Asiya Malik

Sociocultural Anthropology

Regional focus: the Indian Ocean region, mainland East Africa, England, North America and the Caribbean.

Topical interests: Transnationalism, kinship, marriage and identity.

I received my B.A. in anthropology from the University of Iowa, with minors in history and French. My master's thesis at the University of Virginia explored the lives of Indian women on Mauritian sugar plantations, with particular focus on the complex interweaving of marriage, caste, and religion in defining their experiences in Mauritius. I conducted follow-up research to this project in England at the Public Records Office, Kew Gardens, and at the British Newspaper Library during the summer of 2003.

My doctoral research is on the transnational kinship and marriage networks of Muslim (Sunni and Ismaili) East African Asians in Toronto, Canada. I hypothesize that shared historical and cultural experiences in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zanzibar) constitute an important criterion for spousal selection among Muslim East African Asians and, as a result, are instrumental in promoting transnational East African Asian identities. At various stages, my work in Toronto has been supported by an Explorers Club Field Research Grant, the Department of Anthropology at the University of Virginia, and currently, the U.S.-Canada Fulbright Program. I have also received language training in Hindi and Urdu under a Foreign Language Areas Studies Fellowship (FLAS) and the University of Virginia Dean's Office Language Grant.

Publications:

2003. Who is Indian? Film Review of My Mother India. Education About Asia 8(3): 71-72.