Bahareh
Badiei

Bahar(eh) Badiei is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies. Her research centers on feminist theories, critical technology studies, and digital activism, with a particular focus on the SWANA region and its diasporas. Using qualitative and critical research methods from an intersectional perspective, her work examines how transnational diasporic projects may simultaneously reproduce imperialist practices while also rupturing the violence inherent in such agendas and opening up spaces for genuine feminist maneuvers. She explores issues of co-optation, erasure, and the potential for resistance, seeking to produce public-facing knowledge that challenges the simplified representation of women from the SWANA region. Before immigrating to the US, she completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in communication studies in Iran and worked as a freelance journalist. In her second master's degree in the US, her research focused on how the Muslim Ban influenced the possibility of transnational familyhood for US-based Iranian students.