Houman Oliaei is an assistant professor of anthropology at Babson College. His research intersects the anthropology of humanitarianism, citizenship, the state, political theory, forced migration, refugee studies, and Middle East studies.

His work examines the lived experiences of displaced Yezidis (Êzîdî), an ethnoreligious minority in northern Iraq, especially in the aftermath of collective violence and mass displacement following the genocidal attacks of the so-called Islamic State in 2014.

His first book project, Yazidis on the Margins of Humanity, explores the entanglements of humanitarian intervention, forced displacement, belonging, and recognition among displaced Yezidis in Iraq.