2022-2023 Hub Fellows

Hannah Blair
Hannah is earning her MA in social justice and human rights at ASU. Her research is centered around human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Her most recent project titled, “Survivors at the Core: The Effectiveness of Anti-Trafficking Organizations Who Place Survivors in Leadership Positions“ was invited for presentation at the Himalayan Policy Research Conference. She is a lived experience expert and survivor consultant with multiple anti-trafficking organizations and was a 2021 recipient of the Elie Wiesel Foundation’s National Prize in Ethics.

Kimberly Curry
Kimberly is a student in the international affairs and leadership master’s program at ASU’s School of Politics and Global Studies. The focus of her research has been the systemic discrimination, human rights violations, and risk of genocide against the Hazara people in Afghanistan, the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, and the Uyghur population in China. Other research interests include combatting human trafficking and overcoming barriers for refugees and asylum seekers. Kimberly currently resides in Washington State and works in refugee resettlement for the International Rescue Committee.

Cherra Mathis
Cherra is a 4th year PhD student and doctoral candidate in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions School of Social Work. Her research focuses on immigration and human rights, specifically in the context of asylum and courts. Current projects explore the power of interdisciplinary advocacy between law and social work to more fully support the human rights of immigrants and refugees both within and beyond the courtroom, as well as a critical ethnography of immigration court culture. Cherra also volunteers with Humane Borders, a local non-profit organization which supports the safety and dignity of immigrants journeying across the Sonoran Desert.

Noha Siraj Labani
Noha is a Ph.D. student in the English department (writing, rhetorics and literacies) and she works with SoalrSPELL initiative at ASU. Her research interests revolve around the issues of education access and social justice, especially the case of the Syrian refugees. She enjoys exploring creative and technological means like appropriate technology, drama, and digital storytelling. Currently, she focuses on the rhetoric of aid and how the rhetoric of grassroots organizations can be theorized in the counterpublic sphere. She argues that there are limitations inherent in traditional/mainstream humanitarianism practices. Part of her research agenda is developing research-based frameworks for humanitarian aid agencies to better serve their users/beneficiaries to address these limitations.

Khampha Stempel
Khampha is a second-year MA student in the School of Sustainability. His research intends to lean into the complexities associated with the implementation of sustainable infrastructure and intersecting injustices by better understanding how institutions function, what infrastructure is prioritized, and who/what gets to be sustained. Acknowledging and acting upon the surpassing of social and cultural tipping points, in addition to potential and ongoing ecological tipping points, is vital to strive toward local and global systems grounded in human rights. Currently, Khampha is looking at institutional interests to expand solar infrastructure requiring the extraction of critical minerals that is at odds with the sustainability of Indigenous ways of living.