Tam Rayan

Research Areas

Biography

Tam Rayan researches the archival needs of communities with unique intergenerational traumas, specifically those impacted by forced migration, displacement, and exile. In doing so, they think through how traditional archival methods can be bridged with digital infrastructures and community-grounded methods to better serve those in diaspora. Their primary focus is on Palestine, but they also study diaspora communities more broadly.

Pronouns

they/them

Areas of interest

Digital archives, diaspora studies, reparative description, decolonial theory

Honors & Awards

Anti-Racist Digital Research Institute Fellow 2024-2025
SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, 2022-2026
Ontario Graduate Scholarship, 2020-2021
ARL/SAA Mosaic Fellowship, 2020-2021
SSHRC CGS Master’s Program Award, 2015-2016

Education

Master of Information in Archives and Records Management, University of Toronto
Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology, University of Toronto
Bachelor of Arts in Music, Laurentian University

News about Tam Rayan

UMSI Research Roundup. Automated Driving. Natural Disasters. Memory Work. Check out UMSI faculty and PhD student publications.

Automated Driving | Natural Disasters | Memory work: UMSI Research Roundup

Recent UMSI faculty and PhD student publications.

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Tam Rayan wears a leather jacket and short hair and leans on a railing at the Arab American National Museum.

Tam Rayan and the power of storytelling to document the past

UMSI PhD student Tam Rayan researches how Palestinians in the diaspora engage in memory work and archival practices to document their history.

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