Thalia Thereza Assan

Thalia Thereza Assan (she/her) is a Sociology PhD Candidate at the School of Social and Political Science. Her PhD project examines the significance of friendship in the political lives of Black girls and girls of colour in Scotland. It is based on a multi-method approach that consisted of participant observations, creative methods (such as mapping, photovoice and writing) and in-depth semi-structured interviews. Thalia is currently writing up her PhD thesis and has set up an Instagram account where she shares her findings in an accessible manner: [Link]

Her research interests include:

• Friendship
• Girlhood
• Activism and Political Participation
• Education
• Ethnography
• Participatory creative methods
• Childhood
• Youth studies

Her recent outputs include:

• Assan, T. T. (2023). Chosen and collective friendship: Negotiating contradictory social ideals and demands at an Israeli elementary school classroom. The Sociological Review, 0(0).
• Assan, T. T. (2021). What’s a Girl to Do?: The Pleasures and Pressures of the Girls’ Night Out [Review of the book Negotiating Femininities in the Neoliberal Night-Time Economy: Too Much of a Girl? By E. Nicholls]. Girlhood Studies, 14(3), 155-159.
• Intercultural Youth Scotland Ambassadors and Assan, T. T. (2021). The Impact of Racism and Race on Young Black and People of Colour Scots’ Mental Health Needs. Intercultural Youth Scotland.
• Intercultural Youth Scotland. (2020). Mapping the Young Person’s Journey with Young Black and Young People of Colour in Scotland. (Researcher Role).
• Hemady, C. & Assan, T. T. (2020). Covid in Colour: The Experiences of Young Black and People of Colour Scots During the Pandemic. Intercultural Youth Scotland.
• Assan, T.T. (2020). ‘Listening to Young People during Covid-19 Challenges Common Adult Assumptions about Their Peer Relationships’. The Centre for Research on Families and Relationships Blog. June 29th 2020.
• Assan, T. T. (2019). Review of the book Girls and their bodies: voice, presence, absence, by E. Lachover, E. Peled & M. Komem. Israeli Sociology, 20(1), 146-148 [Hebrew].