ד"ר רייצ'ל קנץ-פידר

סגל אקדמי בכיר במרכז אליאנס ללימודים איראניים

דואר אלקטרוני: rachelkantz@gmail.com; rachelka@post.tau.ac.il

Dr. Rachel Kantz Feder is a researcher at the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University. Her work in intellectual history focuses on modern Shi‘i religion, culture, and politics, as well as the modern histories of Iran and Iraq. Her research examines Islamism, leftist movements, revolutionary ideologies, and the history of modern psychology in the Middle East.

Education

June 2017: Ph.D., Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University

Title: Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and the Foundations of Modernization and Revivalism in Shi‘ism, 1946-1980

Supervisors: Prof. Meir Litvak and Prof. David Menashri

June 2010: M.A., Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University, magna cum laude

June 2008: B.A., Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University, magna cum laude

Academic and Professional Experience

Recent Awards and Scholarships

· Haifa University Integrated Postdoctoral Scholarship 2018-2020

· Short-term Visitorship at Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, NJ, School of Historical Studies, Shi‘i Studies Research Program 2018

Peer-Reviewed Publications

· Revolutionary Shi‘i Modernism in Iraq: The Thought and Legacy of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2026).

 · “Fatima's Revolutionary Image in Fadak fi al-Ta’rikh: The Inception of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr's Intellectual and Political Activism,” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Special Issue: Intellectuals in the Modern Middle East, Vol. 41, No. 1 (2014), pp. 79-96.

 · The above article was also published in Intellectual Dynamics in the Middle East and North Africa, ed. Ewan Stein, (London: Routledge, 2015).

· “The Evolution of National Identity and the Constitution-Drafting Process in the Kurdistan-Iraq Region,” in The Kurds: Nation-Building in a Fragmented Homeland, ed. Ofra Bengio, (Austin: Texas University Press, 2014), pp. 99-117.

Selected Other Publications

• “Iraqi-Israeli Normalization: Economic Solution or Accelerant of Internal Division?" in "The New Normal? Arab States and Normalization with Israel" Konrad Adenauer Foundation, April 7, 2021.
• “The ‘Civil State’ and Public Discourse on Religion-State Relations in Post-Mubarak Egypt,” Tzomet HaMizrach HaTichon, Vol. 7, No. 8, August 6, 2017. (in Hebrew)
• “The ‘Civil State’ in Arab Political Discourse after the Arab Spring,” Tel Aviv Notes Vol. 8, No. 10, May 26, 2014.
• “Obstacles to Iranian Influence in Iraq: Shi‘i Leaders’ Pattern of Oscillation and Turkey’s Increasing Footprint,” OpenDemocracy.net, July 3, 2011. 

Selected International Conferences and Lectures

– “Specters of Shariati: Iranian-Arab Mutual Intellectual Exchange and the Islamic Left,” Tel Aviv University, Department of Middle Eastern and African History, April 2025

 “‘New Horizons’ in Iranian Anti-Americanism and Antisemitism,” London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, London, 2022.

“Cultural Diplomacy in the Struggle against the United States: ‘New Horizons’ in Iran’s Soft War,” Iran: 45 Years of Revolution: Challenges and Achievements, Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, Tel Aviv University, 2024.

"‘New Horizons’ in Iranian Cultural Diplomacy: Nader Talebzadeh, Alexander Dugin, and Iran's Soft War,” The Middle East & Islamic Studies Association of Israel’s 47th annual conference, Open University, Ra’anna, 2024.

“Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and the Struggle for Martyr's Day in post-2003 Iraq,” Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa, Washington D.C., 2024.

“The Struggle for Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr's Authority in Exile: Intra-Iraqi Shi‘i Splits amid Shifting Political Dynamics, 1980-2003,” Middle East Studies Association, Annual Conference, 2019.

“The Emergence of Psychology in Iran and Iraq: Perspectives from the ‘Ulama’,” presented at University of Chicago, April 2016.

Selected Courses Taught:

Intellectual History of the Arab Middle East and Iran

The History of Modern Iraq (M.A. level)

The Emergence of Modern Psychology in Arab Middle East and Iran

Research and Methodology Seminar (M.A. level)

Islamic Law in the Modern Era (B.A. level)

Islamic Philosophy in the Modern Era (B.A. level)