Hsain Ilahiane
- Associate Director, School of Global Studies
- Professor, School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies
- Member of the Graduate Faculty
- (520) 626-2167
- Louise Foucar Marshall Bldg., Rm. 448
- Tucson, AZ 85721
- hsain@arizona.edu
Biography
Hsain Ilahiane is a professor at the School of Middle Eastern & North African Studies and the W.A. Franke Honors College. Prior to joining the University of Arizona, he served as Professor and Head of the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures at Mississippi State University (2018-2023); as Associate Professor of Applied Anthropology at the University of Kentucky (2009-2018); as Senior Social Scientist at Intel Corporation Research Labs in Oregon (2006-2007); and as Assistant and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Iowa State University (1999-2009). His expertise is in applied anthropology and his research interests are economic development; information and communication technologies for development; poverty; globalization; informal urban economies; arid lands ecology; oasis agriculture and irrigation systems; economic anthropology; political ecology; Islam and the Middle East; and Africa. He has conducted ethnographic research in Morocco, the United States of America, Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa. He is the author of Ethnicities, Community Making, and Agrarian Change: The Political Ecology of a Moroccan Oasis (2004), Historical Dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen) (2017), and The Mobile Phone Revolution in Morocco: Cultural and Economic Transformations (2022).
Degrees
- Ph.D. Anthropology
- University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States
- M.A. International Affairs (Development Track)
- George Washington University, Washington, D.C., D.C. (District of Columbia), United States
- B.A. International Relations
- The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., D.C. (District of Columbia), United States
Work Experience
- Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Mississippi State University. (2018 - 2023)
- Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky. (2009 - 2018)
- Intel Corporation (2006 - 2007)
- Department of Anthropology, Iowa State University. (2005 - 2009)
- Department of Anthropology, Iowa State University. (1999 - 2005)
Licensure & Certification
- Online Teaching 101 Certificate: Best Practices in Online Instruction., The Center for Teaching & Learning, Mississippi State University. (2020)
Interests
Research
Information and communication technologies for development; science and technology; development; poverty; globalization; informal sector; oasis farming; community-based resource management; ethnicity; Islam; applied anthropology; business anthropology; economic anthropology; political ecology; ethnography; Middle East and North Africa.
Courses
2025-26 Courses
-
Contemporary Muslim Societies
ANTH 519 (Fall 2025) -
Contemporary Muslim Societies
MENA 419 (Fall 2025) -
Contemporary Muslim Societies
MENA 519 (Fall 2025) -
Contemporary Muslim Societies
RELI 419 (Fall 2025) -
Honors Thesis
MENA 498H (Fall 2025) -
Special Topics in Humanities
HNRS 195J (Fall 2025)
2024-25 Courses
-
Envisioning Futures
HNRS 473 (Spring 2025)
2023-24 Courses
-
Special Topics in Humanities
HNRS 195J (Spring 2024) -
The Religion of Islam
MENA 160A1 (Spring 2024) -
Special Topics in Humanities
HNRS 195J (Fall 2023)
Scholarly Contributions
Books
- Ilahiane, H. (2022). The Mobile Phone Revolution in Morocco: Economic and Cultural Transformations. .
Chapters
- Ilahiane, H. (2022). Al-hogra—A State of Injustice: Portraits of Moroccan Men in Search of Dignity and Piety in the Informal Sector. . In Arab Masculinities: Anthropological Reconceptions.
Journals/Publications
- Ilahiane, H. (2023). Special Issue on Economic Anthropology in the Middle east and North Africa. Anthropology of the Middle East.
Presentations
- Ilahiane, H. (2024, August 2-3.). Homo Atlanticus: The Career and Legacy of Moroccan Explorer Estevanico de Dorantes in the Atlantic World. . Mustapha al-Azemmouri: A Mediterranean Culture Bridge and Global Heritage. Azemmour, Morocco.: The General Consulate of the Kingdom of Morocco in New York City and the City of Azemmour, Morocco..
- Ilahiane, H. (2024, February 15.).
- Estevan de Dorantes (Estevanico): The First Moroccan and African Explorer of the American Southwest.
- Ilahiane, H. (2024, February 20.).
- Estevanico: The First Moroccan and African Explorer of the American Southwest.
. Estevanico: On the footsteps of a Remarkable African Explorer. Staten Island, New York.: The General Consulate of the Kingdom of Morocco and the College of Staten Island, New York.. - Ilahiane, H. (2024, September 4.).
- Gift-Giving and Economic Anthropology (Panel Co-organizer (with Anne H. Betteridge).
