PhD in Ethnomusicology · UX Researcher & Designer. I study how people make meaning — in learning, with technology, and across cultural difference. I bring a researcher's depth and an engineer's precision to every problem I work on.
A qualitative study of how undergraduate students delegate, verify, and resist AI writing tools — and a speculative Canvas framework designed from the findings.
Read case study →Redesigning how novice users translate auditory experience into generative AI prompts — research from a real Sound & Environment course.
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Visit site →I hold a PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of Florida, where I currently teach undergraduate courses in world music. My dissertation examined feminist embodiment and sonic agency in the Iranian Woman, Life, Freedom movement, which is a research that required deep listening across cultural difference, and at the intersection of politics, identity, and sound.
Before ethnomusicology, I studied Industrial Engineering — which gave me a systems-thinking foundation I draw on every day. Learning is genuinely my favorite thing; I move between disciplines because each new field sharpens how I approach people and the world. That restlessness is what brought me to UX research, and what makes me good at it.
I transitioned into UX because the core skills are the same as what I already practice like close observation, pattern recognition, and translating what people say into what they actually need. I bring a PhD-level research to every study and a designer's eye to every solution.
I am committed to accessible design and product. In my teaching, my research, and my design, I try to create conditions where people with different abilities, different linguistic backgrounds, different relationships to technology can participate fully. I'm fluent in English and Farsi, and I design for the full range of human experience.
I'm currently seeking qualitative UX research roles, with a particular interest in EdTech, AI, and teams that value research depth over speed.