Mohammad Khalilian is a Ph.D. student in Sociology at the University of Kentucky. He studies how state regulations shape the strategies available to social actors and how these actors, in turn, resist state intervention through relational processes. To address these questions, he primarily uses computational methods and develops datasets from archival sources.

He earned an M.Sc. in Social Science Research from the National University of Iran and an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Kentucky. Before starting his doctoral studies, Mohammad spent ten years as a music journalist. In his free time, he enjoys exploring Lexington's music scene.