Profile

Most of my work lies at the intersection of education, gender, and international development, with a particular focus on the arts and the use of participatory arts. My current research has two main strands:

a) Gender, Education and Peace in International Development: My research explores the role and quality of education in promoting gender equality and peacebuilding, and unsettles the normative policies and practices by offering a critical, intersectional, and decolonial feminist analysis. I employ socially engaged art interventions as a way to understand the local meanings of peace in formal and informal education settings, and work on the design and delivery of peace education in conflict settings.

b) Participatory Arts in International Development: The second aspect of my research aims to bring together arts and humanities methods with a research agenda on international development. I use arts methods with marginalised populations in the Global South to raise critical consciousness, stimulate change in the community, and facilitate public deliberation on important political and social issues that matter to the communities.

Currently, I am leading two projects:

AHRC Project, Building Equitable African-Led Partnerships Across Africa: Setting the Agendas for Gender, Conflict, and Creative Economies: This project focuses on three critical themes: girls and women, conflict, and the creative economy, aims to build on a decade of research, work, partnerships, and engagement in Africa, and employs a bottom-up and African-led approach, engaging with local communities, activists, grassroots organisations, and community-based organisations, as well as stakeholders from the African Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the British Academy, local funders, international organisations, and government bodies.

British Council Project, Eco-Creative Pedagogies: Training the Next Generation of Teachers on Green Skills and Resilience: The project addresses the critical theme of planetary resilience by fostering a collaborative network among schools, teachers, eco-artists, environmental activists, NGOs, and think tanks in both the UK and Turkey. This dynamic partnership aims to promote mutual learning and the exchange of effective practices, focusing on integrating green skills and eco-creative approaches into educational settings. The project will also produce artistic outputs designed for teacher training and primary school students, focusing on the climate crisis.