Research Discipline/Bio
Sara Ahmed is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology & Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, where her dissertation research explores digital intimacy and collective agency through an ethnography of women-only Egyptian Facebook groups. Her work examines how online communities use digital platforms for knowledge building and social support, contributing to the understanding of digital anthropology and gender online.
Educational Background
M.Phil., Anthropology & Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2024
Ed.M., International Education Policy, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2017
B.Sc., Computer Science, the American University in Cairo, 2007
Honors/Awards
- Toefer Family Scholarship, 2025
- Research Grant, Center for International and Comparative Women's Studies (CICW), Shenandoah University, 2020
- Research Grant, Comitas Foundation, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2020
- Caroline Stipend, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2019
- TC International Scholarship, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2019–2020
Publications/Exhibitions
1. Ahmed, Sara O. (2020). "Alone Together or Online Together?" *Anthropology News*, June 11. DOI: 10.1111/AN.1420.
2. Ahmed, Sara O. (2019). "Between Local and Global Citizenship in Egypt." In J.N. Dorio, E.D. Abdou, & N. Moheyeldine (Eds.), *The Struggle for Citizenship Education in Egypt* (pp. [pages]). New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429029271
3. "Doing Online Ethnography." Teachers College, Columbia University, Fall 2023.
4. "Facebook as a Window into Intimate Lives." Poster presented at Comitas' Anthropology Conference, Teachers College, Columbia University, June 2023.
5. "Intimate Facebook Conversations." Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, November 2022.
6. "Social Media for Social Change: Facebook Women's Groups." American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting (Raising Our Voices panel), 2020. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69Ek34352cI
7. "Virtual Ethnography." American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting (Raising Our Voices panel), 2020.
8. "Informal Learning in Facebook Women's Groups." Middle East Studies Association Conference (panel: "Responding to COVID in the MENA Region: Insight on Education and Communication Challenges"), 2020.
Last Updated: Oct 14, 2025