- About
- Apply
- Awards + Funding
- Graduate Students
- Life + Community
- Faculty + Staff
- Individualized Interdisciplinary Studies in Graduate Studies
"Rawia is a triple threat. First, she’s whip-smart, able to synthesize enormous bodies of scholarship and to write about it in a readable, cogent fashion. Second, she engages with her Palestinian heritage as subject matter with the kind of brave politics we need in the academy. Third, she does so via psychoanalytic theory, meaning that underlying her work is an ethic of care and responsibility. It is a real pleasure to work with a student as challenging and uncompromising as Rawia Inaim."
Dr. Clint Burnham
"The professors in the English department were supportive of my research endeavours and provided me with the necessary guidance to pursue these interests."
Rawia Inaim
Rawia Inaim
English PhD student in the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
I was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, and then immigrated to Canada at five years old. Since then, my life has been divided almost in half between the Westbank and Canada, having attended elementary and secondary education in both places.
Currently, I am in the first semester of my doctoral degree in English at SFU. I hold a Bachelor of Arts in English from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, as well as a Master of Arts in English with a specialization in Print-Culture from SFU. In addition to my doctoral studies, I currently work as a part-time online lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at Hebron University, located in Hebron, Palestine.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO COME TO SFU?
I first joined SFU for my Master of Arts degree back in 2018. SFU offered me a fantastic funding package that allowed me to earn a living while still being able to dedicate most of my time to my research. Additionally, this funding included opportunities to work as a Teaching Assistant, which allowed me to gain experience teaching at the post-secondary level. Throughout my MA degree, the professors and courses challenged me intellectually, encouraged me to develop my own research interests, and helped me further improve upon my critical thinking skills. Most importantly, the professors in the English department were supportive of my research endeavours and provided me with the necessary guidance to pursue these interests.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR RESEARCH OR YOUR PROGRAM TO A FAMILY MEMBER?
My current research project approaches the Palestinian-Israeli context through a psychoanalytic and cultural studies lens. Specifically, I explore how individual and group fantasies are embedded in cultural objects that reproduce this occupation.
WHAT ARE YOU PARTICULARLY ENJOYING ABOUT YOUR STUDIES/RESEARCH AT SFU?
My invaluable doctoral supervision team and the collegial and supportive environment among the graduate students in the program.
HAVE YOU BEEN THE RECIPIENT OF ANY MAJOR OR DONOR-FUNDED AWARDS? IF SO, PLEASE TELL US WHICH ONES AND A LITTLE ABOUT HOW THE AWARDS HAVE IMPACTED YOUR STUDIES AND/OR RESEARCH.
Ann & William Messenger Graduate Fellowship in English; Temple Maynard Graduate Scholarship in English; Graduate Fellowship.
Contact Rawia: rawia_inaim@sfu.ca