Fairuz Sharif

Ph.D. Candidate (University of Ottawa), MA (Simon Fraser University)
Fairuz Sharif
Surrey Office: Surrey Main 3850J

My post-secondary education in Canada so far has opened me to opportunities where I get to advocate the intersection of gender, class, and race especially in South Asian and Bangladeshi context. I have always been fascinated with colonialism in the Indian sub-continent and its aftermath in nationalism. As a person and educator, I am very passionate in decolonizing thoughts, perspectives, spaces, and structural barriers that puts people of color and Indigenous population at an inequal position of accessing opportunities in every sector of life and society. I also acknowledge my privilege as a Bangladeshi woman to be in the position of representing many other, who are marginal and unheard in literature and discussions. I sincerely dedicate my research and teaching to be a central voice of combatting systematic discrimination. With my students every day, I learn and re-learn about the world in a different light than yesterday.

Courses taught

  • SOCI 1125 - Introduction to Society
  • SOCI 2250 - Families in Canada
  • SOCI 2280 - Health, Disability and Society

Areas of Interest

My research interest includes but not limited to the intersection of gender, race and class in the post-colonial world specially focusing on the experiences of South Asians. My Ph.D. thesis looks into the lived experiences of Garo indigenous women working in the beauty industry of Dhaka, Bangladesh. I am aiming to investigate the juxtaposition of Bengali and Garo women in beauty parlors, using of Native language in service interactions by Garo women and how beauty, gender, race, and class are negotiated within the boundaries of beauty salons between these two groups of women. The geo-politics of post-colonial Bangladesh and the majority Bengali identity imposition on minorities are the key recurring themes in the thesis.

Scholarly Work