Victoria Tahmasebi-Birgani

Areas of Interest

• Feminist theories in relation to continental and transnational contexts
• Critical theories of women’s movements in the Middle East
• Digital activism
• Theories of ethics
• Contemporary history of social and political thought

Dr. Tahmasebi-Birgani welcomes graduate applications in the following research areas: Women in the Middle East, Social Theories of Digital Activism, and Feminist History of Ideas in Transnational Context.

Biography

Victoria Tahmasebi-Birgani is an Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies, in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto in Mississauga, and Women and Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto. Dr. Tahmasebi is an interdisciplinary scholar whose areas of specialization encompass feminist theories in relation to continental and transnational contexts, critical theories of women’s movements in the Middle East, digital activism, theories of ethics, and contemporary history of social and political thought.  

Her recent publications include Emmanuel Levinas and Politics of Non-Violence (University of Toronto Press, 2014) as well as refereed articles in Subversive Itinerary (University of Toronto Press, 2013), Civil Society and Democracy in Iran (Lexington Books, 2012), Iran’s Struggles for Social Justice (Lexington books, 2017), and in journals such as Philosophy and Social Criticism, and Constellations: An International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory.   

Education

Ph.D., Social and Political Thought, York University, Social and Political Thought Programme, Toronto, Canada.    

M.A., Social and Political Thought, York University, Social and Political Thought Programme, Toronto, Canada.   

B.A., High Distinction: Double Major in Sociology and Women’s Studies, Minor in Political Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. 

Selected Works

Emmanuel Levinas and the Politics of Non-Violence (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014)   

 

 “Social Media as a Site of Transformative Politics and Political Dissent: Iranian Women’s Online Contestations,” in Iran’s Struggles for Social Justice: Economics, Agency, Justice, and Activism, edited by Peyman Vahabzadeh (New York/London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2017), pg. 181-198. 

  

“The Sexed Body of the Woman-(M)Other: Irigaray and Marcuse on the Intersection of Gender and Ethical Intersubjectivity,” in Subversive itinerary : the thought of Gad Horowitz, eds. Shannon Bell and Peter Kulchyski (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013), pg. 174-193.   

   

“Does Levinas Justify or Transcend Liberalism?: Levinas on Human liberation,” Philosophy and  Social Criticism, Volume 36(5), June, 2010, pg.  523-544.   

   

“Green Women of Iran: The Role of the Women’s Movement During and After Iran’s   

Presidential Election of 2009,” Constellations: An International Journal of Critical and   

Democratic Theory, (March 2010), 17 (1), pg. 78-86.  Reprinted in Civil Society and   

Democracy in Iran, ed. Ramin Jahanbegloo (New York: Lexington Books, 2012), pg. 159-170.    

   

 “Levinas, Nietzsche and Benjamin’s ‘Divine Violence,’” in Difficult Justice: Commentaries on Levinas and Politics, Ed. A. Horowitz and G. Horowitz (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006), pg. 172-190.   

Honours and Awards

Teaching

Undergraduate Courses:

WGS435Y: Women and Gender Studies Practicum 

WGS200Y: Theories in Women and Gender Studies   

WGS202H: Fundamentals of Research in Women and Gender Studies   

WGS215H: Women, Politics and the State   

WGS210H: Women and Work in Contemporary Canada   

WGS355H: Wired Women: Gender, Cyberspace and New Information Technology   

WGS337H: Women, the State and Public Policy   

WGS369Y: Gender, Colonialism and Cultural Resistance   

WGS420H: Engendering Human Rights   

WGS434H: Engendering Ethics   

Graduate Courses:

WGSI5001HS, Feminist Theories, Histories, Movements 

WGSI1009HS, Graduate Seminar: Gender and CyberPolitics