Guest researcher: Somita Sabeti

Tell us a little about yourself?

“I am from Gothenburg, where I have also returned after several years of moving between countries for work and study. For many years, my work has focused on migration and intercultural dialogue, especially in relation to arts, culture, and social inclusion in Europe. Along the way, I have worked with NGOs such as Globe Aroma, a cultural meeting place and artistic workspace in Brussels for people in forced displacement, as well as the European Commission on policy development in education and multilingualism. I hold a Master’s degree in Migration Studies and Intercultural Dialogue, a joint programme between four universities in Southern Europe and North Africa. In 2019, I was a visiting research fellow at the Migration Research Center (MiReKoc) at Koç University in Istanbul, where I conducted fieldwork-based research on the experiences of young Afghan migrants in transit, and worked in close exchange with affiliated researchers. Since 2023, I have been a PhD Candidate at the Department of Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where my research looks at cultural mobilisation among the Iranian diaspora in Italy in the aftermath of the 2022 Woman, life, Freedom uprising, through both overt and subtle forms of resistance”.

What is your area of expertise?

“My professional background has focused on migrant inclusion and cultural work in migration contexts, with experience in multilingual and co-creative projects involving newly arrived artists, asylum seekers, and refugees, as well as work related to EU policy in education and social justice. My academic interests center on migration and diaspora studies, with a particular focus on how cultural practices, memory, and diasporic sensibilities intersect with social movement dynamics.”

What are you working on during your time here at the School of Global Studies?

“During my time at The School of Global Studies, I am working on my PhD dissertation, with a particular focus on writing and completing the chapters: The Field and Its Sites, the literature review and the empirical findings and analysis chapter. I am currently finishing, The Field and Its Sites, which opens with ghurbat (غربت) as an untranslatable trope of entry into the field, before taking Dongo (Como), marked by the final moments of Italy's fascist era, as a point of departure and moving to urban Milan. There, it presents the four fieldwork sites of the study: a theatre scene, a coffee bar hosting live music and poetry reading, a cineforum with film screenings and discussions, and a digital and on-site history circle.

At the same time, the events in Iran take up much of my time and emotional energy, and I follow developments closely and stay in contact with other researchers about them. I also look forward to participating in research seminars and other activities connected to my area of study”.