Religion and Society
Dr Rhonda Itaoui
Dr Rhonda Itaoui is a human geographer and social research interested in geographies of diversity and multiculturalism in urban spaces. Rhonda is passionate about using research as a tool to advocate for the needs and aspirations of underrepresented and disadvantaged communities through collaboration and meaningful engagement.
Qualifications
Rhonda Itaoui has a PhD and first-class honours in Human geography. Her PhD research on the geographies of Islamophobia in Sydney, Australia and the San Francisco Bay Area, USA revealed that the spatial mobility of young Muslims is shaped by global and local processes of racism. Based on this research, Rhonda advocates for local and context-specific anti-racism policy practice, public education campaigns and policy initiatives that respond to the spatial imaginaries and lived experiences of racialised groups.
Rhonda is currently employed with the School of Social Sciences (SoSS) and the Centre for Western Sydney at Western Sydney University. In her role with SoSS, she is employed as a postdoctoral research fellow working on an ARC project titled Transnational Muslim identities.
In previous roles, Rhonda has also been employed with a researcher with the Challenging Racism Project at Western Sydney University where she collaborated on multi-stakeholder projects focused on religious diversity, as well as geographies of racism in Australian cities. A key project she was involved in, was a research partnership with the Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim relations to develop the first interfaith statement in Australia – the Sydney Statement. She was also previously appointed as a Research Fellow at the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley where she worked on developing resources to challenge Islamophobia in the United States.
Honours and Awards
- School of Social Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award, 2020
- Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, University of California, Berkeley Research Fellowship, 2017-2018
- Australian Government Endeavour Postgraduate Scholarship ($69,950), 2016 – 2017
- Best publication by an Early Career Researcher, The Geographical Society for NSW ($500), 2016
- NSW National Council of Women, Australia Day – Outstanding Doctoral Student ($1,000), 2016
- WSU University Medal for Outstanding Scholarship, 2015
Selected Publications
Dunn, K., Itaoui, R., Ngui, S. (2022)Planning and Islamophobia in Australia Cities in Planning for Religious Minorities (eds), Pojani, D. Routledge: London, p.p 110-124.
Itaoui, R.,Dufty-Jones, R. and Dunn, K.M., 2021. Anti-racism Muslim mobilities in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Mobilities, p.p. 1-17.
Itaoui, R., 2020. Mapping perceptions of Islamophobia in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Social & Cultural Geography, 21(4), pp.479-506.
Itaoui, R. and Elsheikh, E. (2018). Islamophobia in the United States: a Reading Resource Pack. Berkeley, CA: Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society. Available at: https://haasinstitute.berkeley.edu/global-justice/islamophobia/resource-pack-us
Thompson, P., Itaoui, R., Bazian, H. (2019). Islamophobia in India: Stoking Bigotry, Berkeley, CA.
Itaoui, R., Dunn, K. (2017). Media representations of racism and spatial mobility: Young Muslim (un)belonging in a post-Cronulla Riot Sutherland, 38(3), Journal of Intercultural Studies, pp 315-332.
Itaoui, R. (2017). The Geography of Islamophobia. The Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society. Retrieved from http://haasinstitute.berkeley.edu/geography-islamophobia
Itaoui, R. (2016). The Geography of Islamophobia in Sydney: mapping the spatial imaginaries of young Muslims. Australian Geographer, 47(3), pp.261-279.
