Ayeshah Émon - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Ayeshah Émon
Journal of Education Culture and Society, 2019
Aim. This paper examines how dominant understandings of students in third-level education in Irel... more Aim. This paper examines how dominant understandings of students in third-level education in Ireland are reflected in national policies, filtered through the official and aspirational texts issued by Irish colleges, and negotiated and contested by students. Specifically, we investigate the discrepancies between the perceived needs of students in third-level education as imagined in government policies and promoted by higher education institutions, and the lived realities of students who grapple with multiple challenges brought about by structural failures in housing and higher education funding policy. Methods. Through documentary analysis and primary qualitative data on student experiences, we examine how the imagined figure of the third-level student/graduate becomes imbued with the aspirations of multiple stakeholders: policymakers, academic institutions, and potential employers - in ways that conflict with the lived realities of students. Results. We find that students are caugh...
Cogent Education, 2021
School closures and remote learning resulted in major disruptions for final-year secondary school... more School closures and remote learning resulted in major disruptions for final-year secondary school students who were due to take their examinations in June 2020. Using the Constructivist-Grounded Th...
YOUNG
We interviewed university graduates of 2020 in Ireland to understand how the coronavirus pandemic... more We interviewed university graduates of 2020 in Ireland to understand how the coronavirus pandemic had affected them. Demonstrating a keen awareness of their mental health, participants had adopted self-care practices such as mindfulness. They recounted positive experiences of life in their ‘lockdown homes’ with supportive families. Some were embarking on normative adult pathways sooner than anticipated while others opted for postgraduate study to bide time. Participants reported heightened worry/anxiety and had limited their media use in response. Their plans did not extend beyond the immediate future, reflecting a degree of resignation. The participants accepted the strict constraints associated with pandemic management in Ireland. They did not view themselves as members of a group that was likely to experience the long-term costs of the pandemic but rather were attempting to negotiate their own pathway through labour market uncertainty while also demonstrating high levels of solid...
The Journal of American Folklore, 2015
Journal of American Folklore , 2015
In recent years, a growing group of scholars has begun to draw upon queer theory as they research... more In recent years, a growing group of scholars has begun to draw upon queer theory as they research aspects of LGBTQ folk performances and texts from around the globe. In the process, folklore scholars have become increasingly intrigued by bodies that appear to transgress dimorphism, and complicate binary oppositions like male/female. Performances of gender identity and sexuality by hijras in South Asia have awakened audiences’ imaginings since the Kama Sutra period (Gupta 2005:180). In folktale, dance, song, religious epic, and popular culture, the figure of the hijra often evokes a liminal play of “otherness.” Commonly known as the “third gender”—a conceptual space outside of typical Western constructs—hijra individuals engage with varied notions of transsexual, transgender, intersex, cross- dresser, eunuch, or sexual fluidity. This article focuses on a feminist appropriation of the hijra within yoni ki baat, a South Asian American version of The Vagina monologues. The authors explore how the figure of the hijra—drawn from South Asian folk narratives, religious discourse, and popular culture—might be used strategically by social activists in political performance narratives to (1) encourage a complicated sense of sexually ambiguous or queer practices and identities, and (2) acknowledge individuals facing social oppression due to their marginalized identities. As such, their approach conceptualizes performance as both a relational space and as a space in which to wonder about questions of relationality (Madison and Hamera 2006; Schechner 1990).
BioSocieties, 2017
In this paper, I argue for a re-examination of the concept and application of donor anonymity. If... more In this paper, I argue for a re-examination of the concept and application of donor anonymity. If computer sciences and genetic technologies have established that anonymity is impossible to ensure in current times, why does the fiction of anonymity continue to survive in cryobanks? I argue that the performance and management of 'anonymity' meet different needs of donors, recipients, and cryobanks. While absolute anonymity is neither possible nor preferable to cryobanks (as donor records may be needed for future medical and legal references), contractual anonymity gives the parties involved reassurance that the flow of information is under reliable control – in this case – the control of cryobanks. While complete protection of the donor's private information is limited in actuality, it provides a certain freedom from an unforeseen and unde-termined future by temporarily easing donor and recipient apprehensions about feared 'what-if' scenarios. In order to be useful, anonymity's mechanics must incorporate enough flexibility to be undone if needed.
Journal of Education Culture and Society, 2019
Aim. This paper examines how dominant understandings of students in third-level education in Irel... more Aim. This paper examines how dominant understandings of students in third-level education in Ireland are reflected in national policies, filtered through the official and aspirational texts issued by Irish colleges, and negotiated and contested by students. Specifically, we investigate the discrepancies between the perceived needs of students in third-level education as imagined in government policies and promoted by higher education institutions, and the lived realities of students who grapple with multiple challenges brought about by structural failures in housing and higher education funding policy. Methods. Through documentary analysis and primary qualitative data on student experiences, we examine how the imagined figure of the third-level student/graduate becomes imbued with the aspirations of multiple stakeholders: policymakers, academic institutions, and potential employers - in ways that conflict with the lived realities of students. Results. We find that students are caugh...
Cogent Education, 2021
School closures and remote learning resulted in major disruptions for final-year secondary school... more School closures and remote learning resulted in major disruptions for final-year secondary school students who were due to take their examinations in June 2020. Using the Constructivist-Grounded Th...
YOUNG
We interviewed university graduates of 2020 in Ireland to understand how the coronavirus pandemic... more We interviewed university graduates of 2020 in Ireland to understand how the coronavirus pandemic had affected them. Demonstrating a keen awareness of their mental health, participants had adopted self-care practices such as mindfulness. They recounted positive experiences of life in their ‘lockdown homes’ with supportive families. Some were embarking on normative adult pathways sooner than anticipated while others opted for postgraduate study to bide time. Participants reported heightened worry/anxiety and had limited their media use in response. Their plans did not extend beyond the immediate future, reflecting a degree of resignation. The participants accepted the strict constraints associated with pandemic management in Ireland. They did not view themselves as members of a group that was likely to experience the long-term costs of the pandemic but rather were attempting to negotiate their own pathway through labour market uncertainty while also demonstrating high levels of solid...
The Journal of American Folklore, 2015
Journal of American Folklore , 2015
In recent years, a growing group of scholars has begun to draw upon queer theory as they research... more In recent years, a growing group of scholars has begun to draw upon queer theory as they research aspects of LGBTQ folk performances and texts from around the globe. In the process, folklore scholars have become increasingly intrigued by bodies that appear to transgress dimorphism, and complicate binary oppositions like male/female. Performances of gender identity and sexuality by hijras in South Asia have awakened audiences’ imaginings since the Kama Sutra period (Gupta 2005:180). In folktale, dance, song, religious epic, and popular culture, the figure of the hijra often evokes a liminal play of “otherness.” Commonly known as the “third gender”—a conceptual space outside of typical Western constructs—hijra individuals engage with varied notions of transsexual, transgender, intersex, cross- dresser, eunuch, or sexual fluidity. This article focuses on a feminist appropriation of the hijra within yoni ki baat, a South Asian American version of The Vagina monologues. The authors explore how the figure of the hijra—drawn from South Asian folk narratives, religious discourse, and popular culture—might be used strategically by social activists in political performance narratives to (1) encourage a complicated sense of sexually ambiguous or queer practices and identities, and (2) acknowledge individuals facing social oppression due to their marginalized identities. As such, their approach conceptualizes performance as both a relational space and as a space in which to wonder about questions of relationality (Madison and Hamera 2006; Schechner 1990).
BioSocieties, 2017
In this paper, I argue for a re-examination of the concept and application of donor anonymity. If... more In this paper, I argue for a re-examination of the concept and application of donor anonymity. If computer sciences and genetic technologies have established that anonymity is impossible to ensure in current times, why does the fiction of anonymity continue to survive in cryobanks? I argue that the performance and management of 'anonymity' meet different needs of donors, recipients, and cryobanks. While absolute anonymity is neither possible nor preferable to cryobanks (as donor records may be needed for future medical and legal references), contractual anonymity gives the parties involved reassurance that the flow of information is under reliable control – in this case – the control of cryobanks. While complete protection of the donor's private information is limited in actuality, it provides a certain freedom from an unforeseen and unde-termined future by temporarily easing donor and recipient apprehensions about feared 'what-if' scenarios. In order to be useful, anonymity's mechanics must incorporate enough flexibility to be undone if needed.