Mohammad Khorsandrou

I am a third-year PhD candidate in the Department of History at the University of Toronto, specializing in the modern history of the Middle East and the Mediterranean. My research focuses on Iran in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular attention to questions of modernity, urban transformation, and the experiences of minority communities. I am especially interested in how processes of socio-economic change and state-building intersected with the lives of religious and ethnic minorities, and how these dynamics shaped broader narratives of Middle Eastern modernity.My academic interests extend to themes of empire, colonial encounters, and comparative frameworks that situate Iranian history within global contexts. I work with a wide range of sources, including archival documents, newspapers, maps, and communal records, and I am committed to integrating local histories into broader transnational and theoretical debates. Beyond my doctoral research, I am passionate about teaching, particularly in helping students engage critically with historical texts and questions of methodology.