Dr. Dilyara Müller-Suleymanova

Work at ZHAW

Position

Senior Researcher and Lecturer

Focus

• Migration, refugee studies, transnationalism, diaspora
• youth, descendants of migrants, second generation
• intergenerational transmission, politics of memory, conflict narratives
• Diversity, intersectionality, discrimination and racialisation
• Anthropology of education, school, and non-formal education
• Participatory research, biographic-narrative and ethnographic methods

Teaching

• Bachelor in Social Work, Seminar "Diversity, Discrimination and precarisation"
• Bachelor in Social Work, Seminar "Intersectionality"

Experience

• Senior researcher and lecturer
  School of Social Work, ZHAW
  02 / 2022 - today
• SNF Ambizione Fellow
  School of Social Work, ZHAW
  10 / 2017 - 01 / 2022
• Visiting research fellow
  Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki
  01 / 2017 - 02 / 2017
• Research associate
  Institute of Citizenship Studies, University of Geneva
  01 / 2016 - 12 / 2016
• Lecturer and assistant
  Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies, University of Zurich
  08 / 2012 - 06 / 2016
• Research associate
  School of Social Work, ZHAW
  01 / 2015 - 12 / 2015
• PhD Student, University Priority Research Program "Asia and Europe"
  University of Zurich
  01 / 2009 - 12 / 2012

Education and Continuing education

Education

• PhD / Social Anthropology
  University of Zurich
  01 / 2009 - 03 / 2013
• Master of Arts / Nationalism Studies
  Central European University
  09 / 2006 - 08 / 2007
• Master of Arts / History
  Kazan State University
  09 / 1998 - 08 / 2003

Continuing Education

Regional Seminars for Excellence in Teaching
Anthropological Approaches to Religion and Secularism
2013

Network

ORCID digital identifier

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4220-7080

Media presence

• Invited expert and discussant, Human Rights Film Festival, Zurich (2017, 2021, 2024)
• Invited expert, Diversity Cinema (ZHdK und ZHAW)
• "Swiss Muslim Stories". media projects against extremism and racism

Projects

• Life-Stories of (Yu)-Migration: Using biographic narratives as (digital) educational resource in teaching in secondary schools / Project leader / ongoing
• The Unprivileged Migrant Descendants: The Life-Course and Transition to Adulthood / Co-project leader / ongoing
• Domestic workers and Covid-19 / Co-project leader / completed
• Displaced persons from Ukraine in the canton of Zurich: a monitoring study / Team member / completed
• Low-threshold participation of children and young people: recommendations for cantonal policy / Project leader / completed
• “Second Generation” - A participatory development of initiatives for second-generation youth / Project leader / completed
• Dealing with the violent past in the diaspora: case-studies of former Yugoslav and Kudish-Turkish diasporas in Switzerland / Project leader / completed
• Background to jihadist radicalisation in Switzerland / Team member / completed

Publications

Articles in scientific journal, peer-reviewed

• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2024). Biography, belonging and legacies of the Yugoslav disintegration wars in the lives of postmigrant youth in Switzerland. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 47(2), 344–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2023.2261292
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2024). Remembering and dealing with violent past : diasporic experiences and transnational dimensions. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 47(2), 259–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2023.2260882
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2024). «Es fehlt etwas in der Geschichte…» : (Un)Sichtbarkeit und Repräsentation von Diversität in der schulischen Wissensvermittlung aus der Perspektive der postmigrantischen Generation. GISo : Gesellschaft - Individuum - Sozialisation. Zeitschrift für Sozialisationsforschung, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.26043/giso.2024.2.1
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2023). Shadows of the past : violent conflict and its repercussions for second-generation Bosnians in the diaspora. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 49(7), 1786–1802. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2021.1973392
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2020). Engaging with the country of origin and its past amongst second-generation youth of Bosnian descent in Switzerland. GISo : Gesellschaft - Individuum - Sozialisation. Zeitschrift Für Sozialisationsforschung, 1(2), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.26043/GISo.2020.2.3
• Suleymanova, D. (2018). Creative cultural production and ethnocultural revitalization among minority groups in Russia. Cultural Studies, 32(5), 825–851. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2018.1429004
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2018). Between regionalisation and centralisation : the implications of Russian education reforms for schooling in Tatarstan. Europe Asia Studies, 70(1), 53–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2017.1413171
• Müller-Suleymanova, D., & Müller, D. (2017). Muslimische Organisationen in der Schweiz im Spannungsfeld der Debatte um religiös begründete Radikalisierung. Migration und Soziale Arbeit, 2017(3), 249–257. https://content-select.com/de/portal/media/view/5a287cc7-42bc-486d-b838-1977b0dd2d03
• Eser Davolio, M., Müller-Suleymanova, D., & Müller, D. (2017). Spannungsfelder im Umgang mit dem Phänomen dschihadistischer Radikalisierung im Schweizer Kontext : ein neues Handlungsfeld für die Soziale Arbeit? Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Soziale Arbeit / Revue suisse de travail social, 21/22, 13–30. https://doi.org/10.5169/seals-832417
• Laketa, S., & Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2017). Enacting the contested past : conflict narratives in educational spaces. Geographica Helvetica, 72(1), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-72-5-2017
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2015). Islam as moral education : madrasa courses and contestation of the secular in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. Religion, State and Society, 43(2), 150–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2015.1056639

Books, peer-reviewed

Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2020). Pedagogies of culture : schooling and identity in Post-Soviet Tatarstan, Russia. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27245-6

Book chapters, peer-reviewed

• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2022). “I am something that no longer exists ...” : Yugonostalgia among diaspora youth. In F. Krawatzek & N. Friess (Eds.), Youth and Memory in Europe: Defining the Past, Shaping the Future (pp. 191–204). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110733501-014
• Milivojevic, M., & Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2022). (Post)-Yugoslav memory travels : national and transnational dimensions. In F. Krawatzek & N. Friess (Eds.), Youth and Memory in Europe: Defining the Past, Shaping the Future (pp. 181–190). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110733501-013
• Suleymanova, D. (2018). ‘I’m only half!’ : schooling and strategies of belonging among adolescents from minority ethnic backgrounds in Russia. In A. Polese (Ed.), Informal nationalism after communism : the everyday construction of post-socialist identities (pp. 17–35). I.B.Tauris.
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2015). Islamic education, youth and local religious revival in post-soviet Tatarstan, Russia. In S. Conermann & E. Smolarz (Eds.), Mobilizing Religion: Networks and Mobility (pp. 265–286). EB-Verlag.

Other publications

• Sutter, R., Mittmasser, C., Schambron, L., Friedli, A., Müller-Suleymanova, D., Froehlich, N., Gauttier, E., Carbajal, M., Rosenstein, E., & Drilling, M. (2026). Unpacking paradoxes in times of crisis : how civil society organizations shape processes of vulnerabilization. University of Bern. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-36091
• Eser Davolio, M., Fenicia, T., Müller-Suleymanova, D., & Vashkite, I. (2024). Monitoring-Studie zur Integration von Geflüchteten mit Status S mit Schwerpunkt Kt. Zürich. ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-31450
• Müller-Suleymanova, D., & Adili, K. (2024). Evaluation der Partizipationsmöglichkeiten : 2. Phase des Projekts “Second Generation”. ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-33550
• Müller-Suleymanova, D., Frigo-Charles, O., Pizzera, M., Muri Koller, G., Kehl, K., & Nef, S. (2023). Wie kann die Kinder- und Jugendpolitik der Kantone die niederschwellige Partizipation von Kindern und Jugendlichen unterstützen? ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-28772
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2023, May 25). «Da fehlt in der Geschichte etwas ...» : (Un)sichtbarkeit und Repräsentation im schulischen Raum aus postmigrantischer Perspektive. Macht- und ungleichheitskritische Perspektiven auf Bildung – Erkenntnisse und Suchbewegungen der empirischen Forschung, Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich, Schweiz, 25. Mai 2023.
• Müller-Suleymanova, D., & Adili, K. (2023). Second Generation : ein partizipatives Forschungs- und Entwicklungsprojekt mit Zuger Jugendlichen. ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-29166
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2022). Liebe Eltern, erzählt uns vom Krieg. Sozial : Magazin der ZHAW Soziale Arbeit, 17, 13–17. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-25925
• Mey, E., Keller, S., Adili, K., Bombach, C., Eser Davolio, M., Gehrig, M., Kehl, K., & Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2019). Evaluation des UMA-Pilotprojektes : Befunde zur kindes- und altersgerechten Unterbringung und Betreuung von unbegleiteten minderjährigen Asylsuchenden in den Zentren des Bundes. ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-21875
• Müller, D., Müller-Suleymanova, D., & Eser Davolio, M. (2017). Dschihadismus online : narrative Strategien, Herausforderungen für muslimische Organisationen und Stossrichtungen für Präventionsprojekte. In S. Hohnstein & M. Herding (eds.), Digitale Medien und politisch-weltanschaulicher Extremismus im Jugendalter (pp. 83–107). Deutsches Jugendinstitut. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:2-89569

Oral conference contributions and abstracts

• Müller-Suleymanova, D., & Pizzera, M. (2024, June 3). Partizipation und Motivation von Kindern und Jugendlichen sich (politisch) zu engagieren. Gemeindeforum Kind & Jugend Kanton Solothurn, Schweiz, 3. Juni 2024.
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2022, October). Der lange Schatten des Krieges : Auswirkungen auf junge Menschen. Veranstaltungsreihe «Um 6 im Kreis 5», Zürich, Schweiz, 4. Oktober 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXc0dtE8E7k
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2021, March 19). Memories of violence in the diaspora : transnational and intergenerational dimensions. 15th International Interdisciplinary Conference “Comparative Studies in Modern Society; Balkans in European and Global Context”, Prizren, Kosovo, 19-20 March 2021.
• Müller-Suleymanova, D., & Scherer, M. (2020). The meanings of the difficult past : homeland conflict and second-generation youth in Switzerland. 16th EASA Biennial Conference, Online, 20-24 July 2020.
• Mey, E., Keller, S., Bombach, C., & Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2020, November). Im Vakuum fällt auch das Sprechen schwer : Reflexionen zu empirischen Annäherungen an Sichtweisen minderjähriger Geflüchteter und Fachpersonen in Bundesasylzentren. Internationale Tagung «Kindheit und Adoleszenz in Bewegung - Aufwachsen unter Bedingungen von Fluchmigration», online, 17. - 18. November 2020.
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2020, September 11). “I am something that no longer exists…” : longing for Yugoslavia among the youth of ex-Yugoslav descent in Switzerland. Memory as a Dialogue? History for Young People, Online, 9-11 September 2020.
• Müller-Suleymanova, D. (2019, October). Engaging with the homeland and remembering the past among second generation Bosnians in Switzerland. Migration. Erinnern. Praktiken Des Erzählens Und Erinnerns in Der Migrationsgesellschaft : Internationale Fachtagung, Zürich, 24.-25. Oktober 2019.

go back