School of Social and Political Science

Ms Thalia Thereza Assan

Job Title

Sociology PhD Candidate

Photo
Thalia Assan's photo

City (Address)

Edinburgh

Country (Address)

UK

Research interests

Background

My PhD project examines the politics of friendship in the lives of Black girls and and girls of colour in Scotland. By ‘politics of friendship’ I am referring to the ways that friendship is affected by, contends with and challenges structural inequalities and power relations. My research is based on an ethnographic approach that consisted of participant observation, creative methods (such as mapping and writing) and in-depth semi-structured interviews. 

I have set up an Instagram account where I share my PhD findings in an accessible manner: https://www.instagram.com/gfsc_research/

My M.A. project was a year-long ethnographic study of girls’ friendship and friendship socialisation in an Israeli elementary school classroom. I interrogated collective and individualistic conceptions of friendship and how these were understood, experienced, performed and negotiated by the girls and their teachers in everyday school life.

 

Supervisors

Mary Holmes

Niamh Moore

 

Qualifications

M.A., Sociology and Anthropology; Track: Socio-Cultural Anthropology, Tel Aviv University (Summa Cum Laude), 2018
Thesis title: 'Friendship in the Classroom and ‘Classroom Friendship’: Discourses and Performances of Friendship between Elementary School Girls'

B.A., Sociology and Anthropology; The Multidisciplinary Program in the Humanities (Summa Cum Laude), Tel Aviv University, 2015

 

Publications

Journal Articles

Assan, T. T. (2023). ‘Once you bond… you want to create social change’: Interpersonal relationships in youth activism. Children & Societyhttps://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12780

Assan, T. T. (2023). Chosen and collective friendship: Negotiating contradictory social ideals and demands at an Israeli elementary school classroom. The Sociological Reviewhttps://doi.org/10.1177/00380261231152730

 

Book Reviews

Assan, T. T. (2021). What’s a Girl to Do?: The Pleasures and Pressures of the Girls’ Night Out [Review of the book Negotiating Femininities in the Neoliberal Night-Time Economy: Too Much of a Girl? By E. Nicholls]. Girlhood Studies, 14(3), 155-159.

Assan, T. T. (2019). Review of the book Girls and their bodies: voice, presence, absence, by E. Lachover, E. Peled & M. Komem. Israeli Sociology, 20(1), 146-148 [Hebrew].

 

Other Outputs

Intercultural Youth Scotland Ambassadors and Assan, T. T. (2021). Speaking Our Mind: The Impact of Racism and Race on Young Black People and Young People of Colour in Scots' Mental Health Needs. Intercultural Youth Scotland.

Intercultural Youth Scotland. (2020). Mapping the Young Person’s Journey with Young Black and Young People of Colour in Scotland. (Researcher Role).

Hemady, C. & Assan, T. T. (2020). Covid in Colour: The Experiences of Young Black and People of Colour Scots During the Pandemic. Intercultural Youth Scotland.

Assan, T.T. (2020). ‘Listening to Young People during Covid-19 Challenges Common Adult Assumptions about Their Peer Relationships’. The Centre for Research on Families and Relationships Blog. June 29th 2020

Interviewed about M.A. thesis in ‘Textmania’ Podcast. KAN – Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. July 2017 [Hebrew].

 

Awards and Scholarships

Graduate School of Social and Political Science International Award scholarship, 2019-present

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science College Research Award studentship, 2019-present

Israeli Anthropological Association’s Max Gluckman Memorial Prize for Best M.A. Thesis, 2019

Jonathan Shapira Fund scholarship for thesis research proposal, 2017

M.A excellence scholarship, 2018

Rector’s Excellence in Teaching Award, 2017

M.A. tuition scholarship, 2015, 2016

B.A. excellence scholarship, 2013, 2014, 2015

B.A. Dean’s list, 2013, 2014, 2015

 

Presentations

“Letting it slide” and “dropping” friends: Navigating racialised identities and racism in friendship, British Sociological Association Annual Conference, The University of Manchester, April 2023

Intra-generational relationships in marginalised youth’s political participation, Political Studies Association Annual Conference, The University of Liverpool, April 2023

Using creative methods as a non-artist: Recommendations, considerations and affirmations, Childhood Studies Jamboree, Moray House of Education and Sports, The University of Edinburgh, March 2023

Homeplace Friends and Youth Work as Friendship, Imagining the Future of Youth Studies: A British Sociological Association Youth Study Group Colloquium, Manchester Metropolitan University, September 2022

“My Safe Space”: The Political Importance of Youth Work and Friendship for Young Black people and People of Colour, We Move – A Race Equality & Migrants Rights Summit, the Runnymede Trust, University of Leeds, September 2022

Exploring Relational Aspects of Girls’ Political Participation through a Multi-Method Approach, Creative Methods: Researching Youth Methods Seminar Series, British Educational Research Association, May 2022

Panelist on the Sociology of Emotions Panel, Reconnecting Sociologies: New Directions Conference, Sociology Department, The University of Edinburgh, May 2022

‘Once You Relate You Try to Make Social Change’: A Relational Perspective on Youth’s Political Participation, British Sociological Association Annual Conference, April 2022

Using Creative Methods as a Non-Artist in Research with Youth: The Example of Mapping, Childhood Studies Jamboree, Moray House of Education and Sports, The University of Edinburgh, March 2022

Exploring Intersections of Friendship and Political Participation in Girls’ Lives, Sociologically DistancED: New Directions Conference, Sociology Department, The University of Edinburgh, May 2021

Friendship in the Classroom and Classroom Friendship: Discourses and Performances of Friendship between Girls in Elementary School, Sociology and Anthropology of Education Research Students’ Conference, Tel Aviv University, June 2019

‘It Didn’t Come From the Heart’: Intersections of the Emotional Discourse and the Friendship Discourse in the Elementary School, the 47th Annual Conference of the Israeli Anthropological Association, Beer Sheva, May 2019

Friendship in the Classroom and Classroom Friendship: Discourses and Performances of Friendship between Girls in Elementary School, Haifa Workshop for Performance Conference, Haifa University, June 2018

‘She is Not a True Friend’: Drawing Social Borders through the Discourse of Friendship in an Israeli Elementary School, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion International Conference, Brunel University London, June 2017

‘Are You My Friend?’: Contradictory Responsibilities and Commitments in Researching Girls, The Annual Interdisciplinary Conference for Research Students Hosted by the Sociology and Anthropology Department, Tel Aviv University, June 2017

Being a Good Friend: Understanding and Constructing Friendship between Girls in Elementary School, ‘Gender Crossing Borders’ Conference, Women and Gender Studies Program, Tel Aviv University, May 2017

 

Teaching and Professional Experience

Guest Lecturer, ‘Ethical Dilemmas and Challenges in Fieldwork’, Research Skills in the Social Sciences: Data Collection (Postgraduate course), School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, 2021

Tutor, ‘Research Skills in the Social Sciences: Data Collection’ (Postgraduate course), School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, 2021

Tutor, ‘Sociology of Emotions’ (Undergraduate course), Sociology Department, University of Edinburgh, 2021

Teaching Assistant, ‘Sociology Postgraduate Research Seminar’ (Postgraduate course), Sociology Department, University of Edinburgh, 2020, 2021

Research Assistant to Professor Michal Kravel-Tovi, 2015-2018

Tutor, ‘Introduction to Anthropology’ (Undergraduate course), Sociology and Anthropology Department, Tel Aviv University, 2015-2018

Teaching Assistant, ‘Introduction to the Sociology of Education’ (Undergraduate course), Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts, 2017

Tutor, ‘Introduction to Sociology’ (Undergraduate course), Sociology and Anthropology Department, Tel Aviv University, 2014-2016

Works within

Thalia-thereza Assan's Research Explorer profile