Ferydon Rahmani

Fereydoon Rahmani is a tenured Professor of Sociology in the Department of Equity Studies at York University in Toronto, Canada. Over the course of his academic career, he has taught and conducted research at a range of universities and international research institutions in Europe and the Middle East. At York University, he serves on the Senate Review Committee on Tenure and Promotions and previously held the position of Undergraduate Program Director in Equity Studies.

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Professor Rahmani has taught at the American University of Kurdistan (AUK), Lebanese French University, Mardin Artuklu University in Turkey, and several universities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, including Salahaddin University, the University of Duhok, Koya University, and Jihan University. He also served as Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of Duhok until 2014. Professor Rahmani is the founder and president of the Kurdistan International Sociological Association (KISA). 

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He received his B.A. in Social Research from the University of Tehran in 1987, his M.A. in Sociology from the University of Vienna in 1995, and his Ph.D. in Sociology and Urban Development from the University of Vienna in 1999.

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Professor Rahmani’s research and publications focus on Quality of Life, well-being, Critical Human Rights, spatial justice, the Middle East, ethnicity, social movements, urbanization, and social indicator systems. His applied and field-based research draws extensively on both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including statistical analysis, SPSS, sociometric scaling, and large-scale data analysis. He is also known for coining the concept of “Rooftop Societies” to describe the deep socio-cultural and political incongruities that characterize many Middle Eastern societies.