harris, Dr Vanessa Barolsky, Dr Amanuel Elias, Prof Greg Barton, A/Prof Anna Halafoff, Dr Vivian Gerrand, Prof Amanda Keddie, Prof Yin Paradies, A/Prof Matteo Vergani, Dr Jessica Walton, Prof Chad Whelan, Dr Ana-Maria Bliuc, Dr Philippa Collin, Dr Hass Dellal, Dr Nida Denson, Prof Kevin Dunn, Dr Liam Magee, Dr Liam McGarty, A/Prof Amanda Third, Dr Michael Ungar, Dr Sherene Idriss
Department of Premier and Cabinet Vic
- 2019: $1,824,753
- 2018: $1,065,362
Leadership for Senior Multi-Faith Women Leaders 2019.
Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh, Dr Rebecca Barlow
DFAT Tender - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- 2019: $262,125
Leadership for Senior Multi-Faith Women Leaders.
Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh, Dr Rebecca Barlow
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade DFAT
- 2022: $47,966
- 2021: $20,000
- 2020: $75,183
CRIS 2.0 ¿ The future of the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies
Prof Michele Grossman AM, Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh, Mr Mark Duckworth, Prof Anita Harris, Dr Josh Roose
Department of Premier and Cabinet Vic
- 2024: $62,500
Industry and Other Funding
Qatar National Research Fund project
Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh
Qatar National Research Fund
- 2015: $128,027
- 2014: $109,791
State and Society in Iran: Identity and the Securitisation of Minority Policies
Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh, A/Prof Costas Laoutides, Dr Zahid Ahmed
Gerda Henkel Foundation
- 2018: $23,954
- 2017: $71,911
For assessing the impact of external actors in the Syrian and Afghan proxy wars
Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh, Dr Dara Conduit, Dr Zahid Ahmed
Carnegie Corporation of New York
- 2020: $226,755
- 2018: $344,282
Emerging Digital Technologies and the Future of Democracy in the Muslim World
Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh, Prof Ihsan Yilmaz
Gerda Henkel Foundation
- 2024: $108,829
- 2022: $283,478
AM7502 - Australia Awards in Indonesia RFT: Women in Leadership in the Security Sector.
Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh
TETRA TECH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD
- 2022: $137,006
Global Prioritization Exercise (GPE) Regional and National Actors Consultations on Humanitarian Research and Innovation.
Dr Marian Abouzeid, Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh
American University of Beirut
- 2022: $67,455
Capacity Building for the Management Team of the Indonesian Islamic International University.
Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh, Dr Zahid Ahmed
TETRA TECH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD
- 2023: $100,159
- 2022: $179,632
Other Funding Sources
Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies (CRIS)
Prof Michele Grossman AM, Prof Fethi Mansouri, Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh, Prof Anita Harris, Dr Vanessa Barolsky, Dr Amanuel Elias, Prof Greg Barton, A/Prof Anna Halafoff, Dr Vivian Gerrand, Prof Amanda Keddie, Prof Yin Paradies, A/Prof Matteo Vergani, Dr Jessica Walton, Prof Chad Whelan, Dr Ana-Maria Bliuc, Dr Philippa Collin, Dr Hass Dellal, Dr Nida Denson, Prof Kevin Dunn, Dr Liam Magee, Dr Liam McGarty, A/Prof Amanda Third, Dr Michael Ungar, Dr Sherene Idriss
Western Sydney University, Victoria University
- 2023: $152,089
- 2022: $152,089
- 2020: $163,325
- 2019: $112,204
CRIS 2.0 ¿ The future of the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies
Prof Michele Grossman AM, Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh, Mr Mark Duckworth, Prof Anita Harris, Dr Josh Roose
Western Sydney University
- 2024: $47,500
Supervisions
Neda Zeyghami
Thesis entitled: Continuity and change in Iran's foreign policy towards Russia
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Arif Saba
Thesis entitled: Norm Contestation in International Relations: The Responsibility to Protect and China
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Ghollam Farasoo
Thesis entitled: The Impacts of Proxy War on Afghanistan
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Safiullah Taye
Thesis entitled: Negotiating a Securitised aid within a Fragile State: Afghanistan¿s challenges in negotiating subnational aid allocation (Australia and Germany 2002-2018)
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Azadeh Davachi
Thesis entitled: A Study of Multiculturalism and Feminism in the Lives of Iranian Feminists in Australia
Master of Arts, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Reem Sweid
Thesis entitled: The Governmentality of ¿Radicalisation¿ and its Discontents: A Critique of the Problematisation of ¿Radicalisation¿ in Australian and UK Policy
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Sara Cheikh Husain
Thesis entitled: Muslim Community Organisations' Understanding of and Responses to Islamophobia
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Jack Jacovou
Thesis entitled: An Analysis of Turkey as a Hybrid Regime: 1960-2002
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Tezcan Gumus
Thesis entitled: Turkey's failure to consolidate democracy and the role of political leaders
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Raden Yasin
Thesis entitled: The attitude of PKS on the implementation of Sharia in democratic Indonesia.
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences