Dr. Ghada Alatrash is Asst. Professor at the School of Critical and Creative Studies at Alberta University of the Arts, Calgary, Canada. Dr. Alatrash’s pedagogy and research are grounded in anti-orientalist, anti-colonial, anti-racism, and feminist frameworks that interrogate and challenge Western hegemonic narratives through an intersectional, transnational, post-colonial lens. Her current research speaks to Syrian art and creative expression as resistance to dictatorship.
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Educational Research: Languages and Diversity, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary Master of Arts in English Literature, University of Oklahoma Bachelor of Arts in Business and International Studies, Abilene Christian University
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Huddud’s House by Fadi Azzam [a translated novel], translated by Ghada Alatrash, Interlink Publishing, MA, USA. Release date March 2024. https://a.co/d/8Zw20Ua
Peer-Reviewed Publications:
Alatrash, G. (2023) On decolonizing curriculums: The unethicality and implications of Western Knowledge on the Arab Subject. Journal of Historical Sociology (Wiley Blackwell).
Alatrash, G. (2021). Activating and Actualizing the Third Space in Syrian Diasporic Realities: An Autoethnography. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education. 16(1). Retrieved from https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/jcie/index.php/JCIE/article/view/29470
Alatrash, G. (2021). Identity Issues in Syrian Diasporic Realities: An Autoethnographic Interpretation. Cultural and Pedagogical Inquiry 12(1). Retrieved from https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/cpi/index.php/cpi
Alatrash, G., Abed Alsamad, N. (2020). On Understanding Syrian Diasporic Identities through a Selection of Syrian Literary Works. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education 15(20).
Alatrash, G. (2018). On Understanding the Experience of Syrian Refugees Through an Autoethnographic Lens. Canadian Ethnic Studies 50(3), 131-143. Canadian Ethnic Studies Association. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/705009
Selected Translated Pieces:
Azzam, F. (2023). (G. Alatrash, Trans.). On the Anniversary of a Syrian Revolution: An excerpt of Fadi Azzam’s ‘Huddud’s House.” Arablit & Arablit Qaurterly. https://arablit.org/2023/03/15/on-the-anniversary-of-a-syrian-revolution-an-excerpt-of-fadi-azzams-hudduds-house/
Alatrash, G. ‘#There is a Voice,”: A Plea to Continue the Search for Earthquake Victims.
Azzam, F. (2023). (G. Alatrash, Trans.). On the Calamity of the I. Asymptote. https://www.asymptotejournal.com/poetry/the-calamity-of-the-i-fadi-azzam/
Al-Saleh Al-Hussein, Riyad. (2022) Three Poems by Riyad Al-Saleh Al-Hussein. (G. Alatrash, Trans.). https://arablit.org/2022/10/22/three-poems-by-riyad-al-saleh-al-hussein/
al-Jibai, G. (2022). You Call It a Grave, I Call It a Flowerpot. (G. Alatrash, Trans.). Arablit & Arablit Qaurterly. https://arablit.org/2022/10/20/new-poetry-from-ghassan-al-jibai-you-call-it-a-grave-i-call-it-a-flowerpot/
al-Jibai, G. (2022). Nails. (G. Alatrash, Trans.). Arablit & Arablit Quarterly. https://arablit.org/2022/08/17/in-memory-of-ghassan-al-jibai-nails/
Azzam, F. (2022). An excerpt from Fadi Azzam’s ‘Huddud’s House. (G. Alatrash, Trans.). Arablit & Arablit Quarterly. https://arablit.org/2022/05/23/an-excerpt-from-fadi-azzams-hudduds-house/
Samu’il, I. (2022). The Bathroom. (G. Alatrash, Trans.). Arablit & Arablit Quarterly. https://arablit.org/2022/05/11/new-short-fiction-from-syria-ibrahim-samuils-the-bathroom/
Samu’il, I. (2022). The Stench of Heavy Footsteps. (G. Alatrash, Trans.). Arablit & Arablit Quarterly. https://arablit.org/2022/05/12/new-short-fiction-from-syria-ibrahim-samuils-the-stench-of-heavy-footsteps/
Badr, H. (2022). From the Mirrors’ Issue: Hilal Badr’s ‘Ash-sha’b Yurid Isqat an-Nizam [The people want to bring down the regime]. (G. Alatrash, Trans.). Arablit & Arablit Quarterly. https://arablit.org/2022/04/11/from-the-mirrors-issue-hilal-badrs-ash-shab-yurid-isqat-an- nizam/
al-Saleh al-Hussein, R. (2022). New in translation: three poems for Riyad al-Saleh al-Hussein. (G. Alatrash, Trans.). Arablit & Arablit Quarterly. https://arablit.org/2022/02/21/new-in-translation-three-poems-by-riyad-al-saleh-al-hussein/
Azzam, F. (2022). If you are Syrian these days. (G. Alatrash, Trans.). Arablit & Arablit Quarterly. https://arablit.org/2022/02/08/new-poetry-in-translation-fadi-azzams-if-you-are-syrian-these-days/ recited at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpobMibtOzA&t=635s
Azzam, F. (2021). This is Damascus, You Sons of Bitches. (G. Alatrash, Trans.) Arablit & Arablit Quarterly. https://arablit.org/2022/01/12/poetry-in-translation-fadi-azzams-this-is-damascus-you-sons-of-bitches/
Azzam, F. (2021, May 29). When Syrians lost their moment in history. (G. Alatrash, Trans.) Middle East Monitor. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210529-when-syrians-lost-their-moment-in-history/
Books:
Alatrash, G. (2016). Stripped to the Bone: Portraits of Syrian Women. Ottawa, ON: Petra Books.
Selected Opinion Editorials:
Alatrash G. (2021, Nov 9). Opposition to books and theories that teach students about racism is a dangerous form of censorship. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-opposition-to-books-and-theories-that-teach-students-about-racism-is-a/
Alatrash, G., Hafez, B., & El-Lahib Y. (2020, October 23). The Stories we tell in the West have tremendous power—particularly for a group as misrepresented as Arabs. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-stories-we-tell-in-the-west-have-tremendous-power-particularly/
HONOURS AND AWARDS
2023 Recipient of the Rawlinson Research Investment Grant, Alberta University of the Arts
2021 Recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award, Mount Royal University
2018 Recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Doctoral Scholarship, University of Calgary
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
Art & Creative Expression as Resistance: Testimonies from prison survivors, October 12, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSrbZKjsIhg&t=107s
What is Decolonization: Dr. Ghada Alatrash & Dr. Troy Patenaude, Alberta University of the Arts, February 11, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7y_8-UGbsY
Syrian Artist and Former Political Prisoner Najah Al-Abukai hosted by Dr. Ghada Alatrash, Alberta University of the Arts, March, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIQsizWiHX8
SELECTED MEDIA & NEWS INTERVIEWS AND MENTIONS
On the Nobel Prize and the absence of Arab Literature, Guest on Moutoun wa Hawamish, Alabary 2 TV, Doha Qatar, October 15, 2022.
“Against the tides of Racism” –a podcast funded by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, April 4, 2022.
History Transposed by Jennifer Moss, August 24, 2020 “The art of Arab protest poetry: Dr. Ghada Alatrash.”
CBC News, February 2, 2019, “Syrian newcomers to Calgary now settled, celebrating successes and looking ahead.” [Discussed role as researcher and event organizer].
TEDx Calgary 2017; Speaker: Signal vs Noise; November 4, 2017
CBC Radio, Ideas with Paul Kennedy, March 24, 2017 [Guest Speaker discussing Syrian poetry, art, Stripped to the Bone, and the Syrian war].
Arab Voices, August 24, 2016, http://www.arabvoices.net [Guest speaker on my collection of short stories: Stripped to the Bone: Portraits of Syrian Women]
PBS NewsHour, March 11, 2016, “Surrounded by violence, Syrians seek solace in art.” http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/surrounded-by-violence-syrians-seek-solace-in-art/