Zackery Mirza Heern
Associate Dean for the Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Arts and Letters, Professor of History - Middle East, Islam, World History
Office: LA 333
Education
Ph.D., University of Utah, History
M.A., University of Utah, Middle East Studies
B.A., UCLA, History
Research and Teaching Interests
Middle East, Islam, World History, Iran, Iraq, Shiʿism, Bábí and Bahá’í studies, Arabic, Persian
Books
The Emergence of Modern Shi‘ism: Islamic Reform in Iraq and Iran. London: Oneworld Publications, 2015.
Shi‘i Law and Leadership: The Influence of Mortaza Ansari. Saarbrucken, Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
“The Bāb and ʿAlī Muḥammad, Islamic and Post-Islamic: Multiple Meanings in the Writings of Sayyid ʿAlī Muḥammad Shīrāzī (1819– 1850),” Religions, 2023.
“Muḥammad Bāqir al-Ṣadr (d. 1980),” The Encyclopaedia of Islam Three, Edited by Kate Fleet, et. al. Leiden: Brill, 2022: 23-28.
“Muḥammad Bāqir al-Majlisī (d. 1110/1698),” The Encyclopaedia of Islam Three, Edited by Kate Fleet, et. al. Leiden: Brill, 2022: 84-90.
“Shiʿi Educational Traditions and Systems in Early Modern Iraq and Iran,” in History of Early Modern Educational Thought. Edited by Cristiano Casalini, et. al. Leiden: Brill, 2021.
“Muḥammad Bāqir Khwānsārī (1811-1895),” The Encyclopaedia of Islam Three, Edited by Kate Fleet, et. al. Leiden: Brill, 2020: 97-98.
“Ijtihad and Anti-Ijtihad in Shiʿi History,” in Ijtihad and Taqlid: Past, Present, and Future. Birmingham: Al-Mahdi Institute, 2019.
“Muḥammad Ibrāhīm Kalbāsī (1766–1845),” The Encyclopaedia of Islam Three, Edited by Kate Fleet, et. al. Leiden: Brill, 2019: 79-80.
“Āyatallāh Abū l-Qāsim Kāshānī (1882–1962),” The Encyclopaedia of Islam Three, Edited by Kate Fleet, et. al. Leiden: Brill, 2019: 90-92.
“Three Sources of Shiʿi Knowledge and Authority: Texts, Reason, and Mysticism in Islamic Intellectual History,” Journal of Shiʿa Islamic Studies. Winter-Spring 2018 Vol. XI, No. 1-2, pp. 43-78.
“One Thousand Years of Islamic Education in Najaf: Myth and History of the Shi‘i Hawza,” Iranian Studies. Vol. 50, Issue 3, 2017, pp. 415-438
“Thou Shalt Emulate the Most Knowledgeable Living Cleric: Redefinition of Islamic Law and Authority in Usuli Shi‘ism,” Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies. Vol. VII, No. 3, Summer 2014, pp. 321-344.
“Minority Religions in the Middle East: 1250-1920,” in Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, Edited by Andrea L. Stanton, et. al. Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2012, pp. 159-162.
Selected Public-Facing Articles
“Who are the Bahaʾis and why are they so persecuted?” The Conversation, 2017.
“Iran’s Presidential Elections and Renewed Efforts to Release Bahaʾi Leaders,” Muftah, 2017.
“Understanding the Emergence of Modern Shiʿism,” Your Middle East, 2015.
“Iranian Ayatollah Defends Bahaʾi Rights and Goes Head-to-Head with the Regime,” Your Middle East and Iran Press Watch, 2014.
“Empty Charm or Game Changing Substance? How to Read Iran,” World Affairs Journal and Your Middle East, 2013.
“Propaganda of Death Becomes Reality for Bahaʾis in Iran,” Your Middle East, 2013.
“Iran’s Human Rights Crisis and the Bahaʾi Faith,” Your Middle East, 2013.
Courses Taught
ARBC 1101 Elementary Arabic I
ARBC 1102 Elementary Arabic II
HIST 1102 World History II
HIST 2254 Middle East History and Culture
HIST 4419/5519 History of World Religions
HIST 4476/5576 Modern Middle East
HIST 4454/5554 Modern Iraq and Iran
HIST 4474/5574 Islam in the Modern World
HIST 4440/5540 History of Revolutions
HIST 4491 Seminar
HIST 6600 Proseminar