(*) Cultural Studies & Ethnology of America - What's it all about?

Culture has several definitions. I consider culture as a way of living encompassing history, traditions, customs, beliefs, laws, thoughts, literature, art, architecture, music and anything that would give meaning to people's life. In that sense, culture is a combination of several aspects, all of which should be considered together to get an understanding of how people live.

What makes American culture unique is the way it's evolved as a conglomeration of several ethnic cultures over past centuries. Now, we may think again about the words of George Washington here speaking of diversity and how it builds one people out of many. Well, traces of American Exceptionalism could be observed at that early time; there is a certain (American) way of life and other people coming to the US have to be assimilated to that certain culture.

Nevertheless, studying American culture wouldn't make sense unless we know about various ethnic groups who've lived or settled there over the course of American history, before discovery of the continent by Europeans and after that.

Statement of Purpose

Since early years in my life, I have been fascinated with the study of society, people, the interactions in between and hence the changes that take place. Although financial need forced me to pursue my education and career in engineering (control and computer systems) to make a livelihood on my own, my interest in Sociology never subsided. In fact, I had read my first book in Sociology (by Ogburn & Nimkoff) when I was 10 years old, long before I knew much about engineering or computers.

My long-term passion for Sociology had its influence on my education as an engineer (and vice versa). Control Systems was my major when I studied Electrical Engineering (B.Sc., 1998, K.N. Toosi University of Technology). Studying Control Systems (System Theory in general), we devise a mathematical model for a real-world system to identify its input/output mappings (transfer function) and to know how the system functions, how various parameters (inputs, initial state, disturbances, feedback from outside and from within system) affect its functioning and stability, how is its dynamic behavior (transients) while going from a state to another and how the system could be controlled (with or without feedback). The system could be as simple as air conditioning at home or be as complicated as a power plant, a petrochemical plant or the production line in a factory (e.g. automotive).

Notions and rules of System Theory are also applicable when studying and analyzing human systems; though, they are expressed in different ways and terminology. However, social systems could not be so easily quantified into mathematical equations. Apart from the fact that the human mind is the most complicated system ever known, there exists a major difference between physical and human systems: elements in a human system could be affected not only from outside (e.g. by other members) but also from within (out of free will of the very element). This is what makes the study of human systems more challenging and yet more appealing.

My interest in the human mind is reflected in my bachelor's thesis: "A Study on Artificial Neural Networks & Effect of Flexibility on Their Performance" (1997) which was unanimously evaluated as excellent (20/20). Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are inspired by human brain and neural system. Study of ANNs (rooting in 1940s) has enjoyed increasing interest since 1980s and they have found widespread applications over past decade.

Among the papers that I have written, one is titled: "Interaction among Social Norms Affecting Marriage & Social Pathologies" which was awarded in the 2nd Symposium on Social Problems in Iran (June 2000).

My areas of interest in Sociology include: social change (especially as they relate to culture and politics), the role of religion in society, social networks, mass media & Internet, ethnic and diversity issues, social psychology and social problems. I am also interested in the study of art and history from a sociological standpoint.

After working for several years as an engineer, I could no longer resist going back to what I have loved so long; I decided to dedicate my life and career to sociological research. I believe my education (Control Systems) and my area of profession (Information Systems) have given me a systematic outlook and insight to complement what I have studied and what I will study in Sociology to achieve a better understanding of the dynamics of social change.

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Please visit my Curriculum Vitae here.