Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies Tahereh Aghdasifar was awarded a Career Enhancement Fellowship by the Mellon Foundation’s Institute for Citizens & Scholars. Selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants, Aghdasifar is one of 10 recipients nationwide to receive a full-year award, which she is using to complete her book manuscript Ugly in Persian (and Other Stories of Queer Refraction).

Grounded in queer forms of care, Ugly in Persian is about the liberatory potential of ugly objects (such as hostile performance art, aggressive punk music, unfunny or uncanny sitcoms, and anti-archives). The project will demonstrate what unbecoming, illegible, and ugly acts can teach us about liberatory futures—particularly in regard to U.S./Iranian studies.

Citizens & Scholars Fellows are selected for the innovation of their research and the unique perspectives their work adds to their disciplines. Aghdasifar’s scholarship is grounded in women of color feminisms and queer of color critique, and Ugly in Persian reflects her commitment to research and service that increases diversity and inclusion on campus.

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