Ata Anzali

Anzali is the best professor at Middlebury. I loved this class. He is so thoughtful and thought-provoking that you will be forced to look at this new material in several different ways another professor wouldn't have you do. He's amazing.

One of my favorite professors - knowledgeable, vulnerable and not shying away from discussion in a meaningful sense, pushing back on a lack of information whilst creating space for all backgrounds and levels of familiarity.

This course is a lot of reading but its value is high. I came into this course knowing basically nothing about the middle east and the United States' relationship with countries such as Iran. This course provides an extensive history of Iran and Islam which provides historical context for modern Iran. Professor Anzali assigns a lot of reading and the first half of the semester is very quiz oriented. The second half also has a lot of reading however the course is switched to a discussion based classroom. Although the workload is intense, Anzali is willing to make accommodations for you and although he will not give you special treatment, he is a very fair professor. I got an A in this course and found it a very rewarding use of my time.

This course is a lot of reading but its value is high. I came into this course knowing basically nothing about the middle east and the United States' relationship with countries such as Iran. This course provides an extensive history of Iran and Islam which provides historical context for modern Iran. Professor Anzali assigns a lot o …Read more