Dr Thea Shahrokh

Thea’s research interests focus on issues of social justice and include youth migration, identities and belonging; gender and social inequalities; violence and exclusion; participatory and arts based methodologies; and the ethics and politics of knowledge production. Thea’s research grows from her commitment to generating complex and applied knowledge with and for people affected by power inequities. She is passionate about working with young people in particular, whose powerful experiences are often overlooked. Thea has designed and delivered qualitative, participatory and creative research with people affected by marginalisation and their communities, including young migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in the UK, Canada and South Africa, and male refugees affected by sexual violence in Uganda.

Thea is a Research Associate on the EU Horizon 2020 funded research project MIMY: EMpowerment through liquid Integration of Migrant Youth in vulnerable conditions. The project takes an innovative multi-method approach which places young migrants at the centre of knowledge creation about their resilience, resistance and integration, and the impact of intersecting social inequalities. This role builds on her PhD research where she collaborated with young people with migration experiences to creatively produce knowledge in support of their sense of belonging in South Africa. It also connects to her work in the field of participatory and visual research at Coventry University, specifically the SSHRC (Canada) funded project, For Us by Us: Children's Picture Books to Promote Solidarity and Acceptance in the Age of Refugees from 2018-2020.