Bio
Moska Rokay is doctoral student at the University of Toronto Faculty of Information. Moska’s research focuses on community archives, memories, figurations, and identity formation/representation of refugee and diaspora communities of war and trauma in Canada. Her research interrogates archival studies and explores community archiving for refugee and diaspora communities. Her academic interests lie in the interdisciplinary crossroads of archives, critical refugee studies, critical race and ethnicity studies, global Cold War studies, and memory studies. She believes strongly in community-based, critical & feminist research that employs an ethics of care, radical empathy, and reciprocity.
Before embarking on her PhD journey, she was the founding archivist of the Muslims in Canada Archives (MiCA) at the Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Toronto from 2019-2022 and still continues to be a part of MiCA’s development in a strategy and research capacity. In 2020, she was the recipient of the Association of Canadian Archivists’ New Professional Award as well as the Archivaria Gordon Dodds Student Paper Prize.
As a refugee and settler on Turtle Island, she has been involved in the Afghan-Canadian diaspora community for many years and takes great pride in her community organizing, crediting her passion for this work to her parents.
Her research is graciously funded by a SSHRC Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral (CGS-D) Award.
Specializations
Degrees
- M.I. Archives and Records Management (Thesis option), University of Toronto
- H.B.A with High Distinction in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto
Committees and Affiliations
- Research Associate at the Muslims in Canada Archives (MiCA), UofT Institute of Islamic Studies
- Member of the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA)
- Member of the Archives Association of Ontario (AAO)
- Member of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
- External Advisory Committee Member of Library and Archives Canada’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP)