Bahman Khodadadi

Dr. Bahman Khodadadi is the PIL-LC Research Fellow at the Program in Islamic Law at Harvard Law School and the Library of Congress for the 2024–2025 academic year. Prior to this, he served as a Research Associate at the Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization at Yale Law School.

Dr. Khodadadi’s expertise lies in Islamic law and Middle Eastern Studies, with a specialized focus on Shiite Islamic jurisprudence. His current research spans a wide array of topics, including Iranian studies, the sociology of law, the history of Islamic law, criminal law theory, and the politico-juridical dynamics within Islamic jurisprudence, particularly in the Shi’a tradition. He completed his PhD at the University of Münster, Germany, in 2021, with his dissertation receiving summa cum laude honors. His book, On Theocratic Criminal Law: The Rule of Religion and Punishment in Iran, was recently published by Oxford University Press, with endorsements from many internationally esteemed scholars.

Dr. Khodadadi has also recently published an article “Nowhere but Everywhere”: The Principle of Legality and the Complexities of Judicial Discretion in Iran, which appeared in the Iranian Studies Journal (Cambridge University Press). His forthcoming article will be published in the Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities (Vol. 35). He has served as editor and peer reviewer for several prestigious journals, including the Journal of Islamic Law (Harvard) and the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.

His academic achievements have been widely recognized, earning him the esteemed Harry Westermann Award for the best doctoral dissertation at the University of Münster, as well as two DAAD awards in 2016 and 2023. From 2015 to 2023, Dr. Khodadadi was an active member of the Excellence Cluster: Religion and Politics in Germany, where he contributed to various research projects. In addition to his scholarly work, he is an accomplished author and lecturer, with numerous publications, translated articles, and lecture engagements across Europe, including in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Ireland.

Email: [email protected]