Meet Dr. Erfan Saidi Moqadam, pre-faculty fellow

Dr. Erfan Saidi Moqadam joined the Honors College and Department of Anthropology as a pre-faculty postdoctoral fellow in January 2023. Originally from Iran, Dr. Moqadam completed his Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Kentucky in 2022.

Dr. Moqadam specializes in the cultural anthropology of the United States, with a focus on migrant and minoritized communities, diasporic identity formation, and religious practice. His research expands understanding of what it means to be Muslim in the U.S. and how processes of belonging for immigrant communities are linked with racialization.

When asked to comment on his experience at Wayne State thus far and his plans to establish a new research project in Detroit, Dr. Moqadam reported:

"The first thing that excites me about being here at Wayne State is the visible diversity on campus, which of course reflects the city of Detroit. My new research is not going to be limited to Iranian and Middle Eastern communities. I plan to expand the scope of my inquiries to include the way racially and ethnically minoritized groups in the city of Detroit perceive categories of identity, such as race, religion, and ethnicity, through ethnohistorical and communal memories that extend beyond the U.S. social context. This semester, I plan to work on my publications, and also to develop my new research project by conducting exploratory fieldwork in the city of Detroit."

We look forward to what the future holds for Dr. Moqadam at Wayne State and in Detroit!

Check out Dr. Moqadam's recent interview with Dean John Corvino of the Honors College.