Ehsan Sheikholharam

 

Ehsan Sheikholharam is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at Kennesaw State University. With a multidisciplinary background in architectural history, religious studies, and philosophy, his teaching and research examine themes of urban marginality, diasporic identities, and cultural representation. He currently serves as the Coordinator of the Culture Sequence—History, Theory, and Criticism (HTC).

He holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.Arch from the University of Miami. Professor Sheikholharam has served as a philosophy fellow at the Parr Center for Ethics at UNC and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. Prior to joining KSU, he taught interdisciplinary courses at NC State College of Design, UM School of Architecture, and the UNC. 

Building on his diverse scholarly identity, his teaching and scholarship cuts through key contemporary concerns in design disciplines: 

• How can the discipline be reimagined in light of AI algorithms' growing capacity to generate design solutions, if not conceptualizing and building an entire project by simply talking to a "client"?

• How can architecture facilitate the integration of ethnic and minority identities within secular politics?

• What responsibilities do architects have in accommodating the needs and aspirations of displaced populations, including climate refugees?

Professor Sheikholharam’s studio teaching includes foundational studios (2nd-year) as well as Thesis (5th-year). He also designs and teaches electives on ecological architecture and religious spaces. With his global connections, he regularly engages outside experts to enrich his courses. In a recent pedagogical exchange with the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Versailles (ÉNSA-V), students share research on the intertwined histories of indigenous architectural practices, mythological and cosmological visions, and varying conceptions of Nature-Culture. Designed based on this course proposal, “Demystifying Ecological Thinking in Architecture,” published by ACSA as part of the 2024 Course Development Prize, this elective led French and U.S. students to explore the contrasting European and North American approaches to ecological questions.

His scholarship draws on theories of material culture and traverses themes of pluralism, cultural politics, and urban space. Professor Sheikholharam’s most recent and forthcoming publications include:

Muslim Aesthetics: Rebuilding Minority Islam with the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (Forthcoming, The University of North Carolina Press, 2027)

Sheikholharam, E., Mills, S., “Interstitial Ecologies: Cinematic Perception and Multispecies Architecture in the Anthropocene,” The Intellect Handbook of Cinema and the Anthropocene (forthcoming edited volume) Editors: Luca Barattoni (Clemson University), Massimiliano Luca Delfino (Northwestern University)

Review of Heba Mostafa, Architecture of Anxiety: Body Politics and the Formation of Islamic Architecture, Arts and Archaeology of the Islamic World series, vol: 20, Leiden: Brill, 2024, International Journal of Islamic Architecture (Journal), Spring 2025, https://doi.org/10.1386/ijia_00176_5

“Fractured Frames: Spatio-Temporal Ruptures and the Precarity of Judgment in The Salesman,” 2025 Architecture & Film Symposium, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, Kent State University, Kent, OH

“Between Low-Tech and Post-Growth: The Revitalization of Hutong Residential Buildings” ACSA 2024 International Conference: Inflections, Querétaro, Mexico

Sheikholharam, E., (2025) “The Dialectics of Text and Image: From Mechanical Reproductions to AI Image Productions”, Building Technology Educators’ Society 2025(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.7275/btes.3382   

“Borders within Borders: Superkilen as the Site of Assimilation,” in Deniz Coşan Eke and Eric M. Trinka, eds., Religion, Religious Groups and Migration (London: Transnational Press London, 2023)

Professor Sheikholharam's thinking is informed by his practice as a licensed architect in Iran. Through his award-winning private practice, Form Architecture Atelier, he and his team have designed and supervised more than thirty projects.

Beyond his academic and professional life, Ehsan enjoys playing violin and has performed with multiple orchestras including the Raleigh Civic Symphony, the UNC Symphony Orchestra, and the Chapel Hill Philharmonia. He is currently a member of the Georgia Symphony Orchestra.

Finally, Professor Ehsan (as he suggests his students call him) strives to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all. If you are a student reading this, you are always welcome to stop by with questions and concerns — or simply to chat about your project. In addition to English, he is happy to speak French, Persian, Arabic, and some Spanish — especially if you speak a little slower!