Summer Doctoral Fellows

CHR is thrilled to have the support of Mason's Graduate Division to offer competitive summer fellowships to doctoral fellows conducting research in the humanities. Visit our events page for opportunities to connect with our fellows and hear about their work!

Summer 2025 Fellows

Dhruv Deepak (PhD Candidate, Sociology and Anthropology) is a PhD candidate in Sociology at George Mason University, exploring the intersection of technology, community, and political economy through a critical lens; he views technology as a deeply social phenomenon embedded in complex historical, cultural, and institutional contexts. Through his research, he advances a reimagined vision of technology that puts democracy and community empowerment at the center. His dissertation is an investigation of how “democratic experiments” with technology — such as digital cooperatives and peer production networks — can reconfigure extractive data relations into spaces of collective wealth and social innovation. As Project Manager of the Digital Commonwealth Project, a community-engaged research and development initiative in Northern Virginia, he demonstrates a commitment to technology that builds more resilient communities.

Project: "Community-Owned Digital Resources: Experiments to Democratize ‘Data Relations’ for Community Wealth"

My dissertation examines communities that collectively own and govern digital resources, producing alternative models that challenge power and reclaim digital space as territory for empowerment. I analyze four types of "democratic experiments" — digital cooperatives, data sovereignty initiatives, peer production networks, and participatory governance models — to investigate how community-led initiatives transform extractive data relations into spaces of collective empowerment. Early insights show they can deepen democratic practices and create community wealth; for instance, platform cooperatives reconfigure labor relations so workers retain economic value. Communities are producing terrains where they contest the dominant paradigm of extraction; this project spurs interdisciplinary dialogue on grassroots efforts to reimagine the relationship between technology and territory.

Debamita Guha (PhD Candidate, Sociology and Anthropology) is a Graduate Research Assistant at the Global South Research Hub under the Center for Social Science Research (CSSR), George Mason University. She has previously completed a Master's in Sociology and an M.Phil. in Development Studies from India. Her research focuses on the impact of neoliberalism and forces of globalization on queer activism in India through a critique of development perspective. She explores activist praxes in queer spaces and LGBTQ+ rights organizations in urban India using qualitative research methods.

Project: "Building Archives as Spaces of Queer Resistance"

This research intends to map the trajectory of the queer movement in India and in turn the queer history of India through the presence (or lack thereof) of queer archives. Looking into four archives, the project will interrogate how urban spaces have contributed to the development of queer experiences and have facilitated queer activism within the country. Analyzing this archival material, the project will locate queer history and activism in India, through changes in urban landscapes and neighborhoods and transformations of spaces of activism, the impact of LGBTQ+ movements of the Global North and of international donor/ aid agencies on activisms in the Global South, mobilities of agency-activist networks, and spatial and material effects on the lived experiences of queer persons. The project will emphasize the significance of documenting queer struggles to counter archival neglect, archives thereby metamorphosing into spaces of queer resistance.

Toby Hickson (PhD Candidate, Cultural Studies) received a BA in Comparative Literature with a focus on 19th-century prose followed by an MA in English with a thesis centered on the unspeakability of class in Victorian discourses. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Cultural Studies department at GMU working on a dissertation about the connections between the obfuscation of gendered labor in mass culture and moral panic legislation across different media epochs.

Project: "Invisible Labors, Visible Panics: Sex Work, Moral Panic, and the (Un)representability of Gendered Labor in Mass Culture"

In my dissertation, I examine how different mass media forms—print media in the late-nineteenth century, televisual media in the mid to late twentieth century, and digital media in the twenty-first century—have systematically erased the material conditions and labor practices of sex workers. My project explores how representational absences intersect with anxieties about class, gender, and sexuality, and how these anxieties fuel moral panic legislation that regulates the spaces and mobility of working-class sexuality and labor. Given that legislative interventions targeting sex workers often restrict movement and access to public spaces, my research directly aligns with the 2025–2026 CHR theme of “Space, Territory, and Mobility.”

Janine Hubai (PhD Candidate, History and Art History) is a PhD candidate at George Mason University in the Department of History and Art History. Her research interests include military history, historical racial structures, indigenous history, and digital public history. She has worked on projects for the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, the Center for Mason Legacies, the Center for Humanities Research, Dr. Gabrielle Tayac, and the U.S. Army.

Project: "Four Miles to Integration: The U.S. Army, Race, Family, and Community during Desegregation at Fort Dix, 1945-1963"

My dissertation explores racial desegregation and integration of the U.S. Army from 1945-1963 at Fort Dix, New Jersey. After WWII, the U.S. Army faced unprecedented changes that caused an expansion of manpower to mitigate the threat of nuclear warfare during the Cold War amidst the Civil Rights Movement and Executive Order 9981 which pressured the army to desegregate. My dissertation examines the contentious process of integration of the U.S. Army and Black soldiers’ lives at Dix through their work, recreation, housing, and communities as they experienced differing degrees of acceptance; insider and outsider status; and freedom and unfreedom. As a CHR fellow, I will expand on the themes of “Space, Territory, and Mobility,” as I argue that although Black soldiers and their families operated in cultures rooted in racism, they formed new communities and advocated for their full rights of citizenship, economic mobility, and respect.

Müge Yüce (PhD Candidate, Cultural Studies) is a Ph.D. student in Cultural Studies at George Mason University and a graduate certificate student in Women’s and Gender Studies. Her research explores the intersections of gender, sexuality, and political economy with a focus on visual and performance cultures in Turkey, engaging questions of visibility, space, memory, and resistance, particularly through the lens of political humor and transnational feminisms.

Project: "Displaced Intimacies: Mobility, Morality, and the Politics of Urban Space under Neoliberal Islam in Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue"

My project examines how Istanbul’s İstiklal Avenue has been reshaped under the AKP government through a fusion of neoliberal urban development and Islamic moral governance, aiming to regulate public intimacy, desire, and dissent. Through aggressive gentrification, securitization, and cultural sanitization, independent bookstores, LGBTQ+ venues, and radical art spaces have been
replaced by multinational retail chains, surveillance infrastructure, and state-sanctioned “family-friendly” leisure zones. Using ethnographic observation, oral history interviews, spatial mapping, and archival research, my study explores these shifts in detail, investigating how neoliberal Islam restructures urban space, regulates mobility, and displaces oppositional communities along İstiklal Avenue. In its questioning of how material, cultural, and political transformations of space under AKP's neoliberal Islam have produced new forms of exclusion, visibility, and belonging, this project connects directly to the CHR’s 2025–26 theme of “Space, Territory, and Mobility."

Summer 2024 Fellows

Kylie Erfani (Cultural Studies), "Culture of Complaint: Dialectics of a Neoliberalism Cultural Form"

My dissertation aims to understand the contemporary landscape of grievances in US American politics and society. Rather than reignite ancient debates about the ethics of complaining, this work seeks to understand how the profound social, economic, and technological transformations enacted at the turn of the 21st century give rise to changes in the material form and consequences of complaint. By collecting and analyzing grievances from public institutions, consumer reports, and social media platforms, I explain how the shifting terrain of complaint reflects the onset and eventual crisis of neoliberal subjectivity in the digital age. This work synthesizes crucial insights from literary theory, affect studies, critical political economy and political philosophy in order to develop a framework for understanding complaint in the age of Karens, Yelp, and the so-called snowflake generation. 

Ellie Gibson (Cultural Studies), "Naked Capitalism: Trans Women Porn Content Producers Contesting Neoliberal Disposability"

My dissertation explores transgender women’s resistance to systematic dehumanization and employment precarity in late capitalism, as porn content producers/actors in the emergent “gig” economy. This project situates trans pornography within the broader field of feminist porn studies and represents a contribution to the growing field of transgender studies. I intend this to be a largely ethnographic study of trans porn actors/content producers in the porn gig economy. 

Umida Hashimova (Sociology and Anthropology), "Xenophobia and Racism in Russia: State Policies, Practices, and Perceptions of Migrants and Russians"

Russia’s state-building process is dominated by imperialistic views where ethno-nationalism plays a binding role. As a result, Russia’s attitude toward migrants has become more xenophobic and anti-migrant. This shift is reflected in recent studies of migrant perception of discrimination and racism, opinion poll results from migrants and Russians on their perception of each other, and on the state level, increasingly stringent legalization regulations and the worsening treatment of migrants by the police. Current legalization rules and consequent punishments for non-compliance are the strictest in Russia’s history. Additionally, the number of deportation cases has been rising, and the legalization process has become highly bureaucratic, making compliance difficult for migrants.

Junghyun Nam (Sociology and Anthropology), "Space Reloaded: the Role of Space and Place-Based Interactions and Practices in the South Korean Candlelight Protests, 2016-2017"

My dissertation examines the socio-spatial mechanisms through which heterogeneous actors initiate, sustain, and experience mass protests, focusing on the Candlelight Protests in South Korea from October 2016 to March 2017. I analyze how protesters facilitate and sustain mass voluntary mobilization, forge a collective identity, perceive police, and regulate other participants’ conduct. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, I explore how public spaces serve as repositories of movement history and ethical spectacles that facilitate mobilization. I also investigate how place-based interactions help protesters forge a collective identity and how protesters evaluate and regulate other participants based on the new social order they enacted through prefigurative action and unprecedented cooperation with police.

Sharon Qiu (Cultural Studies), "To the End of the Line: The Culture of Informality in Late-socialist Cuba"

The dissertation will be an ethnography about Cuban people’s waithood and informal practices in everyday life. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and loss of subsidies in the 1990s, Cuban people faced economic dilemma and resource shortage on a daily basis, and long lines are common in official sectors (i.e., state-owned grocery stores) where people wait for hours to get goods and services. The use of black market is prevalent among local Cubans as an alternative way that exempts people from waiting to access goods. Through participant observation and interviews to local residents, taxi drivers, streetworkers, snack vendors, tour guides, and other participants in petit businesses, official sectors, and informal sectors, this dissertation focuses on how temporal control influences Cuban people’s mentality and the consequent culture of informality that rewrites a regime of normalcy in everyday life.

Christian Rafael Suero (Sociology and Anthropology), "(In)equality of Internships: An Exploration on Student Access, Experience, and Outcomes"

The purpose of this dissertation research is to apply Bourdieu’s theories of capital to understand how access as well as experiences with internships may lead to unequal outcomes (with specific attention to first-generation college students). This study proposes using in-depth interviews of (20) first-generation and (20) continuing-generation students in a Research I public university who took part in paid and or unpaid internships. Additionally, this dissertation research seeks to expand the literature on first-generation college students and internship experiences. The reason this topic was chosen was two-fold. First, although internships have been researched by sector, degree type, and some social identities (race, gender, etc.), there is a lack of research exploring the first-generation experience with regard to these opportunities. Second, as sociology has historically sought to understand workplace structures, applying a sociological framework can reveal the social problems that are rooted within present day internships, as well as the possibilities for change.

Saahi Uppalapati (Communication), "From Assessment to Action: Scale Validation and Text Messaging Interventions for Climate Change Psychological Distress"

Climate change poses an unprecedented challenge to human health and well-being. Despite growing scholarship on climate change and mental health, two notable gaps remain: the lack of tools to assess psychological distress due to climate change and evidence-based coping strategies to reduce it. My research aims to fill these gaps by creating a simple tool to measure climate change-related psychological distress and building and testing a new support program that uses text messaging to help those who are experiencing distress as a result of their concerns about climate change. This support program is easy to use and affordable, making it a valuable addition to our efforts to address the mental health challenges posed by climate change.

Maria Valdovinos (Sociology and Anthropology), "Theorizing Care in Reentry"

Criminal conviction produces a socially stigmatized group of individuals in need of care whose interactions with others are characterized by distrust, and whose humanity and worthiness is continually in question. For this group, the primary vehicle for accessing supportive services is the reentry services provider. Reentry, however, represents a context in which care and carceral governance intersect, calling into question whether care can, in fact, replace punishment. My dissertation will contribute to the theorization of care for a population that is highly vulnerable to the unequal distribution of care and protection. Such understanding also has implications for informing improved reentry policies and practices that can reduce post- incarceration recidivism and produce more equitable reentry outcomes.

Summer 2023 Fellows

Deepika Hooda (Sociology), "Rethinking marginalization: A qualitative study of highly skilled migration, a case of Indian IT workers in the US" 

The phenomenon of international migration exerts a profound influence on social life, generating intricate effects that extend beyond the migrants themselves to impact both their country of origin and the host society. As migrants navigate through unfamiliar, ambiguous, and often uncertain living conditions in their new host country, they encounter a multitude of challenges. This doctoral dissertation project focuses on understanding the difficulties faced by highly skilled Indian IT workers in the United States, with a particular emphasis on their labor market participation while on temporary work visas. By employing ethnographic methods, this research project aims to delve into the complex processes of 'meaning making,' while capturing the nuanced and multifaceted lived experiences of temporary work visa holders. The study further explores critical concepts such as the racialization and marginalization of skilled Indian IT workers, as well as prevailing notions of the 'model minority' stereotype.

Ayondela McDole (Cultural Studies), "Working Paradise: An ethnographic study of tourism labor in the 21st century Caribbean" 

Her dissertation uses critical ethnography to examine the work experiences of a staff on a elite luxury resort in the Bahamas. The project, spanning five years, uses participant observations, oral histories and interviews to examine the day-to-day social relations between staff, management and tourists. In total, seventy interviews and oral histories were performed that included staff members, managers, consultants, and guests. By examining the workforce that sustains the tourism industry, Ayondela interrogates the exploitative nature of high-end tourism in the world today. Her other projects include the politics of Black representations in popular culture. 

Mohamed Mohamed, (Sociology and Anthropology), “Beyond the National: The Role of al-Azhar in Global Politics After 9/11”

At the CHR, Mohamed will be working on a project centered around an interdisciplinary exploration of the complex intersections between sociology of religion, political sociology, and globalization theories. Specifically, hisdoctoral research seeks to comprehensively examine the dynamics of the relationship between domestic religious actors and the broader global political landscape. Through the dissertation,  Mohamed embarked on a comprehensive investigation of the myriad ways in which al-Azhar — a thousand-year-old prestigious Sunni religious edifice — has been intricately involved in transnational politics over the past two decades. Building on the existing literature, he contends that the majority of studies on the intersection of al-Azhar and politics are limited by a methodological approach that is anchored in national frameworks, failing to consider the broader transnational phenomena that transcend parochial nationalistic perspectives. Drawing upon his interdisciplinary background, his research offers an alternative epistemological and methodological framework, that traces the discursive evolution of al-Azhar’s global political role and investigates the factors that have been conducive to its formation. Through this lens, Mohamed aim to offer a comprehensive understanding of the complex interplay between religion, politics, and globalization, ultimately contributing to the broader discourse on the intersection of religion and global politics. 

Kevin Nazar (Sociology), "Contemporary Social Correlates and Predictors to the Emergence of Hyper-nationalism"

This study is examines the socio-economic configurations that may lead to the emergence of the phenomenon known as Hypernationalism in the world. This dissertation uses data from Gallup Inc., the World Bank, United Nations development indicators and historical data from 144 countries to try to elucidate the situations that are generating the modern day threat of Hypernationalism. The methodology implemented involves both Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Logistic Regression Models. The results of this study are important both to address the modern social divisions brought about by Xenophobia and Ethnocentrism as well as for international security.

Breonna Riddick, (Communication), "Making Birth Stories Matter(s): An Examination of Health, Communication, Culture and Identity through Critical Autoethnography and Narratives of Women Birthing with Doulas"

Birth doulas are described as trained labor-support professionals who provide continuous emotional, physical and informational support for families during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum periods. Birth doulas have increased healthy birth outcomes, including reducing unnecessary medical interventions and decreasing the time spent in the most intense phases of labor. In the current context of maternal and perinatal healthcare in the United States, the relationship between birthing people and birth doulas is a site for cultural analysis to understand how culture, structure and agency intertwine to influence birthing decisions and outcomes. This dissertation blends two qualitative methodologies (critical autoethnography and semi-structured interviews with women who have given birth with a doula present) to interrogate the intersections of disposability, democracy, capitalism, and social justice for birthing women in the United States. These stories are important for transforming narratives around birth and improving health outcomes for birthing women and future generations. 

Ian Sinnett (Cultural Studies), "Hip Hop Sampling, Temporality, and the Politics of Memory"

Ian's dissertation project investigates the emergence of hip hop sampling and its social and political effects by concentrating on 1980s New York City, where and when the practice is thought to have originated. With this locational and temporal focus, he examine how the particular factors of this historical conjuncture - e.g. the rise of neoliberal capitalism and its effects on urban working class communities - shaped sampling’s rise as a dominant expressive and creative practice. By employing various cultural studies frameworks, Ian hopes to parse out the ways in which material conditions interact with the creative practice of sampling, the broader hip hop community, and the culture of hip hop in general. Furthermore, he seeks to present a deep analysis of hip hop sampling's connection to the surreal, and the sociopolitical potentials of sampling's formal aesthetics. Sampling, with its reliance on the hip hop aesthetic of "the break," explicitly represents temporal disjuncture and historical nonlinearity, and it is this intentional application of the break through sampling that Ian seeks to interrogate.

Sevil Suleymani (Sociology), "Nationalism and the Politics of Identity Inclusion in Iran"

This study analyzes the relationship between nationalism and historiography by discussing the concept of Aryanism as a race and the role of racialization processes in constructing the Iranian national identity. The Aryan race ideology had become fundamental for building the nation and determining which communities would be included in the country's national identity, which resulted in the adaptation of Persian identity as superior by forcing other groups and communities to assimilate and Persianize.

Amy Zhang (Cultural Studies), "Contested Legitimacy: Art Museums in the Arabian Peninsula"

Amy studies the development of art museums in the Arabian Peninsula during the 21st century as examples of how legitimacy is constructed and maintained by art institutions in the non-West. It locates the establishment of art museums in Qatar and the U.A.E. within the context of an intensely conflicted art world where ideas about the universality and autonomy of art that were formerly axiomatic to the field have become challenged but not fully unsettled. It shows how the counterintuitive forms that 21st-century Arabian Peninsula art museums take, and their ambivalent Western media reception demonstrate that the contemporary art world remains structured to exclude, despite how desires for the globalization of art and presumptions about the universal value of art remain motivating principles within the art world. It argues that art museums in Qatar and the U.A.E. fully embody the institutional contradictions of the contemporary fine art world. As a result, new Arabian Peninsula art museums, as much as established ones, inhabit an unsustainable position.