Houman Oliaei is a sociocultural anthropologist studying forced migration, statelessness, and humanitarianism. His research focuses on lived experiences of displaced Yezidis, an ethnoreligious minority in northern Iraq, in the aftermath of collective violence and mass displacement. His first book project, ‘On the Margins of Humanity,’ explores the complex interplay between humanitarian intervention, forced displacement, belonging, and politics of recognition among displaced Yezidis.
Houman is currently a Mellon postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at Kalamazoo College. He earned his PhD in anthropology from Brandeis University in 2022, and is a visiting assistant professor of anthropology at Kalamazoo College.