20 Facts About Sara Ahmed

Sara Ahmed was born on 30 August 1969 and is a British-Australian writer and scholar whose area of study includes the intersection of feminist theory, queer theory, affect theory, critical race theory and postcolonialism.

Sara Ahmed is the daughter of a Pakistani father and an English mother, and she emigrated from England to Adelaide, Australia with her family in the early 1970s.

Sara Ahmed completed her first degree at the University of Adelaide and doctoral research at the Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory, Cardiff University.

Sara Ahmed now lives on the outskirts of Cambridge with her partner, Sarah Franklin, who is an academic at the University of Cambridge.

Sara Ahmed was based at the Institute for Women's Studies at Lancaster University from 1994 to 2004, and is one of its former directors.

Sara Ahmed was appointed to the Department of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths College, University of London in 2004, and was the inaugural director of its Centre for Feminist Research, which was set up 'to consolidate Goldsmiths' feminist histories and to help shape feminist futures at Goldsmiths.

Sara Ahmed has indicated that she will continue her work as an independent scholar.

Sara Ahmed's work is deeply interested in both lived experience analysis and the analysis of affect or emotion.

Sara Ahmed gave a talk, "Queer Use," when accepting this award.

Sara Ahmed gave a lecture, "Feminists at Work: Diversity, Complaint, Institutions" as honorary doctor.

Sara Ahmed discusses a contact zone, where objects and bodies that could create different affects are joined.

Sara Ahmed further argues that our emotions are formed through our contact with images and objects.

Sara Ahmed brings together queer phenomenology as a way of conveying that orientation is situated in the lived experience.

Sara Ahmed focuses on how happiness is narrated and the idea of utilitarianism.

In On Being Included, Sara Ahmed "offers an account of the diversity world".

Sara Ahmed explores institutional racism and whiteness, and the difficulties diversity workers face in trying to overcome them in their institutions.

Sara Ahmed adds that willfulness involves persistence in having been brought down.

Sara Ahmed spends much of the book exploring the feminist killjoy, the feminist in action who takes up the call in their everyday life.

Sara Ahmed gives the historical idea on the association of use with life and strength in the 19th century and how utilitarianism helped shape individuals through useful ends.

Sara Ahmed highlights how killing joy is a world-making project, chronicling moves from asking questions to the power of the eye roll.