Degrees prior to starting this degree program:
M.Arch. & Dip.(AA) in Architecture, Architectural Association School of Architecture, London
M.A. in Writing (Literature in Translation), School of Arts and Humanities, Royal College of Art, London
Areas of Interest:
Economic and medical anthropology; sound studies; burial and death studies; Sahara and Middle East anthropology; African and African American studies; experimental ethnographic writing.
Field Research Plans/History:
Moad is pursuing a Joint PhD in Anthropology and Interdisciplinary Humanities, where he will work on two interrelated projects that foreground the acoustic as a register of anthropological inquiry, both situated across the wider Saharan region that spans Mali to Libya.
The first, provisionally titled, ‘Economies Across the Border, Pathological Finance’, tracks the renewed transnational circuits of migration, illness and credit across the Sahara prompted by regime change in 2011. In this evolving context, Moad listens to how individuals attempt to negotiate risks (both financial and physical) in pursuit of profit and medical treatment.
The second builds on prior community-level engagements with those seeking refuge in Algeria by articulating their rights to return or remain on land they claim belonging to. With a focus on groups from Mali and Niger arriving from the early 2000s until present, Moad privileges an attunement to the para-linguistic and extra-verbal frequencies of the cries, mutters and other percussive practices that define their repertoire of claim-making.
As an IHUM fellow, he will develop methodologies for sound-based research, from physical anthropology to the emerging field of acoustic archaeology. He will study Sufi epistemologies, music theory and experimental methods that capture the sonic-signature of Sufi tombs and religious sites, taking seriously the contribution of sound-art and theoretical-acoustics.
Before coming to Princeton, he worked as an external advisor for Bain & Co, a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art and as an independent artist and curator.
Recent Publications:
“Movement, Mortgages and Obligation Across the Mediterranean.” AA Files, no. 80, June 2024, pp. 32-40
with Sumayya Vally. “An Architecture in the Maqam.” Log, edited by Ana Miljački and Ann Lui, no. 54: Co-authoring, June 2022.
“Acoustic Necrophagy.” Rights of Future Generations: Propositions, edited by Adrian Lahoud and Andrea Bagnato, Berlin: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2022.
“Sea Glass.” The White Review, edited by Skye Arundhati-Thomas et al., no. 31, July 2021.
“Beyond the Paper Principle.” How to Maneuver : Shapeshifting Texts and Other Publishing Tactics, edited by Maha Maamoun and Ala Younis, Second edition, Cairo: Kayfa ta Press, 2021.
Membership/activities in graduate student events or organizations:
Moad is a member of PLOrk, The Princeton Laptop Orchestra, an experimental sound ensemble, since 2022.