My name is Hashem Alrefai (هاشم الرفاعي), a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, specializing in Political Sociology, Social Movements, Historical Sociology, and the study of Authoritarianism, with a regional emphasis on the Arabian Peninsula, with a focus on Saudi Arabia. My research interest concentrates on state formation and the social history of state–society relations under authoritarian rule.

My hobbies include reading Arabic literature (poetry and novels), camping, swimming, and cycling.