SUZI ASA (THEY/THEM)
UBCO PhD STUDENT (2022-present)
Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies (Power, Conflict, and Ideas)
University of British Columbia | Okanagan Campus | Sylix Okanagan Nation Territory
Email Address: suzi.asa@ubc.ca
Personal Website URL:
www.universityofbritishcolumbia.academia.edu/SuziAsa
Research Interests: Sensory Ethnography, Mapping Practices, Visual Anthropology, Soundscape Studies, Ethnomusicology, Urban Studies, Critical Theory, Critical Design, Information Visualization, Aesthetics and Politics, Noise Theory
Suzi (THEY/THEM) is a multi-disciplinary working artist, and they are interested in politics of knowledge productions through the methodology of mapping with a focus on sensory research. Suzi dwells around how maps, as a critical design tool, inscribe territory, shape discourse, and produce knowledge. Their PhD project is on sensorially loaded sonic taverns in Istanbul, meyhanes, which are places with distinctive cuisine, rigorous political discussions, unique codes of social conduct, and rituals of sociability formed over centuries. Suzi is interested in how meyhanes have evolved within the diverse urban fabric of Istanbul due to both the persecution of non-Muslims and gentrification policies.
Before starting their PhD studies, Suzi worked as a research assistant on a project about emerging and disappearing aural populations in a particular neighborhood in Istanbul. Suzi was also one of project coordinators of the ‘Justice Atlas’, a podcast series on the current violations of rights in Turkey, in NGO, Anadolu Kültür. In 2021, Suzi was a part of Istanbul Biennial Production and Research Programme as a selected guest artist and researcher at the Istanbul Foundation of Culture and Arts. During their masters, Suzi worked in a research journal (Soapbox: Research Journal and Website for Cultural Analysis) and in a literary journal (Versal), both based in Amsterdam. They have also done some translation works for a feminist online journal (5harfliler) based in Istanbul.
Education
University of British Columbia Okanagan, CCGS, (Canada), PhD student in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies 2022-ongoing
The University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis, Faculty of Humanities, (Netherlands), (Research) Master of Arts in Cultural Analysis 2017-2019
Helsinki University Summer School (Finland), Representing & Remembering Minorities in Museums & Memorial Sites - Course Certificate (1 month) 2015
Koç University, Department of Psychology, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, (Istanbul – Turkey), Bachelor of Arts, (with distinction) 2013-2017
Koç University, Department of Media & Visual Arts, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, (Istanbul – Turkey), Bachelor of Arts, (with distinction) 2013-2017