The works of Kathryn Babayan, associate professor of near eastern studies and history, were cited in an article about how the motivation behind Iran's conversion to Shia Islam in 1501 was complex, motivated by both politics and religion. The author quoted Babayan's book, Mystics, Monarchs and Messiahs: Cultural Landscapes of Early Modern Iran (Cambridge: Harvard Middle Eastern Monographs, 2002). Read the Guardian article here.

Kathryn Babayan is director of the Armenian Studies Program at the University of Michigan International Institute, where she is also a faculty affiliate of the Global Islamic Studies Center and the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies.