Arezou Azad

Biography

I am a historian of the medieval Persianate world, specialising in the social, economic, and cultural history of Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia. My research combines history, philology, archaeology, and digital humanities to recover the lives of people through newly discovered documentary sources, placing the eastern Persianate world more firmly at the centre of the history of medieval Eurasia and the Silk Roads.

I am Lauréate de la Chaire et Professeur Junior in the Art and Heritage of Afghanistan at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (Inalco), Paris, and Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Invisible East Programme at the University of Oxford. I was previously a lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Birmingham (2013-2019). Through Invisible East, I lead an international research programme that edits, translates, digitises, and studies documentary texts in Persian, Judeo-Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Bactrian, Sogdian, Uyghur, and Chinese.

Alongside my research, I work with schools, museums, and cultural organisations to make the history of the Persianate world accessible to wider audiences. Before returning to academia, I worked as a civilian peacekeeper with the United Nations in post-conflict societies in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia, an experience that continues to inform my interest in the relationship between history, cultural heritage, and contemporary society.

Current Projects

Director/Chair of :

Invisible East programme: https://invisibleeast.site.ox.ac.uk/home
Invisible East Digital Corpus: https://invisible-east.org
Art and History of Afghanistan: https://www.inalco.fr/actualites/creation-de-la-chaire-arts-et-patrimoine-de-lafghanistan

Courses Taught

Introduction to the History of Medieval Islam (BA)
Introduction to the History of the Medieval Iranian world (BA)
Cities of Paradise: A Study of Medieval Cities in the Iranian world (BA)
Courses of medieval history, methods and approaches in medieval studies (Master’s level)
Persian medieval text reading courses (BA, MA, doctoral levels)
Sacred Landscape of the eastern Iranian world (Master’s level)
Heritage of Afghanistan (Master’s level)

Educational Background

I received my DPhil (doctorate) from Oxford's Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (formerly, the Oriental Institute), after which I co-directed the Balkh Art and Cultural Heritage Project with Edmund Herzig, funded by the Leverhulme Trust 2011-2015. I have Master’s degrees in Oriental Studies (University of Oxford), International Relations (Columbia University) and Public Health (Columbia University).