RESEARCH
IMMIGRATION, GENDER, RACE, ETHNICITY, AND CULTURE:
THE INTERSECTIONS
I self-identify as a first-generation South Asian-Canadian immigrant woman, and my unique experiences stem from the intersections of my immigration status, gender, race, ethnicity, and culture. Consequently, I am passionate about feminist and intersectionality-oriented social psychological research and community work, concentrating on the lived experiences of individuals at these intersections across various contextual levels (e.g., individual, interpersonal, community, social/institutional, and systemic).
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In my master's research, I delved into the experiences of South Asian-Canadian women concerning shadeism (i.e., skin tone prejudice) in interpersonal, social, and cultural settings. Currently, for my PhD research, I am exploring how immigrant and newcomer women in Canada perceive, experience, and cope with the COVID-19 pandemic within interpersonal, social, cultural, and institutional contexts. I actively contributed to a Gender-Based Violence community advisory committee at Laadliyan: Celebrating and Empowering Daughters, where our efforts involved conducting a needs assessment and developing toolkits to support South Asian women in Ontario who witness and/or experience gender-based violence. Additionally, I collaborated on projects with the Mosaic Institute, London & Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership (LMLIP), and Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). These projects focused on the social and systemic experiences of immigrants and other individuals with intersectional identities.
DEHUMANIZATION, PREJUDICE & DISCRIMINATION: USING AN INTERSECTIONALITY FRAMEWORK
Broadly, I am interested in work that focuses on dehumanization, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination toward individuals with intersecting social identities. At present, I assist in a research project that explores web discourses on disability and romantic relationship stages (e.g., dating, cohabitation, marriage, and separation) across the life course. I also co-lead a lab project that assesses dehumanization (i.e., perception of others as "less human") of people toward other individuals or social groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.
SEXUAL ORIENTATIONS AND 2LGBTQ+ ISSUES
During my undergraduate and master's degrees (2014 - 2021), I have conducted research that investigated sexual minority issues in North America. In particular, I have published empirical studies on Hollywood film and television representations of lesbian women, news media framing of LGBTQ+ people's sexual violence experiences, intersectional microaggressions and social support for LGBTQ+ people of colour, and meanings and experiences associated with Two-Spirit identities.