Ushma Thakrar
Contract Instructor
Ushma Thakrar is a researcher, editor and, currently, a PhD student in Architecture at Carleton University. Her current research explores practices of cleaning and space-making, as well as notions of hygiene and cleanliness and the politics of recognition in colonial contexts and has been supported by SSHRC’s Canada Graduate Scholarship (Doctoral). She has previously taught courses at the University of Waterloo and the Architectural Association and has worked as an editor and researcher at arc en rêve centre d’architecture in Bordeaux, the Remai Modern in Saskatoon, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal.
Publications
“Dalit Spatial Continuities: Dirt and the Construction of Interior-Exterior Binaries in Early-Twentieth Century India,” in Upkeep, Repair and Maintenance for Adaptive Interiors, Amy Campos, Deborah Schniederman, and Keene Sun, Karyn Sieve (London: Routledge, forthcoming).
With Federico Ortiz, eds., “Architectures of Refusal,” special issue, Materia Arquitectura 23 (December 2022).
Education
PhD student in Architecture, Carleton University
MA in History and Critical Thinking in Architecture, Architectural Association School of Architecture, 2016
MSc in Urban Planning, Columbia University, 2015
BAS, Carleton University, 2012
Recent Courses
ARCS1105 – 1st-year Undergraduate Design Studio
ARCS3105 – 3rd-year Undergraduate Design Studio