Hassan Asif. حسن آصف

// 01 education

// 02 publications

Peer-reviewed journal articles

• 2025
  Discostan and Hamnawa: Between erasure and preservation in South Asian digital diasporic archives Media, Culture and Society, 47(8), 1599 to 1618.
• 2024
  "Blur the preacher": Media remix and digital technocultural practice in Pakistan Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 13(3), 363 to 386.
• in press
  Obfuscation as revelation: Knowledge sharing, piracy, and Islamic devotional remixing in Pakistan Digital Humanities Quarterly. Special Issue "Digitization and Machine Learning in the Global South: Building Computational Futures and Addressing Challenges," ed. S. T. Shanmugapriya and P. Murrieta-Flores.
• forthcoming
  2026
  Moral traffic: How WhatsApp moves media, rules, and resources in Pakistan's devotional media ecologies Mobile Media and Communication. Special Issue "Messaging Applications and Global Cultures of Mobility." Manuscript invited after peer-reviewed abstract; full submission March 2026, expected publication December 2026.
• under review
  IslaMixing: Hauntology as an experimental framework for exploring online #Islamogram memes Journal of Media and Religion.

Peer-reviewed book chapters

• in press
  Translating truth: AI in digital Islamic sermons and the case of Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza In D. Sundaram and C. Tekobbe (Eds.), Social Media, Religion, and Culture. Routledge.
• in press
  Technical imagination against deepfakes: Reading, bending, and exposing the image game In J. Tulasiewicz, S. Jovicic, and X. Zhan (Eds.), Ethnographies of Digital Addiction, Harm, and Repair. Bloomsbury Academic.
• 2017
  The Buddha Remains: Heritage transactions in Taxila, Pakistan With Trinidad Rico. In T. Rico (Ed.), The Making of Islamic Heritage. Palgrave Macmillan.

Other writing

• 2025
  Hall Road, Lahore: Devotion's signal chain HELIOTROPE. Field essay with photographs.
• 2019
  Really risky "interpretation." Association for Heritage Interpretation, 24(1), 36 to 37.
• 2015
  Reports With Trinidad Rico. Anthropology of the Middle East, 10(1), 61 to 88.
• 2013
  Rolling out a new broadband era in Qatar The Edge, 43, 40.

In preparation

• 2026
  Digital Religion (eds.) With Hassan Bashir. Edited volume proposal; submission planned Winter 2026.

// 03 selected grants & awards

• 2025
  Margaret Higgins Memorial Fellowship University of Toronto, university-wide. CA $2,000.
• 2025
  Professor Amilcare Iannucci Graduate Fellowship in the Humanities University of Toronto, university-wide. CA $5,000.
• 2024 – 25
  Chancellor Jackman Graduate Fellowship University of Toronto, university-wide. CA $38,000.
• 2023 – 24
  SSHRC Doctoral Scholarship Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, national competition. CA $20,000.
• 2021 – 23
  Ontario Graduate Scholarship Province of Ontario, provincial competition. CA $30,000.
• 2021 – 22
  iSchools Inc. Research Award iSchools Inc., international competition. CA $5,000.
• 2022
  School of Graduate Studies Research Travel Grant University of Toronto. CA $3,000.
• 2022
  Ethel W. Auster Scholarship for Doctoral Research University of Toronto. CA $2,000.

Full list of grants and awards available on request via email.

// 04 research experience

• 2021 – 22
  Research Assistant, #Blacktronica Electronic music in Detroit and Berlin. Supervised by Prof. Beth Coleman, University of Toronto Mississauga.
• 2020 – 21
  Participant and Research Assistant, DigiLabs Workshops University of Toronto and University of Manchester.
• 2021
  Student Research Trainee, Richard Charles Lee Insights Through Asia Challenge Asian Institute, University of Toronto.
• 2020 – 21
  Member, McLuhan Centre Reading Group "Sub-Altern-ative Media Technologies" McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology, University of Toronto.
• 2020 – 21
  Member, Toronto Data Workshop University of Toronto.
• 2020 – 21
  Member, Pakistan Reading Group Centre for South Asian Civilizations, University of Toronto.
• 2018 – 19
  Social Studies Curriculum Developer Lahore College of Arts and Sciences.
• 2017 – 18
  Research Consultant Barker Langham.
• 2015 – 16
  Research Associate Lahore University of Management Sciences.
• 2015
  Account Manager and Concept Researcher TBWA\Worldwide.
• 2015
  Research Assistant, Media Gallery for Journalism and Communication Medill, Northwestern University.
• 2013
  Research Assistant, Sociology Northwestern University.

// 05 field research

• 2022
  Devotional media and remix culture Karachi, Lahore, and adjacent cities, Pakistan. July to December 2022.
• 2015
  Buddhist sculpture and heritage values Taxila and Islamabad, Pakistan. April to July 2015.
• 2013 – 14
  Cityscapes on experimental film Paris, France. December 2013 to January 2014.
• 2013
  Female sports participation Doha, Qatar. September to December 2013.
• 2013
  Media entrepreneurship in East Asia Seoul, South Korea. June to August 2013.
• 2013
  Future of broadband in MENA Broadband MEA Conference, Dubai, UAE. January to May 2013.
• 2012 – 14
  Heavy metal music and subculture Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan. May 2012 to July 2014.

// 06 professional experience

• 2025
  Chief Presiding Officer University of Toronto Mississauga. Spring examination period: oversaw venue logistics, invigilation teams, accessibility compliance, and incident reporting across the campus.
• 2021 – 23
  Senior Digital Fellow, Muslims in Canada Archive (MiCA) Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Toronto. Helped initiate a nationwide collection and digitization program; prototyped archival workflows and system architecture with U of T Libraries and partner institutions.
• 2021 – 23
  Senior Digital Fellow, Muslims in Canada Data Initiative (MiCDI) Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Toronto. Prototyped a Dataverse repository, set metadata schemas and access controls, documented ingestion workflows.
• 2017 – 18
  Program Manager Amal Academy (supported by Stanford University and Acumen). Managed Career Prep Fellowships across Punjab University, UET Lahore, and GCU Lahore; trained 500+ students.
• 2017
  Project Assistant, Culture UNESCO Pakistan. Built a network of 40 museums, universities, and NGOs; ran digitization workshops at Taxila, Lahore, and Peshawar Museums; established Taxila Museum's first digital archive lab.
• 2016 – 17
  Consultant, Culture UNESCO Pakistan. Managed three preservation projects (World Bank, Swiss Embassy, UNESCO) totalling over US $150,000; led policy dialogue supporting Pakistan's ratification of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity.

Additional curatorial projects available on request.

// 07 teaching

Courses taught

• 2024, 2025
  Reimagining Global Copyright Graduate, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. 25 students. Offered four times.
• 2023
  Religion, Media and Popular Culture Undergraduate, UTM ICCIT. 40 students. Offered twice.
• 2025
  Human-Machine Communication Undergraduate, UTM. Instructor of record. Deferred during parental leave.
• 2025
  Digital Platforms: A Global Perspective Undergraduate, UTM. Instructor of record. Deferred during parental leave.
• 2019
  Engaging with Texts Lahore University of Management Sciences. 45 students.
• 2018 – 19
  History and Sociology (A-level) Lahore College of Arts and Sciences. 25 students each.

Teaching assistant work

UTM ICCIT. Contemporary Communication Technologies (7 sections, 2020 to 2024). Rhetoric and Media (8 sections, 2020 to present). Popular Culture and Society (2026 Winter). 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).

Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. INF2320H Remix Culture (2021 Winter). INF2040H Project Management (2020 Winter). MSL2360H Museums and Indigenous Communities (2020 Winter).

Asian Institute, University of Toronto. CAS350H1 Asian Youth Cultures (2021 Fall).

// 08 selected conference presentations

• 2025 NOV
  Remixing Devotion: The Digital Audio Workstation as Sacred Space Sacred Space: Conflicts and Convergences. Trinity College, University of Toronto.
• 2025 NOV
  From Breath to Waveform: HCI Lessons from Editing Na'at in Cubase First Annual Conference on Spirituality, Religion, and Interactive Technology Design (SPIRITED '25), online.
• 2025 JUN
  Obfuscation as revelation: Knowledge sharing, piracy, and Islamic devotional remixing in Pakistan International Communication Association 2025 Pre-Conference "Debating Creator Culture," Boulder, CO.
• 2025 JUN
  Between confusion and deception: Ethical dilemmas in AI-enabled audiovisual remixing of Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's sermons Canadian Communication Association Annual Conference, George Brown College, Toronto.
• 2025 APR
  Cracked devotion: Piracy, pedagogy, and Islamic media remixing in Pakistan South Asia Graduate Student Workshop, University of Toronto.
• 2025 FEB
  Mediating truth: Tensions in AI-driven remixing of Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza's sermons 20th Annual Communication Graduate Caucus Conference, "(In)Tensions," Carleton University, Ottawa.
• 2024 JUN
  Digital desires and distortions: The impact of deepfake pornography in Pakistani cyberspace Global Digital Intimacies Conference, University of Amsterdam.
• 2024 MAY
  Technological transcendence: The transformation of Naʻat in Pakistan's digital Islamic landscape Canadian Association for the Study of Islam and Muslims Second Biennial Conference, Saint Mary's University, Halifax.
• 2024 APR
  Performance, sound, music, media, and materiality (panel chair) Arts of the Indian Ocean Conference, University of Toronto Mississauga.
• 2023 OCT
  Bytes of blessings: Examining digital technology's influence on Pakistan's Naʻat culture 51st Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• 2023 MAY
  Prayers, pixels, and piracy: Online presentation of religious self in Pakistan's Naʻat community Graduate Student Conference, University of Calgary.
• 2021 SEP
  Rogue representations: Diasporic digital archives of South Asian musical media Richard Charles Lee Insights Through Asia Challenge, University of Toronto.
• 2021 APR
  Discursive identities: Media remix in Pakistan South Asian Studies Graduate Symposium, University of Toronto.
• 2021 APR
  Critical technocultural discourse analysis of sampling in Pakistani media remixes iSchool PhD Research Days, University of Toronto.
• 2016 FEB
  Stillborn Siddhārthas: Reassessing Gandharan art in Pakistan Liberal Arts International Conference, Texas A&M University at Qatar.
• 2013 SEP
  Broadband development in MENA: Current trends and future directions 6th Annual Meeting of ASMEA, Washington, DC.
• 2013 MAR
  Wherever I may roam: Heavy metal in Pakistan International Association for the Study of Popular Music, Austin, TX.

// 09 selected invited talks

• 2026 JAN
  Remix, devotion, and media infrastructures in Pakistan Guest lecture, Remix Culture course, University of Toronto.
• 2025 MAR
  Politics, pop, and the pulpit: Where does the sacred end and the meme begin? Guest lecture, Remix Culture course, University of Toronto.
• 2025 JAN
  Remixing devotion: An exploration of digital media practices in Pakistan Invited talk, Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto.
• 2023 OCT
  IslaMixing: Digital audio workstations and contemporary devotion Guest lecture, MI "Remix Culture" seminar, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto.
• 2023 MAY
  Branding beliefs: Self-presentation in the Pakistani Naʻat community Invited talk, ICCIT seminar, University of Toronto Mississauga.
• 2020 NOV
  Remixing resistance through sonic heritage: A Tribe Called Red (ATCR) DigiLabs Workshop, University of Toronto and University of Manchester, online.
• 2020 FEB
  Cross-cultural project management Invited talk, MI seminar, University of Toronto.

// 10 service

• 2025 –
  Volunteer Mentor, Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk (PSSAR) Guide prospective and newly admitted Palestinian graduate students on application strategy, supervisor matching, funding, and cultural adjustment in North America.
• ongoing
  Graduate Student Mentor Mentor new graduate students, especially from South Asia and the Middle East, on funding, research grants, academic integration, and student group participation.
• 2022
  Manuscript Reviewer Journal of Religion, Media, and Digital Culture.
• 2021
  Manuscript Reviewer Stream: Culture/Politics/Technology, Simon Fraser University.
• 2020 – 21
  Mental Health Committee Member Doctoral Students Association, University of Toronto.
• 2020
  Volunteer, Our Networks Conference Our Networks.
• 2020
  Contributor, Museum Professionals of Color (MPOC) iSchool, University of Toronto.

// 11 further training

• 2025 MAR
  "Global Southing: Internet and Data Studies Workshop" Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. Online-hybrid. Critical approaches to AI governance, digital sovereignty, and platform politics from Global South perspectives.
• 2024
  SUMMER
  "Computer Class," Centre for Culture and Technology Summer Institute University of Toronto. Three-week studio pairing code labs with critical seminars. Worked with the Ludus programming language and its turtle-graphics engine; read Papert's Mindstorms and Weizenbaum's Computer Power and Human Reason.

// 12 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).

// 13 languages

// 14 technical skills