I work as an Assitant Professor (UD) at the Sociology Department of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Since 2023 I am Director of the Co-creation of Inclusive Knowledges Lab. This Lab, I hope, will converge efforts undertaken in the past years by myself and many colleagues to explore and examine critically co-creative research methodologies in academia. In my work I have explored diverse paths to work with communities and non-academic research partners in various research fields.
Part of my work has revolved around the position of refugees and forced migrants in Dutch society, through the co-creative platform Refugee Academy, created in 2017 together with prof. Halleh Ghorashi. Refugee Academy has promoted reflective connections and rooted critical perspectives from various positions, building on creative methodologies. Through regular public meetings, workshops symposia, masterclasses, and co-creative research projects, Refugee Academy has engaged a large group of (refugee-led) organisations, civic initiatives, NGO's and policymakers in mutual learning and research about conditions for inclusive societal structures.
Simultaneously, I have worked in the field of pedagogy, youth and parenting in the urban context, through participatory research and qualitative methodologies.
In both trajectories I have conducted various projects, all focused on the potential of participatory, narrative and art-based practices, to inquire structual inequality and deeply engrained discoursive/subtle hierarchies.
Projects:
Recent Refugee Academy projects that I conducted or was part of:
2incING AMIF - On refugee-led advocacy and policy work
Engaged Scholarship and Narratives of Change
Learning Crossroads for Refugee Inclusion - See also this LINK
Het Verhalenhuis -with Rose Stories
Projects in the field of Youth and Parenting:
