I am a researcher driven by curiosity, excitement, and real-life experience!

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My research examines identity (and identity intersections), sense of belonging, and diverse ways in which we can experience diversity. The objective is to empower communities, setting the ground for a pluralistic, yet cohesive society, where everyone can prosper.

 

I was born with an innate sense of wanderlust. Yet, I realised at a young age that traveling was not enough. We need to be equipped with the right tools to access intercultural exchange and understand that which is different. It is for this reason that I decided to devote myself not only to explore diversity, but to strive to understand it. The collection of experiences I gathered, as a migrant, a multilingual speaker, an international scholar, an interdisciplinary teacher, and an ethnographer provided me with a clearer picture of the difference between being diverse and experiencing diversity through others. My work is thus driven by a fervent desire to access hidden layers of diversity and the experiences of marginalized identities or identities who constantly shift between and beyond given prototypes.

 

Formally, my PhD was in Applied Linguistics, but a strong psychological focus has always accompanied my sociolinguistic analyses, allowing me to examine the interactions of cultural, social, and linguistic factors at once. I have worked on multilingualism, adaptation and behavioural tendencies, social integration, acculturation, emotion, personality, intersectionality, and socialisation. The various strands of my research are unified by a fundamental interest in identity practices, and a fervent desire to access hidden layers of diversity. I am intrigued by the complexity and fluidity of the self, and by the experiences of ambiguous identities, such as those that constantly shift between communities or diverge from orthodox categorisations.​

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Other than doing research, I am an alternative music lover, ballet dancer, bike commuter, drummer wanna-be, and a film photography amateur. I love creepy independent movies, weird art, and swimming in cold water. I was vegan before visiting the Pacific Northwest, but I have switched back to my pescatarian diet. Oysters here are too good to be spared!

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Hope you enjoyed reading about myself and that my research and experience will help you understand more about your identities.

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This is my latest project: A Diversity Atlas of the Pacific Northwest

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Feel free to contact me if you want to contribute your own story or if you want to collaborate at new exciting research projects about exploring diversity, identity, people's culture, race and ethnicity.

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Alex