Hussain Alhussainy, BA (Hons), MA Student

Area of Study / Keywords

Critical Disability Studies Theory and Policy Middle East Political Economy Post Colonialism Neoliberal institutions North America

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About

I am currently a Master’s student and Teaching Assistant in Political Science at the University of Alberta, where I previously completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science. I am pursuing my MA as a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)–funded scholar and have worked as a Research Assistant with the Stuttering Commons under Dr. Joshua St. Pierre.

Alongside my academic work, I have been actively involved in student governance and disability advocacy. During my undergraduate studies, I was a founding member of the Council for Disability Cultures and Access (formerly the Council on Systemic Ableism) and served as President of OASIS, the Faculty of Arts Undergraduate Students’ Association. I currently serve as Vice-President Labour of the Political Science Graduate Students’ Association (PSGSA) and as a Graduate Student Representative on the University of Alberta Senate.

In recognition of my service and advocacy, I am a recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal for outstanding service to the Crown and country. At my undergraduate convocation, I was awarded the Judge Gurcharan Singh Bhatia, C.M. Outstanding Leadership Silver Medal in Arts for my work in disability rights advocacy.

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Research

My research engages critical disability studies alongside decolonial and postcolonial theory in the Middle East and North America, with particular attention to how colonial, neoliberal, capitalist and institutional frameworks shape dominant understandings of disability.  In my master’s thesis, I approach Islam as an ontology encompassing social, political, cultural, and theological dimensions, and examine how Islamic and Arab epistemologies offer justice-oriented, collective frameworks that challenge Western models centred on productivity and the economic valuation of the body. Drawing on feminist, Indigenous, and crip theories, I situate disability within broader questions of care, interdependence, human dignity, and collective responsibility. Through a comparative, decolonial lens, my research examines how disability is understood and experienced collectively in the Middle East and more individualistically in Western contexts, challenging dominant narratives that frame the middle East and Islamic societies as apathetic toward disability inclusion.

In my previous BA Honours thesis, I examined how Canadian universities marginalize disabled students, barring them from full participation and educational pursuits through neoliberal policies, entrenched ableist and eugenic attitudes, and inaccessible educational, social and physical infrastructures.

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Teaching

Teaching Assistant, Political Science 101: Introduction to Political Science — Dr. Rob Aitken (Winter 2026) 

Hussain Alaeddin Alhussainy

Canadian Journal of Disability Studies. 2025 November; 14 (3):45-74

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Hussain Alhussainy

Crossings: An Undergraduate Arts Journal. 2024 July; 10.29173/crossings200

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Hussain Alhussainy

Crossings: An Undergraduate Arts Journal. 2023 July; 10.29173/crossings128

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View additional publications

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