Simin Amini
M.A. Art History. Alzahra University. Tehran, Iran
M.A. Near and Middle Eastern Studies. SOAS University of London.
B.A. Fashion and textile design. Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
Research interests: Ancient Iran Art and Archaeology, Persian mythology and literature, Zoroastrianism, Islamic Art art and Archaeology, Museum Studies.
Amirali Ardekanian
B.A., Art History, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Interests: The History of Photography in Iran, The reception of Ancient Iran during 19th and 20th Century, Iran.
Melissa DePierro
M.A. Art History, University of Georgia
B.A. (with distinction) Art History and Classical Archaeology, UNC Chapel Hill
Research Interest: Cross cultural interactions between Persian and Greco-Roman empires, animals in antiquity, Roman mosaics, Roman North Africa, Achemenid Egypt, Late antiquity
Mark Gradoni
First Field: Middle Eastern History
Second Field: World History
Specialization: Ancient Iran and the Premodern Persian World
Thematic Emphases: Ancient Economy, Numismatics, Legitimacy and Authority, Cultural Syntheses, Identity, Control and Popular Resistance
Biographic/Research Abstract:
Mark Gradoni studies the Middle East and Central Asia in Late Antiquity, particularly Sasanian Ērānšahr and the broader Iranian cultural sphere. His research seeks to incorporate art historical and archaeological methodologies for the study of material cultural production with traditional historical scrutiny of written sources to create a more integrated approach to the study of the economic and social history of the ancient Iranian world.
Mark holds a M.A. in the Humanities from Hood College, where he studied the art history and archaeology of the ancient Near East, as well as a pair of B.A.s in Ancient Studies and History from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is also a trained archaeologist, and has conducted survey and exaction fieldwork on various projects in the eastern United States, Romania, and Jordan.