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VISUAL CULTURE AND URBAN REVIVAL IN DETROIT

Principle Investigator

RESEARCH

Academic and Non-Academic

I am trained in qualitative and quantitative research methods including: ethnographic interviewing (semi-structured and unstructured), participant observation, survey design, focus groups, photo elicitation, mapping, oral histories, pile sorts and free lists. I use a range of data analysis tools including: SPSS, NVIVO and MAXQDA, and Anthropac

VEILING PRACTICES OF WORKING CLASS MUSLIM WOMEN IN SOUTH ASIA

Principle Investigator

Since Detroit’s bankruptcy in 2013, the city has undergone significant urban redevelopment, with revival projects focusing on craft and creative industries. However, dominant visions for Detroit’s future are not reflective of a city that is over eighty percent African American. Radically different visions for revival are being articulated, shaped by the art and aesthetic movement known as Afrofuturism. The purpose of this research is to explore how different visions for Detroit’s future are expressed through visual culture.

COMMON IDIOMS ACROSS BORDERS: THE CASE OF INDIAN AND UZBEKI ARTISANS

Principle Investigator

Research on Muslim veiling practices tend to assume that veiling is a stable practice – a woman is either veiled or unveiled – and that the veil is a symbol. However, ethnographic research with female Muslim artisans in Old Delhi demonstrates that these approaches are insufficient. The purpose of this research to explore the multiple and nuanced ways in which women veil, paying particular attention to the intersection of veiling, class, and minority identities.

SUFISM AND CRAFT PRODUCTION IN INDIA

Postdoctoral Research

BECOMING AN "ASLI KARIGAR": THE PRODUCTION OF AUTHENTICITY AMONG OLD DELHI’S MUSLIM ARTISANS

Dissertation Research

Sufism in South Asia is typically associated with bustling shrines and syncretic practices. This research explores other aspects of Sufism, namely its everyday articulations among working class artisans. The purpose of the research is to examine how ethical practices among artisans, whether as discursive idioms or embodied dispositions towards craft production, are inflected with broader Sufi conceptions of devotion.

Despite the creation of relatively recent national borders, the notion of the “Islamicate,” a territory unified by common cultural formations shaped by Islam and its expansion, connects artisan practices. This research examines how idioms, which articulate an ethics of practice, are shared between artisans in India and Central Asia, and how this common discourse intersects with local understandings of identity and history.

Dissertation research focuses on trajectories of marginalization that have led to the exclusion and stigmatization of Muslims who subsist as self-employed artisans. Nationalist discourses of belonging hinge on producing “authentic” citizens rooted in mythologies of India as originally Hindu and rural. Hence, the primary research question is how do urban Muslim artisans reimagine authenticity in terms of their work and their sense of belonging?

RESEARCH OUTSIDE ACADEMIA

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  • Ethnographic/life history interviews and surveys of over 30 women and children along Indo-Nepal border to assess human trafficking risks. The preliminary report of my site visits can be viewed here and final report can be viewed here.

  • Ethnographic interviews and surveys of over 20 weaver households to collect needs assessment data on market linkages in rural Central India.

  • Surveys and semi-structured interviews with female political candidates from rural areas of Pakistan.

  • Participant observation and interviews with non-profit organizations in Pakistan to evaluate multilateral funding capacity.

MARKET RESEARCH

  • Structured and semi-structured interviews, surveys, and archival research on need for and impact of high-speed internet service in rural communities in the United Kingdom.

  • Phone interviews with clients of personal injury law firm to understand their experiences of and satisfaction with how the firm handled their cases.

  • User experience research for Panasonic's Toughbook laptop series.

  • Competitor intelligence research for Canon.

Dissertation Research

Non-Academic Reserch
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