Nikta Sadati
Research Interests
Diaspora studies, postcolonial literatures, feminist theory, queer theory, Black studies, science fiction, Afrofuturism, historical fiction.
Awards and Recognition
William C. Leggett Graduate Fellowship: $10,000. 2022-2023.
Queen’s Graduate Award: $14,480. Fall 2020.
Ryerson Graduate Fellowship Award: $6,700. Fall 2019.
Graduate Supervision
Chris Bongie
Kristin Moriah
Dissertation
My doctoral research utilizes critical frameworks of diaspora studies to examine contemporary novels of the Black diaspora through the lens of Afrofuturist re-imaginings of the past, present, and future. Through the fantastical and haunting fictionalizations of the past, Black diasporic futures are queered and reimagined in the contemporary literary moment, suggesting the key roles of fragmented memory and imagination. My research introduces the intersections between haunting, ghostly, and folkloric imaginings of the pasts and futures of the Black diaspora with queer theories of gender, subjectivity, and identity formation, positioning Afrofuturism as the key actor in the literary representation of the queering of the Black diasporas.