Mehrdad Babadi is a cultural anthropologist specializing in marriage and gender, modern intimacies, the transition to adulthood and masculinities in Iran and the broader Middle East. He earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at Boston University in May 2023. His dissertation, “Marriage Postponed: The Transformation of Intimacy in Contemporary Iran,” utilized ethnographic and interview-based data to explore new patterns of youth intimacy, the evolution of young people’s perspectives on premarital relationships and the reasons behind the widespread delay in marriage among university-educated young Iranians. Babadi integrates sociocultural, psychological and moral perspectives to explain the primary reasons for the delay in marriage. His research concludes that the postponement of marriage, along with the rise of premarital and non-marriage practices such as dating and cohabitation, has transformed intimacy in contemporary Iran, leading to significant changes in gender relations and family structure.

Babadi’s work has been published in Waithood (edited by Marcia Inhorn and Nancy Smith-Hefner) and Zanan-e Emrooz, the leading feminist journal in Iran. He is currently preparing the manuscript of an article titled “Rhyme of Romance: How Persian Poetry Influences the Love Lives of Iranian Youth.” This article explores the role and impact of classical Persian poetry on the romantic lives of youth in contemporary Iran, particularly in helping them navigate their moral ambiguities.

At Brown University, Babadi is working on the publication of his first book manuscript based on his dissertation research, as well as writing two articles on Iranian cinema. Additionally, he teaches a course on the Ethics and Politics of Intimacy in the Middle East and another on the Aesthetics and Politics of Iranian Cinema. The latter course was complemented by two Iranian cinema series in the 2024-2025 academic year: the fall 2024 Iranian Cinema Series focused on the contributions of Iranian women directors and the spring 2025 series reexamined the pivotal role of the FilmFarsi genre in shaping Iranian cinema.