The Shiʿi Studies Network is excited to announce a new lecture series, Reflections on Shiʿi Studies. The series aims to act as a forum for scholars working on the academic study of Shiʿi Islam to reflect on the state and fate of the field. Over the past few decades, scholarship on Shiʿism has grown significantly, with major contributions reshaping our understanding of the history and development of Shiʿi Islam from its emergence until the present day. However, dominant analytical frameworks still often reflect reductive assumptions, shaped by sectarian or minority-status framings. This series brings together leading scholars to critically reflect on these dynamics, share insights from their respective areas of focus, and propose new methodological and conceptual approaches to move the field forward.
Join us for the next instalment of this ongoing lecture series where we will be joined by Yaser Mirdamadi, Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies.
The lecture will be held online over Zoom. To join, please register here and you will receive a link to join. You will need to register to attend the lecture. For those having difficulty registering with their institutional accounts, please use your personal email address to register instead. If you are still having difficulties, please get in touch.
Yaser Mirdamadi
Research Associate
Institute of Ismaili Studies
Yaser Mirdamadi integrates a classical seminary education from the Hawza ʿIlmiyya of Mashhad with contemporary academic scholarship. In addition to his seminary background he holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Edinburgh, where he was the inaugural recipient of the Muhammad Arkoun Doctoral Scholarship. His core research interests lie at the intersection of philosophical and political theology, the philosophy of religion, modern Islam, and Muslim ethics. Previously a Visiting Teaching Fellow in Muslim ethics at Maktoum College, Dundee, he joined the Institute of Ismaili Studies in 2016 to research Muslim biomedical ethics. His scholarship reflects a continuous effort to bring Islamic intellectual traditions into active, critical conversation with modern philosophical frameworks. Notable recent publications include the co-authored study “Approaches to Muslim Biomedical Ethics: A Classification and Critique” in the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (2023), alongside “Why I Am Muslim,” featured in The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Philosophy and Religion (2022), and his essay “Friendly (A)theism: A Philosophical-Theological Defence,” published in the edited volume Islamic Perspectives on God and (Other) Monotheism(s) (AMI Press, 2025).