Over the summer, I had the opportunity to work on The Saathi Archive Project, a Digital Humanities project supervised by Professor Pasha M Khan in the Institute of Islamic Studies. This archive aims to preserve and make accessible a catalogue of materials from the Saathis, a group of South Asian-origin gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming Montrealers active from 1995-2000. The Saathis donated a large collection of documents and photographs to the Institute of Islamic Studies, and my job was to help catalogue these materials in conversation with members of the Saathis, to then publish them to an online archive and exhibition at saathiarchive.com. This project not only preserves important histories of queer South Asians in Montreal but also ensures that future generations have access to this knowledge. Therefore, I must thank the Garmaise Family for their generous support, through The Bram Garber Arts Undergraduate Research Internship Award.
Since the beginning of my degree, I have been interested in pursuing academic research in some capacity. The ARIA gave me the opportunity to do exactly that. In today鈥檚 world, where convenience is often sought after, I find a lot of value in long-form research that requires patience and care. When Professor Pasha Khan introduced me to ARIA, I was especially excited by the opportunity to select a project that best aligned with my own interests. I then got the chance to work on a project that combined queer history, South Asian diaspora studies, and digital humanities.
I had four primary learning objectives throughout this project. First, I wanted to increase my understanding of queer and trans South Asian histories in Quebec, as well as the challenges of documenting minoritized histories. Second, I hoped to develop my skills as an oral historian, learning how to listen attentively and ethically engage with community members. Third, I aimed to strengthen my digital humanities skills through working with metadata and Omeka, the content management system that will host the Saathi Archive. Finally, I hoped to build networks among queer, trans, South Asian, and racialized communities in Montreal.
No research project is without challenges. In my case, cataloguing tasks could often be repetitive and time-consuming, requiring great attention to detail. To overcome this, I learned to use Excel efficiently, relying on shortcuts and even bits of code to be more efficient in my work. Another challenge was the difficulty of reconnecting with individuals and asking them to recall specific details from decades ago. Memories naturally shift over time, and it was not always possible to reconstruct precise dates, names, or places. To address this, I corroborated stories by speaking to multiple people and cross-checking details with written material from the collection. This process taught me the importance of patience, flexibility, and creativity in archival research.
My ARIA internship has already shaped the way I think about my future career and education. I now have a much stronger sense of how archival and oral history research can intersect with community-building and engagement. The skills I gained will be very valuable as I move forward both in my studies and my career.
I am also extremely grateful for the financial support I received. The award allowed me to dedicate time and focus on this project and fully commit to the work. I would like to sincerely thank the Garmaise Family and the Urdu Chair Fund for their generous support. Their contribution made this experience possible, and I am honored to have been a recipient of their awards.
