Hessam Dehghani is an educator with dual PhDs: one in Linguistics from Allameh Tabatabai University (2011) and another in Philosophy from Boston College (2019). His academic career spans specialized research in Islamic philosophy, Persianate Sufi literature, and Critical Pedagogy combining deep linguistic expertise with a philosophical understanding of Hermeneutics and Phenomenology and critical heritage education. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at University College Dublin and at Harvard University, focusing on Islamic and Persianate Sufism, Phenomenology, and the critical study of Sufi Literature. Since 2021, he has directed the Persian Program at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and serves as the founder and director of UBC’s Persian Literature Reading Club (UPLRC), which offers weekly reading sessions and monthly talks to foster a deeper understanding of Persian literature and culture.

Hessam Dehghani regularly presents on topics such as critical study of Persian Literature and Culture, and Critical Pedagogy, having lectured at prestigious venues like Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge University and UBC’s Alireza Ahmadian Lecture Series.

Hessam Dehghani is actively involved in developing:

• A series of online interactive lesson plans for Persian language teachers (forthcoming)
• Dastan Asan, a four-volume online interactive coursebook designed for heritage learners of Persian (forthcoming)
• Online Persian learners’ dictionary of Literary Terms (forthcoming)

• 2023 Dean of Arts’ Leadership and Innovation Award at UBC, in acknowledgment of his influential work in developing the Persian Language Program and his commitment to curriculum innovation and community-building initiatives.
• 2022 Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) for the project, “Interactive Web-based Course Material for Learning Alphabet and Basic Literacy Skills for Heritage Students of Persian”
• 2018 The Donald J. White Teaching Excellence Awards Teaching Excellence Award, Granted at Boston College
• 2018–2019 Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy Fellowship for Studying Democracy and Community in Islam
• 2018–2019 Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy Fellowship for Studying Democracy and Community in Islam
• 2017–2018 Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy Fellowship for Studying Phenomenology of Community
• 2016–2017 Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy Fellowship for Studying Contemporary French Philosophy