Iuliia Fakhrutdinova, a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics, defended her dissertation project The Negotiated Identities of Refugee-background Women during Resettlement on November 30, 2022. Her critical ethnography will charter how language plays out in identity formation during resettlement for former refugee women whose identities are transnational–this means that they are connected to multiple communities and places, something that has not been fully addressed in the field. Her committee members, Dr. Avary Carhill-Poza (Chair), Dr. Panayota Gounari, Dr. Raechle Farrelly, and Dr. Anna De Fina. were enthusiastic about future impact of Iuliia’s work.

Iuliia reflected that, “Working on this project over the past years happened to be a challenging experience because of all the political situations and news that have been circulating regarding refugee experiences. Like many emerging scholars, I was so nervous to have a defense hearing, thinking that it will be sort of a test where I need to remember every single detail about my dissertation. Instead, I had an amazing dialogue and friendly conversation with my dear committee who I admire a lot. They provided me with insightful feedback and advice. It is an honor for me to do research about women and with women.”

Congratulations to Iuliia on successfully defending her thoughtful and timely project!