Biography
Anna Shah Hoque is an SSHRC doctoral candidate at the Institute of Feminist & Gender Studies at the University of Ottawa. For her dissertation, she is developing a feminist visual ethnography of archival practices, focusing on contemporary, place-based artistic responses by Indigenous and South Asian visual artists and curators in settler Canada. Anna theorizes from her position as a diasporic, queer, feminist, caste-privileged Muslim, and disabled South Asian refugee, now a citizen in settler Canada. Her work emphasizes Indigenous and Global South intellectual contributions, integrating a South-to-South analytical framework that challenges traditional Euro-American academic paradigms, which is vital for advancing scholarly discussions on decolonial practices and fostering meaningful cross-cultural dialogues in academia and beyond.
She has taught at Carleton University, Concordia University, and McGill University. Her teaching praxis is grounded in decolonial, anti-racist, anti-casteist, and feminist scholarship. Anna鈥檚 teaching philosophy bridges the academy and community beyond course materials. Her interdisciplinary foundation encompasses Cultural Studies, Canadian Studies, Feminist and Gender Studies, Indigenous Studies, Sexuality Studies, and Critical Race and Ethnicity.
Anna also maintains an independent curatorial and art practice, deeply committed to amplifying marginalized voices, particularly those of Indigenous, Black, and racialized queer and trans communities. She is currently working on a feminist ethnographic film on matrilineal inheritances and art-making with First Nations artist Christine Toulouse. Anna co-curated , which highlighted stories of queer communities long excluded from local public history, including Indigenous, Black, and racialized queer and trans peoples. She also curated and produced the oral storytelling initiative, , supported by CUAG (Carleton University Art Gallery) and the Canada Council for the Arts. Anna serves on the Board of Directors at and .
Publications
Refereed Contributions
Abu Hatoum, N., and Shah Hoque, A. Equal Authorship. (Forthcoming). Bringing Soil, Breaking Bread:鈥疉rchival Practices in Visual Storytelling of Palestine and Exile. Journal for Palestine Studies.
Shah Hoque, A. (2024). Au Fil des 脦les Archipels | Islands and Archipelagos, Curated by Analays Alvares Hernandez and Raquel Cruz Crespo. Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas, 8(3), 338-342.
Shah Hoque, A. (2024). 鈥淟iminal Futures, Curated by Diane Hau Yu Wong.鈥 Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas, 9(1-2), 157-162.
Bivens, R. and Hoque, A.S. Equal Authorship. (2018). Programming Sex, Gender, and Sexuality: Infrastructural Failures in 鈥楩eminist鈥 Dating App Bumble. Canadian Journal of Communication, 43(3).
Hoque, A. (2014). An Exercise in Futility 鈥 Reflecting on the Breakdown of Indigenous Identity in Canada Hall. In Capstone Seminar Series鈥(Re)Negotiating Artifacts of Canadian Narratives of Identity,鈥4(1).鈥
Nonrefereed Contributions
Shah Hoque, A. (2024). Exhibit Review: Undoing Earthwriting 鈥 Patrick Henry, Kapwani Kiwanga, Kosisochukwu Nnebe, and Eve Tagny. C Magazine.
Shah Hoque, A. (2023). Exhibit Review: 鈥淧hylogeny鈥 by Rajni Perera, Galerie Hugues Charbonneau. Esse. Webzine.
Shah Hoque, A. (2023). Exhibit Review: 鈥淚nvisible Fish鈥 - Simranpreet Anand, Roxanne Charles, Joni Cheung, Paige Pettibon, Nash'mene'ta'naht Atheana Picha, Susan Point, Pudlo Pudlat, Manuel Axel Strain, Leslie Wells. C Magazine, 156.
Forthcoming contributions
Shah Hoque, A. (Forthcoming). Heritage Minutes: A Decolonial Feminist Reading of Peacemaker.鈥 In Juan Llamas Rodriguez (Ed.), Media Travels: Toward An Atlas of Global Media. Amherst College Press.
Education
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario
SSHRC Doctoral Candidate, Institute of Feminist & Gender Studies
Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
Master of Arts: Communication (Senate Medal Recipient)
Thesis: Indigenous Storytelling: Contesting, Interrupting, and Intervening in the Nation-Building Project Through Historica Canada's Heritage Minutes
Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
Bachelor of Arts Combined Honours in Canadian Studies & Communication Studies, Minor in Sexuality Studies
Teaching
Fall 2024
WGST/CANA 4301
Winter 2025
FGST 2301
|WGST 4001
Research
archives
decolonization
Indigenous art
place-based art
visual culture
settler colonialism
South Asian diaspora
storytelling
Grants, awards & honours
2023 City of Ottawa鈥檚 2023 Equity and Inclusion in the Arts 鈥 Grow Grant
2022 Canada Council for the Arts, Digital Now (with CUAG)
2020 Canada Council for the Arts, Concept to Realization (with Cara Tierney)
2018- SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship
2017 Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement (Master鈥檚 Thesis)
2017-2018 Charlotte Whitton Fellowships in Canadian Urban Life
2015-2018 Ontario Graduate Scholarship
2014 Ottawa Women鈥檚 Canadian Club Scholarship
2013 Michael Oliver Scholarship
2013 Ottawa Women鈥檚 Canadian Club Scholarship