Dr. Shirin Khayambashi
Areas of Expertise
post-colonialism and orientalism; Islam and Islamophobia; race and ethnicity; gender and sexuality; Iranian diaspora; immigration and new immigration destination
Research
Dr. Khayambashi’s research analyses the racial and ethnic relations post-migration in Canada. She explored the group dynamics of the new immigrants settling in Canada. Her research explored intergroup contestation and group dynamics of minority immigrants in the Canadian multicultural context, with a focus on the Iranian community and their ingroup relationships based on gender, religion, and socio-political group dynamics. This research expanded on the contested relationship that created ingroup hostility and communal insecurity. Dr. Khayambashi introduced the concept of ingroup-Islamophobia to explore the religious divide in the community. Her findings addressed the gendered divide among the community related to the post-migration revival of traditional gender roles and the political perception of Islam among the Iranian community.
Expanding post-migration racial and ethnic experience and multiculturalism in Canada, Dr. Khayambashi instigated a new research project in Brandon, MB. This project explores the immigrant experience in small Canadian towns and rural regions. The research explores the intersectional challenges of settlement in a country that promotes multiculturalism in theory but not in practice because many Canadian regions lack the diversity provided in Canadian metropoles. Therefore, a region with limited experience with diversity is encountering an abrupt growth of culturally diverse populations. Dr. Khayambashi selected Brandon, MB because the city’s diversity is growing rapidly due to a federally funded immigration pilot (Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot) to fulfil the depleting labour force in the region. This ongoing research critically examines the challenges and opportunities of settlement in small Canadian towns and rural areas.
Website
Courses
Community & Professional Service
- International Sociological Association (external link)
- Canadian Sociological Association (external link)
- External Reviewer, Research Manitoba (external link) Social Sciences & Humanities Trainee Awards (2023)
- Ethics Board Reviewer, Social Science Research Ethics Committee, McMaster University Undergraduate Sociology (external link) (2017-20)
Recent & Selected Publications
Khayambashi, S. 2024. The Immigrant Experiences in Brandon, Manitoba: Challenges of Settlement in Small Towns and Rural Regions in the Canadian Prairies. Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études Ethniques au Canada - Special Issue: Migration and Integration in Canadian Small Cities and Rural Areas/Numero Spécial: Migration et intégration Dans Les Petites Villes et Les Zones Rurales au Canada 56(3).
Khayambashi, S. 2024. Religious Contestation and Islamophobia among Iranian Communities Residing in the Greater Toronto Area and York Region. (external link, opens in new window) Canadian Review of Sociology.
Khayambashi, S. 2022. Linguistic Challenges of Fieldwork for First-Generation Ethnic Researchers. (external link) International Journal of Qualitative Methods 21.
Khayambashi, S. and S. Khayambashi. 2021. “Muslim Experience in Canadian Multiculturalism” in Reading Sociology, 4th ed. (external link) (pp. 90-95), edited by J. Jean-Pierre, V. Watts, C.E. James, P. Albanese, X. Chen and M. Graydon. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
Khayambashi, S. 2019. Diaspora, Identity, and Store Signs. (external link) Visual Sociology 34 (3): 211-222.