Rate My Professor Tamar Shiriniani

Tamar Shirinian is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She received her B.A. in Gender and Women’s Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007 and her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology, with a Certificate in Feminist Studies, from Duke University in 2016. Prior to her appointment at the University of Tennessee, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Millsaps College.

Shirinian’s research focuses on queer anthropology, transnational feminisms, political economy, post-socialism, psychoanalysis, and medical and psychological anthropology, with particular emphasis on the Republic of Armenia. Her work examines connections between sexuality, morality, and political processes in postsocialist contexts. She is the author of the book Survival of a Perverse Nation: Morality and Queer Possibility in Armenia, published by Duke University Press in 2024, which received the Ruth Benedict Prize. Shirinian has published articles on topics including digital inauthenticity and political tactics in Armenia, gendered hierarchies, and queer political methods. Her academic interests also extend to questions of access and equity in mental healthcare in the United States.