Anel Rakhimzhanova is working on her dissertation titled "Precarious Routes and Logistical Topographies: the Episteme of Mobility in the Making of Central Asian Modernities." Her research delves into the history and current state of railway construction and operation in Central Asia, exploring its geographic imaginaries, resource drives, and the logic of movability. Within these topographic and logistical interventions, she is invested in the politics, practices, and memories of people’s mobilities in the reconceptualization of environment, labor, and sociality. During the academic year 2023-2024, she is conducting fieldwork in Central Asia, delving into state archives, exploring the frontiers of railway projects, studying the visual cultures of Social Anthropocene and modernity, and conducting ethnography on the road and along its pathways

Why PS @ NYU? 

Performance Studies fosters interdisciplinary and sensible approach to cultural world-making and knowledge production. It gathers practitioners and thinkers that are committed to paying attention to ephemeral, yet vital, details.