Dr. Asma Mehan

Job title
Postdoc - Leiden Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (CADS)

Dr. Asma Mehan (Ph.D., M.A., B.Arch., B.Sc.) is an architect, researcher, and educator. Her primary research and teaching interests include architectural humanities, critical urban studies, planning politics, and Heritage Studies. Asma achieved her Ph.D. in the ‘Architecture, History, and Project’ program, from the Politecnico di Torino (Italy) in 2017. 

Between 2020-2021, Asma held a postdoctoral research fellowship position affiliated with the Leiden Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (CADS) and the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE) program for Port City Futures (PCF) in South Holland. Her previous postdoctoral experiences at four important research centers in Porto (2019-2020, CITTA research center, University of Porto), Torino (2018-2019, Future Urban Legacy Lab (FULL), Berlin (2019, ZK/U Center for Art and Urbanistics), and Tehran (2017-2018, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran) have allowed her to conduct research in the different European and Asian contexts. 

Asma completed research stays in Australia (Deakin University, Melbourne, 2016-2017) and at the EPFL University, Lausanne, Switzerland (2017), and was a researcher in resident at the ZK/U Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik, Berlin, 2019. She is the co-author of the book entitled “Kuala Lumpur: Community, Infrastructure, and Urban Inclusivity” (London: Routledge, 2020). 

Dr. Mehan has taught at TU Delft, Chair of Urban History and Theory, University of Porto, TU Munich, ZK/U Berlin Center for Art and Urbanistics, and Deakin University, Melbourne (Australia). Mehan has received several awards from prestigious institutions such as AESOP, EAHN (European Architectural History Network), Society of Architectural Historians (SAH), ZK/U Center for Art and Urbanistics Berlin, and Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (SAHGB). 

Dr. Mehan has authored over fifty articles and essays in scholarly books and professional journals in multiple languages on critical urban studies, architecture, urban planning, housing, and heritage studies. She has also has been a member of several international scientific committees and conferences. Asma’s research reaches academic audiences through international exhibitions, artistic venues, policy toolkits, visual media, journalistic blogs, and online outlets. 

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Asma Mehan