HAJAR YAZDIHA, PH.D.
Sociologist. Thinker. Writer.
ABOUT DR. HAJAR YAZDIHA
Hajar Yazdiha is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California, faculty affiliate of the USC Equity Research Institute, and a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar (2023-2025). Dr. Yazdiha received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She researches the politics of inclusion and exclusion, examining the forces that bring us together and keep us apart as we work to forge collective futures. In addition to award-winning articles, she is the author of the new book, The Struggle for the People’s King: How Politics Transforms the Memory of the Civil Rights Movement (Princeton University Press). This book investigates the political misuses of the memory of civil rights and Dr. King to make sense of how distorting the past matters for our democracy today. Dr. Yazdiha is also a public scholar whose writing and research has been featured in outlets including The New York Times, LA Times, ABC News, The Hill, and USA Today.