Hannaneh Akbarpour
Hannaneh Akbarpour (Hanna) is a Ph.D. student in a combined Ethnomusicology and Film and Media Studies program. Her academic interests focus on the existential and affective dimensions of sound and music, exploring their capacity to articulate modes of existence and act as means of resistance within the nexus of power and religion. Her research explores how music-making functions as a potent tool for anti-fundamentalism, analyzing its role in shaping the dynamics of the anti-ISIS conflict in Syria and Iraq (2014–2019). She investigates how music, mediated by new technologies and social media, shaped the sonic dimensions of the conflict and transformed modes of existence and resistance in response to the war’s socio-political landscape.
Hanna is interested in multimedia ethnography and pursues her research interests through documentary filmmaking. Her recent documentary, Shades of Blue, examines the silencing of Afghan women following the 2021 Taliban takeover, with a focus on the sensory dimensions of this imposed voicelessness.
Hanna holds an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Tehran. Her master’s thesis, The Identity-formative Role of Iranian Popular Music in Two Decades Following the Islamic Revolution, examines the production and consumption of music during the period of the absolute ban on popular music after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The thesis explores how underground musicking became a vital means of reconnecting with and preserving pre-revolutionary cultural identities. It also highlights the role of the Pahlavi era’s thriving musical life as a key framework for navigating and negotiating modern Iranianness.
Hanna is an Oud player with a B.A. in Music Performance from the Art University of Tehran and has worked as a music teacher in Tehran for many years. In addition to Iranian music, she has a deep interest in Arabic maqam. She has been a member of Iran’s National Organization for the Development of Exceptional Talents during her school years and achieved second place in the nationwide University entrance exam in Ethnomusicology in 2020.
Outside of music, Hanna is a former Red Crescent Emergency Response Volunteer. She is a poet with a deep passion for Arabic and Persian poetry, and she enjoys nurturing her houseplants. Her favorite leisure activities include practicing the darbuka (Arabic drum) and enjoying the peaceful, quiet surroundings of Connecticut.