About
My dissertation, “Remixing Devotion: Digital Media Practices in Pakistan”, studies how people record, edit, and circulate devotional media across phones, laptops, studios, and platforms. I focus on how technical choices (editing, remixing, captioning, compression, and archive reuse) become ethical and theological questions in everyday media work.
I work across South Asia and its global offshoots, with attention to platforms, archives, and informal media economies.
Education
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PhD, Information,
University of Toronto,
2019–present expected Winter 2026.
Collaborative Specialization in South-Asian Studies.
Dissertation: “Remixing Devotion: Digital Media Practices in Pakistan.” (Parental leave: Sep–Dec 2025.)
Supervisor: Prof. Seamus Ross · Committee: Prof. Mark V. Campbell · Prof. Farzaneh Hemmasi -
MA, Museums & Gallery Practice,
University College London,
2015 Distinction.
Dissertation: “The Muslim Buddha: Sculpture and Heritage Values in Taxila, Pakistan” (Supervisor: Prof. Trinidad Rico) - BS, Communication Studies, Northwestern University, 2014 cum laude. Minor: Cultural Anthropology.
Publications
Peer‑Reviewed Journal Articles
- Discostan and Hamnawa: Between erasure and preservation in South Asian digital diasporic archives . Media, Culture & Society 47(8), 1599–1618 (2025)
- “Blur the preacher”: Media remix and digital technocultural practice in Pakistan . Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture 13(3), 363–386 (2024)
- Obfuscation as revelation: Knowledge sharing, piracy, and Islamic devotional remixing in Pakistan. Digital Humanities Quarterly in press
- Moral traffic: How WhatsApp moves media, rules, and resources in Pakistan’s devotional media ecologies. Mobile Media & Communication (Special Issue: “Messaging Applications and Global Cultures of Mobility”) forthcoming 2026
- IslaMixing: Hauntology as an experimental framework for exploring online #Islamogram memes. Journal of Media and Religion under review
Peer‑Reviewed Book Chapters
- Translating truth: AI in digital Islamic sermons and the case of Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza. In Social Media, Religion, and Culture (Routledge) in press
- Technical imagination against deepfakes: Reading, bending, and exposing the image game. In Ethnographies of Digital Addiction, Harm, and Repair (Bloomsbury Academic) in press
- The Buddha Remains: Heritage transactions in Taxila, Pakistan . In The Making of Islamic Heritage (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) (with Trinidad Rico)
Non‑Peer‑Reviewed Contributions
- Hall Road, Lahore: Devotion’s signal chain . HELIOTROPE (2025)
- Really risky “interpretation”. Association for Heritage Interpretation 24(1), 36–37 (2019)
- Reports. Anthropology of the Middle East 10(1), 61–88 (2015) (with Trinidad Rico)
- Rolling out a new broadband era in Qatar. The Edge 43, 40 (2013)
Works in Progress
- Digital Religion (edited‑volume proposal; with H. Bashir) in preparation
Full publication list available in the CV PDF.
Selected Grants & Awards
- Margaret Higgins Memorial Fellowship (2025) — CA$2,000
- Professor Amilcare Iannucci Graduate Fellowship in the Humanities (2025) — CA$5,000
- Chancellor Jackman Graduate Fellowship (2024–25) — CA$38,000
- SSHRC Doctoral Scholarship (2023–24) — CA$20,000
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2021–23) — CA$30,000
- iSchools Inc. Research Award (2021–22) — CA$5,000
- School of Graduate Studies Research Travel Grant (2022) — CA$3,000
- Ethel W. Auster Scholarship for Doctoral Research (2022) — CA$2,000
Full list of grants and awards available on request.
Research & Fieldwork
Research Experience
- #Blacktronica Electronic Music in Detroit and Berlin — Research Assistant (Prof. Beth Coleman, UTM) Sep 2021–Jan 2022
- DigiLabs Workshops — Participant & Research Assistant (U of T + University of Manchester) Feb 2020–Jan 2021
- Richard Charles Lee Insights Through Asia Challenge — Student Research Trainee (Asian Institute, U of T) Apr–Sep 2021
- McLuhan Centre Reading Group (“Sub‑Altern‑ative Media Technologies”) Sep 2020–May 2021
- Toronto Data Workshop — Member Sep 2020–Sep 2021
- Pakistan Reading Group (Centre for South Asian Civilizations) Jan 2020–Sep 2021
- Lahore College of Arts and Sciences — Social Studies Curriculum Developer May 2018–Aug 2019
- Barker Langham — Research Consultant Aug 2017–Mar 2018
- LUMS — Research Associate Nov 2015–Mar 2016
- TBWA\Worldwide — Account Manager & Concept Researcher Jun–Nov 2015
Field Research
- Devotional media and remix culture — Karachi, Lahore, and adjacent cities, Pakistan Jul–Dec 2022
- Buddhist sculpture and heritage values — Taxila & Islamabad, Pakistan Apr–Jul 2015
- Cityscapes on experimental film — Paris, France Dec 2013–Jan 2014
- Understanding female sports participation — Doha, Qatar Sep–Dec 2013
- Media entrepreneurship in East Asia — Seoul, South Korea Jun–Aug 2013
- Future of broadband in MENA — Broadband MEA Conference, Dubai, UAE Jan–May 2013
- Heavy metal music and subculture — Lahore & Islamabad, Pakistan May 2012–Jul 2014
Teaching
Courses Taught
- Reimagining Global Copyright (Graduate, University of Toronto, 2024 & 2025)
- Religion, Media & Popular Culture (Undergraduate, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2023)
- Engaging with Texts (LUMS, 2019)
- History & Sociology (Lahore College of Arts and Sciences A‑level, 2018–19)
Instructor of Record
- Human‑Machine Communication (UTM, Fall 2025) — appointed; deferred during parental leave
- Digital Platforms: A Global Perspective (UTM, Fall 2025) — appointed; deferred during parental leave
Teaching Assistant
- Contemporary Communication Technologies (2020 Fall–2024 Summer)
- Rhetoric and Media (2020 Winter–present)
- Interpersonal Communication (2025 Winter; 2025 Summer)
- Communication, Technology, and Social Change (2024 Fall)
- Media Audiences (2021 Winter; 2023 Fall; 2026 Winter)
- Mind, Media and Representation (2022 Fall)
- Signs, Referents, and Meaning (2023 Summer)
- Visual Rhetoric and Digital Environments (2020 Fall)
- Communicating In and Between Organizations (2020 Fall)
- Communication and Advertising (2023 Winter; 2024 Winter)
- Introduction to Visual Culture (2023 Winter)
- Popular Culture and Society (2026 Winter)
- INF2320H Remix Culture (Faculty of Information, 2021 Winter)
- INF2040H Project Management (Faculty of Information, 2020 Winter)
- MSL2360H Museums and Indigenous Communities (Faculty of Information, 2020 Winter)
- CAS350H1 Asian Youth Cultures (Asian Institute, 2021 Fall)
Talks
Conference Presentations (Selected)
- Remixing Devotion: The Digital Audio Workstation as Sacred Space — Trinity College, University of Toronto (Nov 2025)
- From Breath to Waveform: HCI Lessons from Editing Na’at in Cubase — SPIRITED ’25 (virtual) (Nov 2025)
- Obfuscation as revelation: Knowledge sharing, piracy, and Islamic devotional remixing in Pakistan — ICA Pre‑Conference “Debating Creator Culture,” Boulder (Jun 2025)
- Between confusion and deception: Ethical dilemmas in AI‑enabled audiovisual remixing of Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza’s sermons — Canadian Communication Association, Toronto (Jun 2025)
- Cracked devotion: Piracy, pedagogy, and Islamic media remixing in Pakistan — South Asia Graduate Student Workshop, U of T (Apr 2025)
- Mediating truth: Tensions in AI‑driven remixing of Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza’s sermons — Communication Graduate Caucus, Carleton (Feb 2025)
- Digital desires and distortions: The impact of deepfake pornography in Pakistani cyberspace — University of Amsterdam (Jun 2024)
- Technological transcendence: The transformation of Naʿat in Pakistan’s digital Islamic landscape — CASIM Biennial Conference, Halifax (May 2024)
- Bytes of blessings: Examining digital technology’s influence on Pakistan’s Naʿat culture — Conference on South Asia, Madison (Oct 2023)
- Prayers, pixels, and piracy: Online presentation of religious self in Pakistan’s Naʿat community — University of Calgary (May 2023)
Invited Talks (Selected)
- Remix, devotion, and media infrastructures in Pakistan — Guest lecture, Remix Culture course, U of T (Jan 2026)
- Politics, pop, and the pulpit: Where does the sacred end and the meme begin? — Guest lecture, Remix Culture course, U of T (Mar 2025)
- Remixing devotion: An exploration of digital media practices in Pakistan — Jackman Humanities Institute, U of T (Jan 2025)
- Islamixing: Digital audio workstations and contemporary devotion — Guest lecture, MI seminar “Remix Culture,” U of T (Oct 2023)
- Branding beliefs: Exploring self‑presentation in the Pakistani Naʿat community — ICCIT seminar, UTM (May 2023)
- Remixing resistance through sonic heritage: A Tribe Called Red — DigiLabs Workshop (online) (Nov 2020)
- Cross‑cultural project management — MI seminar, U of T (Feb 2020)
Professional Experience
University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM)
- Chief Presiding Officer — May–Jun 2025 (exam operations; invigilation coordination; integrity compliance; accessibility liaison)
Muslims in Canada Archive & Data Initiative (University of Toronto)
- Senior Digital Fellow, Muslims in Canada Archive (MiCA) — Sep 2021–Jun 2023 (digitization workflows; archival agreements; AtoM hosting RFP support)
- Senior Digital Fellow, Muslims in Canada Data Initiative (MiCDI) — Dec 2021–Jun 2023 (Dataverse prototyping; metadata templates; access controls; ingestion documentation)
Amal Academy (supported by Stanford University & Acumen)
- Program Manager — Sep 2017–Feb 2018 (career-prep fellowships; training delivery; sponsorships; tracking system rebuild)
UNESCO Pakistan (Culture)
- Project Assistant — Jan–Jul 2017 (digitization workshops; museum network building; equipment procurement; archive lab setup)
- Consultant — Mar 2016–Jan 2017 (preservation projects; policy dialogue; grant writing; needs assessments)
Additional curatorial projects available on request.
Service & Community
- Volunteer Mentor, Palestinian Students & Scholars at Risk (PSSAR) — Jul 2025–present
- Graduate Student Mentor, University of Toronto — ongoing
- Manuscript Reviewer, Journal of Religion, Media, and Digital Culture — Oct–Dec 2022
- Manuscript Reviewer, Stream: Culture/Politics/Technology (Simon Fraser University) — Sep–Nov 2021
- Mental Health Committee Member, Doctoral Students Association (U of T) — Sep 2020–Jan 2021
- Volunteer, Our Networks Conference — Sep 2020
- Contributor, Museum Professionals of Color (MPOC), iSchool (U of T) — Jul 2020
Training & Memberships
Professional Training
- “Computer Class,” Centre for Culture and Technology Summer Institute (U of T) — Summer 2024
- “Global Southing: Internet and Data Studies Workshop,” Oxford Internet Institute (online‑hybrid) — Mar 2025
Professional Memberships
- Canadian Communication Association (CCA)
- Canadian Association for the Study of Islam and Muslims (CASIM)
- Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA)
- Museums Association of Pakistan (MAP)
- International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM)
Languages & Technical Skills
Languages
- English (native; reading/writing/speaking)
- Urdu (native; reading/writing/speaking)
- Punjabi (native; reading/writing/speaking; proficient in Shahmukhi)
- Arabic (reading proficiency)
Technical Skills
- Audio & media: Cubase, FL Studio, Sonic Pi, Adobe Creative Suite, FFmpeg
- Programming & analysis: Python, SQL, Matlab, Praat, OpenCV
Contact
Email: h.asif@mail.utoronto.ca
Location: Toronto, Canada
Website: www.hassanasif.net
Profiles:
Google Scholar
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iSchools Featured Member
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Jackman Humanities Institute
Handle (as listed on CV): @hassan.4sif