Dr Suriyah Bi

BA (Oxon.) MA, PhD

My research sits at the intersections of migration, structures of oppression, and embodied identities. For my doctorate research I traced the contours of Muslim masculinities in and through migration, documenting agency and resistance in Sufi religious spaces and lamentations I termed 'Songs of Sorrow', and discovering forms both through state structures and household structures, which shatter conventional understandings of gendered dynamics. More recently my research trajectory has involved contributing to Critical Muslim Studies, through taking a microscopic approach to the engines of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment. This has since transpired into an analysis of politics and political discourse in and through the 2024 UK General Election, as well urban and architectural developments. 

I have two forthcoming books:

1. 'Bartered Bridegrooms: Transacting Muslim Masculinities as Colonial Legacy" (Manchester University Press, December 2024) 
2. "The Racialisation of Islam: British Muslims as Tools for Nation Making" 

Projects in motion:

1. British Muslims and the Marriage Market: An exploration of British Muslim experiences of navigating marriage in an age of social media, social inequality, and religioisty. 
2. Mosque Architecture and Embodied Experiences: A comparative photo and walking ethnography of French and English Mosques. 
3. Racialised Geographies of Power: An analysis of 'Muslim Vote' in the 2024 UK General Election
4. The migration of the British pound in Kashmiri architectural landscapes and their digital representation

I graduated with a BA (Hons) in Human Sciences from Magdalen College, University of Oxford (2011-14). During my second year of studies, I recieved a scholarship to study at Stanford University, taking a course titled 'Mixed Race in the New Millenium' under Professor Michele Elam's direction. I then studied for an MA in migration and Diaspora Studies at SOAS, University of London (2014-15) after which, I began a PhD in Huamn geography at University College London under Professor Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Professor Claire Dwyer's supervision (2015-19). During the final year of my PhD I was a Visiting Assistant in Research to Professor Marcia Inhorn at Yale's Department of Anthropology. 

Since completing my doctorate studies, I have lectured at SOAS Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Edinburgh's Department of Anthropology, University of Edinburgh's Department of Social Policy, University of Oxford's Department of Geography and Institute of Human Sciences, University of Bristol's Department of Geography, and SOAS' Department of History, Religions, and Philosophies. 

I also founded the Equality Act Review in 2018, through which I conduct equality based research, connecting this was Parliamentary networks in order to construct positive social policy change.