Near and Middle Eastern Studies

Ayda Apa Pomeshikov

PhD Candidate in Near and Middle Eastern Interdisciplinary Studies
MA in Transcultural Studies, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
BA in Sociology, Boğaziçi University, Turkey

 

Dissertation Research:

My dissertation project, titled, “The Prophet was a Refugee too: Islamic Humanitarianism and Syrian Refugees’ Search for Belonging in Turkey” examines the role of Islamic humanitarianism in displaced Syrian refugees’ experiences of religious solidarity and belonging in southeast Turkey. I conducted my ethnographic field research in Gaziantep between September 2019 and 2021 as a  USIP-Minerva Peace and Security Fellow.

Other Projects & Collaborations:

I collaborate with my colleague Gözde Burcu Ege on a digital humanities project, “Digitized Ethnographies: Humanitarianism(s) and Forced Displacement in the Middle East”. This project is a collaborative work to transfer compelling high points of our ethnographic dissertation research on humanitarian regimes in the South-South forced displacement contexts to a digital platform. We are working on an open access, interactive website to present our ethnographic findings by using visual media and visualization tools.

Another collaborative project I have recently embarked on with my colleague Roman Pomeshchikov examines the impacts of digital technologies on Syrian forced migrants’ mobility/immobility across Turkey. We investigate the use of digital governance tools in producing “travel permission” documents for Syrian forced migrants in Turkey. 

Teaching Assistantships: 

  • NEAR E 229 Introduction to Islamic Civilization, Lecturer: Hamza M. Zafer, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilization, AU17 & WI19
  • ANTH 228 Identities: Race, Gender, Ethnicity, Class, Lecturer: Michael M. Perez, Department of Anthropology, WI18
  • JSIS 200 States and Capitalism: Origins of the Modern Global System, Lecturer: Matthew Mosca, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, AU19
  • JSIS 202 Cultural Interactions in an Interdependent World, Lecturer: Tony Lucero & Vanessa Freije, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, SP18 & SP21
  • JSIS B 441 Forced Migrations, Lecturer: Kathie Friedman, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, WI21