Barasho wanaagsan! My name is Suban Nur Cooley and I am interested in how the cultural ➡ digital ➡ global ➡ local all intersect to impact and inform us individually, and how we then interact as parts of larger communities within and across the world to make sense of things. I am also curious about how we come to call certain knowledges knowledge in academia—more specifically—who has the power to create knowledge, and how can we broaden and extend that power to other ways of knowing? You feel me? 

 

This is why I pursued a PhD in Rhetoric and Writing in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University. My dissertation research was a multi-location geographic comparative study which focused on elder women of the Somali diaspora and how migration and displacement can initiate a rhetorical inquiry of one’s culture and identity, manifesting in temporal and spatial constructions of a nation. I am honored to share that this passion project of mine was also selected as the 2021 CCCC James Berlin Memorial Outstanding Dissertation Award. 

 

As a teacher, my methods center on inclusivity and fostering an interconnectedness with the varied knowledges my students bring with them into the classroom. I see teaching as community collaboration. My role is to understand that we all have our part to play in the classroom space; principally to engage, connect, and learn something from one another. 

 

Prior to academia, I worked for many years as a writing, user experience, and communications professional for organizations like the Refugee Development Center, Habitat for Humanity of Michigan, Dart Container, and the Michigan League for Public Policy, to name a few. 

 

What else: I love to write, hike, am a wannabe spoken word performer, have a lot of passion for community engagement, all things hip hop/jazz/RnB/Afrobeats, all things Black, love me some travel and quixotic adventures.

 

• PhD in Rhetoric and Writing – Michigan State University
• MA in Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing – Michigan State University
• BA in Communications, Journalism – University of Canberra (Australia)   

   

• “Home.” Growing Up African In Australia Anthology. Ed. Maxine Beneba Clarke. Black Inc. LaTrobe University Press. (2019)
• “Hoygaygii Waa Halkee? A Nomad Seeking the Sensation of Home.” Pixelating the Self: Digital Feminist Memoirs. Ed. Alexandra Hidalgo. Enculturation: A Journal of Rhetoric, Writing, and Culture. (2018)
• “Baasto Iyo Moos.” Scarf Literary Arts Magazine: Future Riddims. Vol. 8, Issue 5. (2015)