New faculty member in Arts: Prof. Zabeen Khamisa

Wed. Apr. 24, 2024

Congratulations to our new faculty members in the Faculty of Arts! We look forward to introducing each of them to you in the coming weeks.

Here we feature Prof. Zabeen Khamisa, Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion and Culture.

Dr. Tracy Whalen, Acting Dean of Arts, enthuses, "Zabeen Khamisa does fabulous ethnographic research about the connections between diasporic Sikh entrepreneurs in Canada." Dr. Whalen continues, "I’ve had the opportunity to read her published work on the 'disruptive garb' of Canadian Sikh designers who challenge mainstream representations and promote gender equality and diversity. Zabeen’s thinking about the dynamics of connection (or constellations) is of great interest to me!"

Welcome Prof. Khamisa and thank you for sharing about yourself with us!

Prof. Zabeen Khamisa (Bio)

Prof. Zabeen Khamisa’s research focuses on lived experiences of Sikhs in Canada. Her doctoral dissertation is a digital ethnography that examines the rise of an elite constellation of millennial Sikh entrepreneurial activists and the innovative ways they express their shared Sikh values and moral positions for global social change via the social, economic, and political domains of Canadian society.  At the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association and the Canadian Anthropological Society in Toronto this past November, Prof. Khamisa co-organized a roundtable on "Organizing Objects Through the Stories We Tell," and presented on the printed floral turbans designed and sold by digital Sikh fashion social enterprise, TrendySingh, based in Calgary. She has taught courses on the Religions of India, a Multifaith Society, and, for the first time at the University of Winnipeg, a seminar on Sikhs in Canada. Prof. Khamisa's recent course on a Multifaith Society included an assignment that challenged students to consider how different Canadian university institutions address and manage the growing religious diversity on their campuses. Students first conducted research on two major Canadian universities and their multifaith policies and/or practices; and then wrote a comparative essay analyzing the similarities and differences of the multifaith policies and practices of each university incorporating critical discussion of course materials. 

We've invited our new faculty members to answer some questions of their choice. Here is what Prof. Khamisa had to say!

Arts: What was one thing you learned as an undergraduate that was/has been important to you – and why?

One of the most valuable lessons I learned as an undergraduate was to make use of my professor’s office hours and ask for help. Not only was I able to expand my understanding of the class material which improved my assignments, I was also able to learn more from my professors about their own research and academic journey, as well as received direct mentorship.

Arts:  If you’ve come from elsewhere, what are/were you most interested in checking out in Winnipeg – or Manitoba?

I am interested in learning about the vibrant and growing Sikh community here and their interconnected relationships with other Manitobans. I am also interested in learning about what religion looks like here in the Prairies.