{"id":1186,"date":"2023-01-27T21:12:34","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T21:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/ase\/?page_id=1186"},"modified":"2026-10-27T12:31:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T19:31:29","slug":"critical-swana-studies-research-cluster","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/ase\/critical-swana-studies-research-cluster\/","title":{"rendered":"Critical SWANA Studies Research Cluster AY 26-27"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Critical SWANA Studies Research Cluster<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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The Critical SWANA (Southwest Asian\/North African) Studies Research Cluster is interested in how the field of Ethnic Studies can reflect the histories and current realities of people from the SWANA region, and center them in the development of the field. As such participants explore questions of racialization, gender and sexuality, the national security state, surveillance, imperialism, media representations, migration, refugees, militarism, mass violence, ethnic nationalism, and settler colonialism. We highlight the innovative and intersectional scholarship and activism of those confronting anti-Muslim racism, settler colonialism, anti-Blackness in the SWANA region and diaspora, genocide denialism, and Zionism.<\/p>\n

We use SWANA as opposed to Arab or Middle Eastern\/North African to be inclusive of Arab and non-Arab (e.g. Iranians, Copts, Afghans, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, etc.) identities and to move away from normalizing colonizing and homogenizing language. In addition to the study of transnational SWANA communities and the circulation of ideas, products, and discourses in the US, we are also interested in the Americas more broadly. We use \u201ccritical\u201d in our name to signal our investment in Critical Race Studies and in thinking about the relationship between SWANA Studies and Critical Muslim Studies as well as established Ethnic Studies fields, such as Asian American\/Transpacific Studies, Black Studies, Native\/Indigenous American Studies, and Latinx Studies. We aim to create an intellectual community that supports graduate students and faculty in developing their research through meetings, workshops, and engaging with guest speakers.<\/p>\n

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Faculty<\/strong><\/p>\n

Evelyn Alsultany<\/p>\n

Sarah Gualtieri<\/p>\n

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Graduate Students<\/strong><\/p>\n

Niki Oveisi, Co-Chair
\nSamia Saliba, Co-Chair
\nHaley Zovickian, Co-Chair (Sociology)
\nRojeen Harsini
\nDeena Naime
\nRuofei Shang
\nLeila Shiblak<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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\n Contact Us\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n \n \n
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Department of American Studies & Ethnicity<\/h3>\n \n \n
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Located in Kaprielian Hall on the University Park campus, ASE faculty, graduate students, and staff are available to assist you with information and resources about our academic programs and research specialties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n

\n (213) 740 – 2426<\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n aseinfo@dornsife.usc.edu<\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n
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Address<\/h3>\n \n \n
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University of Southern California<\/p>\n

3620 South Vermont Avenue<\/p>\n

Kaprielian Hall 462<\/p>\n

Los Angeles, California 90089-2534<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n \n

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Menu<\/h3>\n \n \n
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Homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

About Us<\/a><\/p>\n

Graduate<\/a><\/p>\n

Undergraduate<\/a><\/p>\n

People<\/a><\/p>\n

News & Events<\/a><\/p>\n

Resources<\/a><\/p>\n

Contact Us<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1186","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCritical SWANA Studies Research Cluster AY 26-27 - Department of American Studies and Ethnicity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/ase\/critical-swana-studies-research-cluster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Critical SWANA Studies Research Cluster AY 26-27 - Department of American Studies and Ethnicity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/ase\/critical-swana-studies-research-cluster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of American Studies and Ethnicity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-27T19:31:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/ase\\\/critical-swana-studies-research-cluster\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dornsife.usc.edu\\\/ase\\\/critical-swana-studies-research-cluster\\\/\",\"name\":\"Critical SWANA Studies Research Cluster AY 26-27 - 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