Dr. Elham Golpushnezhad

Assistant Professor, Communication and Design

School of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

elham.golpush@ahss.habib.edu.pk

Education

• Ph.D., Cultural Studies, Griffith University, Australia (2012–2017)
  Dissertation: “Rapping Islam: A Comparative Study of Hip-Hop Culture in Indonesia, Tunisia, and the United States”
  Supervisors: Prof. Andy Bennett and Prof. Christine Barrett
• M.A., Cultural Studies, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran (2008–2011)
  Dissertation: “An Ethnographic Study of Iranian Youth Hip-Hop Culture”
  Supervisor: Prof. Mahmood Shahabi
• B.A., English Literature, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran (2003–2007)

Research Interests

• Hip-Hop Culture in Muslim-Majority Countries
• Youth Culture, Gender, and Sexuality
• Method and Theory in Cultural Studies
• Critical Race Theory and Postcolonial Theory
• Posthumanism and Transhumanism
• Inquiry-Based Pedagogy in Higher Education
• Popular Music Heritage and Transnational Media Flows

Biography

Dr. Elham Golpushnezhad is an Assistant Professor specializing in media and cultural studies, with a focus on hip-hop culture, youth cultures, and postcolonial societies. Her interdisciplinary research examines the intersections of music, identity, resistance, and political economy in Muslim-majority contexts, drawing on ethnographic methods to explore DIY and underground scenes. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Iran, Indonesia, Tunisia, and the United States, analyzing how hip-hop serves as a platform for symbolic resistance, moral expression, and cultural negotiation among marginalized youth.

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles

• Golpushnezhad, E. (2023). “From the left to the right, from the fringe to the centre: The trajectories of Iran’s DIY hip-hop culture.” DIY, Alternative Cultures & Society, 1(3): 227–241.
• Golpushnezhad, E. (2018). “Untold Stories of DIY/underground Iranian rap culture: the legitimization of Iranian hip-hop and the loss of radical potential.” Cultural Sociology, 12(2): 260–275.
• Golpushnezhad, E., & Barone, S. (2016). “On n’est pas à vendre. L’économie politique du rap dans la Tunisie postrévolution.” Politique Africaine, 141: 27–51.

Book Chapters

• Golpushnezhad, E. (2014). “Queering Tehran: Discovering Gay Rap in Iran.” In C. Feldman-Barrett (Ed.), Lost Histories of Youth Culture. New York: Peter Lang.
• Golpushnezhad, E., & Shahabi, M. “Rap Music and Youth Cultures in Iran: Serious or Light?” In P. Nilan, C. Feixa, & C. Lecardi (Eds.), Youth, Space, and Time (pp. 213–236). New York: Brill.

Other

• Podcast: Dhaka to Dakar: Music of Discontent
• Short Story: “Tahqiq dar Masti” [A Research on Drunkenness], published in Nebesht online magazine

Teaching Experience

• Assistant Professor

  , Al Akhawayn University, Morocco (Aug 2024–Present)

  • Courses Designed and Taught: Fundamentals of Communication Studies; Media Policy and the Global South; Transnational Media Flows; Hip Hop and Postcolonial Societies; Popular Music Heritage; New Media and Technology; Global Communication & Media Policy; Media Analysis.

• Senior Lecturer

  , SAE University College, Australia (Jan 2016–Aug 2024)

  • Coordinator and Content Developer, Cultural Studies and Media Unit (2017–2021)
  • Courses Designed and Taught: Critical Thinking and Media; Cultural Perspectives (& Media Production); Media & Cultural Studies; Entrepreneurship and Project Design; Creative Inquiry (Graduate).

Selected Conference Presentations

• “The experience of being a female Iranian researching hip-hop culture in Indonesia, Tunisia and the United States,” Youth Histories Symposium, Brisbane (2015)
• “Untold Stories: the process of making and releasing a rap song in Iran,” KISMIF International Conference, Porto (2014)
• “Iranian queer hip-hop culture,” 12th Nordic Youth Research Symposium (NYRIS12), Tallinn (2013)

Languages

• Persian: Native
• English: Near-Native
• Classical Arabic: Proficient
• French: Beginner (Speaking and Listening)
• Turkish: Limited Reading Knowledge