Prof. Soli Shahvar
Prof. Soli Shahvar is the Founding Director of the Ezri Center for Iran & Persian Gulf Studies and a senior faculty at the Dept. of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, both at the University of Haifa.
He holds a BA and MA (cum laude) from Tel Aviv University and a PhD from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
Apart from the University of Haifa, where he has been teaching since 1997, Shahvar had previously taught courses, both in Hebrew and English, at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and Tel Aviv University.
Prof. Shahvar’s publications focus mainly on modern Iran (since late 18th century) on domestic, regional and international aspects. Up to now (2020) he has published 3 books and edited 8 more, as well as many articles in professional and peer-reviewed journals. He also has contributed a number of entries to Encyclopedia Iranica – the leading encyclopedia in Iranian studies.
Prof. Shahvar is member of a number of international academic associations and societies, and a referee for a range of local and international academic bodies, periodicals and publishers. He is also a consultant and analyst to various bodies in and out of Israel, and a commentator on Iranian, Israeli and Middle Eastern affairs for Israeli and the international media in Hebrew, English and Persian, and has also published in those languages as well as in Italian.
Prof. Shahvar is a strong believer in the Iranian-Israeli rapprochement, and he is highly involved in Track II and III activity for bridging the gap between the Iranian and Israeli people and creating a constructive dialogue between them. Among his activities in that respect, he founded the Tehran-Haifa-Tel Aviv (www.TeHTel.com) site in Persian (operated between 2012 and 2016), aimed at introducing the reality of the people in Israel to the Iranian people; and since 2012 he has initiated the “Iran Culture Series” – a series where masterpieces of Persian literature are translated into Hebrew in order to familiarize the Israeli public with the cultural richness of the Iranian people. Shahvar is the academic consultant and editor of this series, which up to now (2020) has published 7 books, mostly through “Ktav Publishers”.
Prof. Shahvar was instrumental and took a leading role in developing a unique high school program, titled “Iran – Intelligence and Strategy” for the Israeli Ministry of Education, a program which was launched in 2015 at Ben Gurion-Feinberg High School in the city of Petah Tikva.
Contact
Address: Floor : 15 Room : 1508 – Eshkol Tower
Office hours: Upon appointment only
Email: sshavar@univ.haifa.ac.il or shahvar@research.haifa.ac.il
Phone:04-8288761
Internal: 58761
