Meet Communication Graduate Student Ifat Gazia
By Nusrah Azeez and Christine Souaiden
Please introduce yourself and tell us your journey from undergraduate school to higher education
My name is Ifat Gazia, I am a third year PhD student at UMass Amherst in the department of Communication. I am from Indian occupied Kashmir, which is also known as the most militarized land on earth. Before coming to UMass, I did a Master’s degree in Media and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. I did my undergrad in Biochemistry in Kashmir. I was always interested in storytelling and writing. I made my first documentary film when I was 19 years old and it was widely acclaimed at home and abroad. I love films and I am very passionate about film making as a tool for storytelling. I have never been taught filmmaking, I made films out of necessity. At UMass, I have taught TV and Film Production for 4 semesters, it is something I really love. I know what to do and how to do it. But in my research, I study how Big Tech platforms like Facebook and Twitter stifle minority voices like myself by working with authoritarian governments and making people like us invisible on social media. I host and produce The Kashmir Podcast, it is a space for the people of Kashmir to tell their stories.
Why did you choose Communication?
I have always wanted to tell my story and tell the stories of my people. Initially, I thought by being a journalist I can do a good job at it. I actually studied journalism, I did a post grad diploma in journalism for 14 months in Mumbai, India. Even before getting my professional degree in journalism, I was writing for magazines and making films. After getting my degree, I went back to Kashmir and was reporting from there for almost a year. Telling stories was fine, but my work didn’t have any impact. It wasn’t changing anyone’s life for good. Therefore, I ended up going to the University of London to study Media and Development. It basically helps you understand how you can use Information Communication Technology in third world countries to make people’s lives better. However, after getting that degree, I still couldn’t figure out what to do. When I got back to Kashmir, there were no jobs, there were no organizations that could fit my interest and education and thus could hire me. I worked pro bono for two years for a civil society organization and did research work on human rights violations. Eventually, I realized that graduate school was a good fit for me. I decided to join the PhD program in Communication at UMass because of its versatility. I did a lot of experimenting and took a lot of random courses in different fields because I wanted to explore my interests. Eventually, I understood that my interests were still in Information Communication Technology, and that is where I am at right now.
What would you say is the major difference between undergraduate and graduate school?
I would say for me there are a lot of differences between my undergraduate and graduate school experiences. There are a lot of resources here, for example the studio that we have in UMass which I used and taught students in. I cannot imagine having such a studio in Kashmir. The amount of resources and avenues that undergraduate students have here in the United States cannot be compared to Kashmir. The amount of resources, quality of education, teachers, and accessibility is very different so there is no comparison. I think education here is very thorough. Also, as someone who studied in both the United Kingdom and now in the United States, I tell everyone that higher education is way better in the US, because you can take your time to explore, learn, make mistakes and discover what you like. In the UK, everything is so rushed. I really like it here, considering the availability of resources in not just the academic aspect but other things that the university provides. You can do so many different things, there are so many societies you can be part of and so many events you can do.
As a grad student, do you feel a sense of community at UMass?
Yes, definitely. I started at UMass in Fall, 2019. It was right when India had stripped Kashmir of its autonomy and put 10 million people in complete communication blockade. I had no contact with my family for months. I came here escaping a strict military lockdown, I had no idea how they were, people had no phones or internet. It was a difficult time. I was in a new country trying to figure out a new program. Although I was married, my husband was in a different state. I was by myself, I was lonely, and isolated. However, my department, the Comm department on the 3rd floor of the ILC, was my safe haven. I felt so welcomed and protected. My professors gave me such excellent support. Everyone was so nice, I felt super comfortable. I loved to sit on my desk and work. I had no contact with my family and I was in a very bad mental state but my department was the one place where I felt sane. I felt I belonged there and I am so grateful for that.
What research are you working on? What is your dissertation focused on?
I study how social media platforms are complicit in silencing minority voices whether from Kashmir, Palestine, Sri Lanka, or the Rohingyas of Myanmar. These are the four countries I am looking at in my dissertation. I am researching how dissidents from these regions get silenced on social media and how social media platforms enable their erasure because they work with authoritative governments in those countries. For example, these social media platforms work with Israel to silence Palestinians, in India to silence Kashmiris, so on and so forth. It is important to research these systems of silencing because social gatherings are limited in places like Kashmir and they cannot organize physical protests so the option left is online spaces where you can meet other people and talk about these issues but the internet ban, online surveillance, censorship, and intense silencing make people essentially voiceless. I have been deplatformed on Twitter and my podcast account was deplatformed from Twitter. So this is not just my day to day life but also my research. I am trying to build tools that can make our lives better on social media.
How intense would you describe your workload as a grad student?
Honestly, I do not think it is intense. Obviously, as a graduate student you have to study a lot because that is what you signed up for. You also have to explore your interests and if you find out what you are interested in, you would not regard it as a workload. Your work would become your hobby and you would enjoy every bit of it. Also, I think the faculty in our department is super supportive. Personally, I have never had to take an extension because I am a person that only works with deadlines. However, I know how amazing the professors have been when people need extensions. I am a Teaching Assistant for a class and I see how lenient the professors are when students need accommodations with deadlines. The main aim is to increase engagement in class and to see that students are participating and putting in the work in the class. I do not think the department program and workload is structured in a way that it would feel like a burden or burn you out. The department is super supportive to its graduate students.
What are your future plans in this field?
I want to teach at some point but it is not going to be immediately after I finish with my PhD. There are things I want to change and tools I want to build and that would take a bit of time. I want to go out in the world and be in spaces where technology decisions are made for people like me. I want to ask how they can make a technology that is not centered around Europe or the USA? But eventually, I would love to teach and be around students. It is very rewarding when you feel like somebody learned something from you. I feel this degree is so versatile and you can do so many things with it.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I really love plants considering I grew up in Kashmir which is extremely beautiful and green. My house was in the middle of an apple orchard so it is comforting that I have trees and plants around me. I love to tend to my plants and take care of them. Also, I love cooking. Cooking is some sort of therapy, it is very rewarding when I cook my traditional food and feed other people. My favorite dish to make is called Yakhni, it is like lamb slow cooked with yogurt and a lot of herbs and spices, and big bunches of dry mint. It is one of the traditional Kashmiri dishes, everybody loves it, you can eat it with rice. It takes a little bit of time to cook but the end result is so worth it.
What is your advice to future higher-education students?
When you go to grad school, go with an open mind. Take all kinds of courses because, if you feel like you are interested in film, it could turn out that you might actually like something in the food study department or health communication. The point of graduate school is to basically explore, so do not be afraid of mixing and matching. Take a variety of courses and make yourself very versatile and then you will know what you are truly passionate about because you have experimented with other things. Give yourself time, experiment, make mistakes and you will find your niche. Also, do not do what others are doing. In grad school, you have to treat yourself as an independent body, understand your interest and go on your own terms. Honestly, I think the UMass Comm department supports its students in their decision making, they are not going to push you off from a cliff. They want you to experiment and succeed in what you want to do.