Kiana Karimi

Ph.D. '23, M.A. '16

Kiana Karimi

Kiana Karimi is a writer and translator specializing in gender, trauma, performance, and contemporary Iran. Her dissertation, "Thinking Through a Thinned Skin: Examining Skin at the Intersection of Postcolonial Trauma and Performance," was awarded the 2024 Deena Burton Award for outstanding scholarship. It explores the skin as a site where political and collective trauma are inscribed and performed. Kiana’s writing has appeared in The Nation, the blog section of London Review of Books, ARTogether, HarrassWatch (Farsi), Meidaan (Farsi), and Spectrum: Journal of Gender Studies (Farsi).

She currently serves as Executive Director of Guernica: A Magazine of Global Arts and Politics.

Education

New York University

Ph.D. - Performance Studies

New York, New York

 

New York University

Master of Arts - Performance Studies

New York, New York

 

Ferdowsi University

Bachelor of Science - Electrical Engineering and System Design

Mashhad, Iran

Professional Positions

• Executive Director, Guernica: A Magazine of Global Arts and Politics

 

Awards & Distinctions

• NYU Provost Global Research Initiatives Fellowship, 2020

• Alpine Fellowship Award, 2019

• Urban Democracy Lab Doctoral Fellowship, NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, 2019

• Graduate Creative Research, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, 2018

• Corrigan Fellowship Award, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, 2016

• Dean's Supplementary Fellowship Grant, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, 2016

• Emerging Scholar Award, NYU Department of Performance Studies, 2016

• Outstanding Academic Achievement Award, New York University, 2014

• Excellence Under the Stars Award for “Outstanding Contribution to the Diversity Program”,  Scottsdale Community College, 2008 ­ 

• Kendra Morris Philanthropic Scholarship, Scottsdale Community College, 2008

• Chandler/­Gilbert Community College Sustainability Day Award for “Contribution to Environmental Sustainability”, Scottsdale Community College, 2008

• Member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, 2008 ­ 

• Member of Maricopa Psi Gamma Honor Chapter, Scottsdale Community College, 2007

 

Articles & Publications

• "Small-Town Iran Rises Up," LRB Blog, 2018