Muskaan Siddique, senior in LAS, received the Mary Ramier Grant on behalf of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies on March 1. Siddique plans to use this grant to fund her project about the impact of 9/11 on the South Asian Muslim community.

The Ramier Grant was established in honor of Mary Ramier, a 1923 graduate of the University. The Indianapolis native is remembered as a local activist and attorney who focused on community development, according to the Department of GWS. 

Recipients receive funding of up to $500 for innovative projects, travel, research or social campaigns dedicated to the advancement of GWS. 

Siddique said she plans to use the grant to fund her senior history thesis on the post-9/11 impact on South Asian Muslim-Americans living in Elgin, Illinois.

As of 2021, around 2.9% or over 330,000 residents of Elgin identify as Muslim, according to Dwellics.com. 

Rather than a more traditional thesis paper, the project will take the form of podcast episodes, according to Siddique. 

She said that since fall of 2021, she has interviewed five to seven South Asian Muslim-Americans living in Elgin for the project. 

“I decided to focus on women because a lot of the research is so male-dominated,” Siddique said. 

Topics range from the subjects’ immigration stories, differences they have noticed between themselves and their first generation Muslim-American children and their lives before 9/11.

The podcast episodes will also include links to more information about Elgin as well as maps and resources applicable to South Asian community members, Siddique said. 

These resources include a list of local Urdu translators that she said fulfills her goal of creating an inclusive podcast and website. 

Siddique said her family’s experience as South Asian immigrants living in the U.S. has contributed to her decision to create the project.

The language barrier that her mother and aunt often experience inspired some of the inclusive aspects of her project, she said.  

“I just want this to be something my mom can feel a part of,” Siddique said. 

Accessibility is also an aspect of the project that she said she plans to emphasize. She said transcripts to all episodes will be featured on the project’s website, and alternative text will be included under images that can be played out loud, according to Siddique. 

Yuridia Ramírez, professor in LAS, currently supervises Siddique’s research. 

“She is practicing a form of community engaged research that we all should strive for as scholars,” Ramírez said.

Ramírez said she thinks creating a public hotspot for primary sources to share stories, culture and community will promote a sense of reciprocity. 

“If you are visible, you have more resources, and you get more resources,” Ramírez said.

The podcast will be published on Spotify in mid-May. 

Siddique said she plans to give a copy of her thesis to the Elgin History Museum and Elgin Public Library in order to increase the amount of writing centered on the experiences of Muslim-Americans. 

The Illini Union will host a public exhibition of all senior history theses on April 19 in rooms 314 and 314A from 4 to 6:30 p.m.

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