Taha Sophia Hayat

Biography

Sophia Hayat Taha is a British-Lebanese postgraduate student whose experiences in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual upbringing made her realise how Eurocentric her education has been.

She is a PhD candidate whose work takes a postcolonial feminist critique working with migrant women who have ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’.

Sophia was fortunate enough to be supported by a wide range of people so that she gained ESRC funding and is a NWSSDTP PhD candidate.

She has worked on projects covering digital exclusion, international students’ learning environments during lockdown and decolonising the curriculum.  Sophia holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics, a PGDip in International Relations & Security Studies, MA in International Relations, MRes in Social Science Research Methods. 

Research and scholarship

PhD Project: Postcolonial Resistance to U.K. Bureaucracy: Centring Migrant Women as they navigate ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’

Co-Supervisors: Dr Jane Krishnadas and Dr Moran Mandelbaum

The project combines postcolonial legal methodology with empirical research in local partner agency, Staffordshire North and Stoke-on-Trent Citizens Advice (SNSCA) to address the research aims.

Her PhD uses an interdisciplinary approach combining Law and International Relations to allow for a different understanding of how the State interacts with migrant women, moving away from an Eurocentric interpretation of law. 

Further information

Associate Fellowship HEA