Azza Basarudin

azza@ucla.edu

Ph.D. Candidate, Women's Studies, UCLA

RESEARCH INTEREST:

My comparative research between Southeast Asia and the Arab world explores various strategies employed by two non-govermental organizations in Malaysia and Egypt, to reposition women in their respective communities in the context of religion (reinterpretation of religious text and Islamic traditions), and Arab-Islamic history and cultural traditions (construction of alternative memory and history). Other interest includes postcolonial and feminist theory; indigenous feminisms; nationalism and exile; sexuality; human rights in Islam.

ADVISOR: Dr. Sondra Hale, Professor of Anthropology and Women’s Studies, UCLA

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

PUBLICATIONS

PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS

2005                            “Memories of Islam: Reimagining Muslim and Redefining Faith, “ Paper presented at the Seventh Annual Women’s History Conference -Women’s Stories, Women’s Lives: Making Sense of Experience” Sarah Lawrence College, New York March 4-5.

2005                            “Feminism Within Islamic Thought.” Paper presented at Fifteenth Annual Graduate Student Research Conference, The UCLA Center For The Study of Women and The USC Center for Feminist Research UCLA. March 4.

2004                            “Organic Feminism Within Islamic Thought: Questions of Theory, Identity, Legitimacy, Authenticity and Belonging.” Paper presented at the International Seminar on Islamic Thought, University Kebangsaan Malaysia. 

2003                                                        “United States Feminists Building and Incorporating Transnational Frameworks: Examining the Challenges and Possibilities of Globalization.” Paper accepted at the UK & Ireland Women’s Studies Associations 17th Annual Conference, Feminism Contesting Globalization, University College, Dublin, Ireland.

2004                            “Malaysian Muslim Women: Negotiating Political Islam and The Politics of Identity.” Paper accepted at the 13th Multidisciplinary Graduate Feminist Colloquium, Center for Feminist Research, York University, Toronto, Canada.

2003                            Invited Panelist, “Women, Race and Sexuality” panel, Center for the Study of Women (CSW), UCLA

2003                            “Linking Theory and Activism: Redefining Categorical Feminism and Feminist Theory.” Paper presented at the Pacific Southwest Women’s Studies Association (PWSA), Cal Poly Pomona.

2002                            “Dismantling Bridges, Building Solidarity: Reconciling Arab and Western Feminisms.” Paper accepted at the 6^th International Conference of the Arab Women's Solidarity Association (AWSA), Cairo, Egypt.

2002                            “(Re) constructing Solidarity: Arab and Western Feminisms.” Paper accepted for the 4th Annual Women’s Studies Graduate Student Conference, Acting Locally Globally, University of Kentucky,

2002                            “In Search of Solidarity: Reconciling Arab and Western Feminism.” Paper accepted at the Western Social Science Association Conference (WSSA), Albuquerque, New Mexico.

2001                            Panelist, Thematic Conversation, “Insiders/Outsiders: New Questions in Research on Women and Gender of the Middle East in the New Millennium.” Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA), San Francisco, CA.