Mahdi Soleimanieh was born in Iran (Qom) in 1980. He completed his bachelor's degree in Sociology (2003-2007) at University of Beheshti (the National University of Iran) and finalized his master's study also in Sociology at University of Tehran in 2011. ï

He got his Ph.D. in Sociology from University of Tehran in 2018. His Ph.D. dissertation titled "Biographies in Sociology: the Discussed and Neglected Points in Autobiographies of the Shiite Clergy" (link) was in the fields of Sociology of Religion (with focus on the Shiite Islam and Shiite clergy) and Biographical Sociology.

He has been the research and teacher assistant of Dr. Sara Shariati (a professor of Sociology at University of Tehran). He is one of the founders and members of the Circle of Sociology of Shia Studies founded in 2011 under the supervision of Dr. Sara Shariati. (link)

He won the 2021 Postdoctoral SGES Scholarship (Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship) and is now working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Religious Studies at UZH.

• Sociology of Religion (with focus on Sociology of the Shiite Islam and the Shiite clergy)
• Sociology of Art (with focus on cultural and artistic heritage of the Muslim societies)
• Sociology of Culture (with focus on Iranian post-revolutionary independent cultural institutes and their evolutions)
• Biographical Sociology

Religion Encountering the Social Question

Mahdi Soleimanieh, an Iranian sociologist, has recently started working on his postdoctoral project titled "Religion Encountering the Social Question: A Comparative Study on 'Social Islam' and 'Social Catholicism'" under the supervision of Profs. Uehlinger and Walthert at the Department of Religious Studies. During his one-year stay at UZH, his research is supported by a Swiss Government Excellence Fellowship.

The research project aims at drawing a comparison how two major religious traditions engaged the “social question” (that is, the challenges of socio-economic inequality and extreme poverty both domestic and global) during the second half of the 20th century. Soleimanieh will investigate the theoretical works of key thinkers such as Mahmoud Taleghani (1911-1979) and Habibollah Peyman (born 1935) as representatives of the religious intellectual Shiite tradition, alongside key exponents of European social catholicism and Latin American liberation theology.

Books

• (In Persian) Soleimanieh, M. and Tabatabaie Y., L. (2020), the Bird and the Fire; A Sociological Study on Non-governmental Cultural Institutes in Post-revolutionary Iran, Arma Publishing Co. (Link)
• (In Persian) Soleimanieh, M. et al. (2018), Arba'in March: What We Know and don't Know about, in Mazaheri, M. H. (Ed.), Arba’in March: Sociological Reflections, Arma Publishing Co.  (Link)
• (In Persian) Soleimanieh, M. (2017), From Bridging the Gap to an Isolated Island (Sociological Reflections on the Status of the Shiite clergy in Post-revolutionary Iran), Arma Publishing Co. (Link)
• (In Persian) Shariati, Sara, Mahdi Soleimanieh, Arman Zakeri, Kamal Razavi et al. (2017), A Critical bibliography of Sociology of Shia in Iran, Tehran: Negah-e-Moaser Publication. (Link)
• (In Persian) Omidi, Reza and Soleimanieh, Mahdi (2017), An Analytical Bibliography of Social Welfare and Policy in Iran, Tehran, Social Security Organization Research Institute. (Link)
• Soleimanieh, M. (2014), Living as a Talabah (Shiite Seminary Student): An Introduction to Sociological Typology of the Life Style of Islamic Clergy Students, Negah e Moaser Publication. (Link)

Peer-reviewed Articles

• (in French) Soleimanieh, M. (2020), Enquête La Vie Quotidienne des étudiants du Hozeh de Qom, Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions (The study Shiite seminary students daily life), No. 188.  ISSN: 0335-5985. Accessible at: https://journals.openedition.org/assr/50102
• (in Persian) Soleimanieh, M. and Shariati, S. (2020), “Biographical Texts in History of Iran and Muslim Societies”, Quarterly of Iranian Association of Cultural Studies and Communications.
• (in Persian) Soleimanieh, M., Shariati, S., Javadi Yegane, M. H. and Etemedifard, M. (2018), “A Social Typology of Clergies Autobiographies”, Quarterly of Iranian Association of Cultural Studies and Communications. Accessible at: http://jcsc.iaocsc.ir/article_35565.html
• (in Persian) Soleimanieh, M. (2018), “Standing against Oblivion: Center and Margin in Social Historiography of Hawza”, Journal of People’s History, Issue No. 6 and 7,  pp. 6-15. Accessible at: Journal of People’s History
• (in English and Turkish) Coskun, I. and Soleimanieh, M. (2018). Kadin ve Başortüsünün Sosyo-Politigi: Iran va Turkiye Ornekleri. (The Anatomy of a Sociopolitical Challenge: Islamic Hijab; Iran & Turkey), Muhafazakar Düşünce Dergisi 41-42. Sayı: Kadın, 113.‏, ISSN: 1304-8864. Accessible at: Google books
• (in Persian) Shariati, S. and Soleimanieh, M. (2016), “Sociological Characteristics of Religious Studies Students in the Hawza of Qom”, the Scientific Journal of Shiite Studies, Issue No. 50. Accessible at: Journal of Shiite studies
• (in Persian) Shariati, S. and Soleimanieh, M. (2013), “Bureaucratization of Shiite Seminary from a Weberian Perspective: Processes, Challenges and Resistance”, Journal of Iranian Social Studies, Iranian Sociological Association, Issue No. 7, pp. 81-112 Accessible at: http://www.ensani.ir/storage/Files/20131015134905-9571-100.pdf

Paper and Presentation (Selected)

• (Iran) 2019, “Our Artistic Heritage and Social Cohesion: A Reflection of Art’s Role in Reconstruction of “Our Cultural Selves” from Shayegan and Shariati’s Perspectives”, The Fourth Conference of Conceptual and Theoretical Reflections on Iranian Society, Tehran, Iranian Sociological Association.
• (Iran) 2019, “Diminishing Social Integration among Islamic Sects”, The Forth Conference of Conceptual and Theoretical Reflections on Iranian Society: Iranian Sociological Association.
• (Iran) 2017, "Are the Lives of the Clergymen Narrated?", Allame Tabatabaie University, Iranian Sociological Association, The Forth National Conference on Sociological and Cultural Research in Iranian Society.
• (Iran) 2016, “Grand Ayatollahs (Marja') and the Family Institution: An Analysis of Religious Questions (Estefta') as a Social Act”, The Third Conference of Conceptual and Theoretical Reflections on Iranian Society, Tehran, Iranian Sociological Association.
• (France) 2015, "Transforms of Transformer: A Study on Internal Planned changes in Qom Hawza after 1979", Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), CéSor et IISMM, France, Paris  Conference of "Le Fait Religieux en Iran", Invited speaker , travel grant by IFRI,. Accessible at: http://iismm.ehess.fr/index.php?1540)
• (Iran) 2015, “Shariati and the Clergymen: 40 years after Revolution", The First International Conference of Shariati and the Future of Humanities, Tehran: Iranian Sociological Association and Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
• (Iran) 2014, "Sociology of Shia's Bibliography: a Meta-analysis", Iranian Sociological Association (ISA) and the Circle of Sociology of Shia Studies, The 1st conference of Sociology of Shia: Necessities, Definitions and Findings", Tehran, Iran, University of Tehran.
• (Iran) 2013, "Social Thought in the Shiite Hawza of the Middle East; Two Plans (Motahhari and Musa Sadr)", Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, The 3rd International Conference on Social Thought and Society in Middle East and North Africa.
• (Iran) 2012, "Qom Shiite Hawza: Bureaucratization and Life Style", Iranian Sociological Association (ISA), Sociology of religion circle.
• (France) 2011, "Changing the concept of Zohd (Asceticism) among the Young Talabes (Shiite Clergy Students of Qom)", The 31st International Conference of ISSR (International Society for the Sociology of Religion), "Religion and Economy in a Global World", France, Aix-en-Province.

• 2020, Introduction to Sociology (for BA students), University of Tehran.
• 2018-2020, Qualitative Research Methodology (for MA students), Science and Culture University.
• 2018-2020, Skills of Academic Writing and Presentation (for MA students), Pars University.
• 2018, Sociology of Art (for BA students), Pars University.
• 2018-2019, Research in Iranian and Islamic Art (for BA students), Pars University. 
• 2017, Lessons on Sociology of Death (a short-term course and workshop at Tehran University). 
• 2016, Lessons on Max Weber’s Sociological Thought (Rokhdad-e-Tazeh Research Institute).