Samaah Jaffer graduated from Simon Fraser University (SFU) with a Bachelor of Arts (with Distinction), joint major in International Studies and World Literature and a minor in Middle Eastern and Islamic History. Her interdisciplinary research most often intersects with the study of Islam and society. In 2017, she was awarded the Andrew Rippin Essay Prize for excellence in critical thought and scholarship within the general field of Islamic Studies.
While completing her undergraduate studies, Samaah worked at SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement, facilitating public programming and engagement on the themes of arts and culture, social and environmental justice, and urban issues through public talks, dialogues, workshops, screenings, performances and community partnerships. She was also the British Columbia editor at rabble.ca , an alternative news website featuring work by progressive journalists, writers, artists, and activists.
As an active member of her local community in Vancouver, Canada, Samaah has volunteered with various non-profit, civil liberties, and advocacy organizations . She has been involved in organizing and speaking at numerous events and rallies, advocating against racism and Islamophobia, and discussing ways to resist systemic oppression.
Samaah most recently spent six months in Cairo, Egypt, studying Arabic in preparation for her graduate studies. She looks forward to continuing her research on the Islamic legal tradition in the MA/MSc program.
