If we work together, we won’t begin as strangers.

Bhoomika Ghaghada is a writer, strategist, facilitator, and independent researcher, born and raised in the UAE, and living in Dubai.

Her writing explores personal-political narratives, specifically how gender, urban spaces, and media operate in the Gulf, and has appeared in Jadaliyya, Unootha, and Postscript Magazine. She co-founded Gulf Creative Collective, a non-profit initiative, helping Creatives in the UAE re-evaluate notions of value, and practice self-advocacy and care. Through GCC, she guides critical thinking, unlearning, and writing workshops in the UAE.

Research Interests: structural inequalities, community-centered interventions, gender, urban spaces in/and media

Education

Bhoomika has an M.A. in Media Studies from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, and a B.A. in Mass Communication from the American University of Sharjah. She studied Film and Art History at The University of California, Berkeley during a Summer Exchange Program.

Awards & Recognition

Winner, Mudun Short Story Prize 2022, Barjeel Art Foundation
Recipient, Homebound Residency, 2020, Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
Awardee, Exceptional Academic Performance in the field of Media Studies, 2019, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn
Recipient, Merit Scholarship, 2018, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn
Recipient, Merit Scholarship, 2017, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn

Notes

I believe the world needs more softness. I teach and facilitate using an evolving trauma-informed, intersectional practice, where the politics of care are not just on paper but part of the learning process. This includes centering the subjective experience of the learner, facilitating an emotionally-safe space, and cultivating embodied and value-driven curiosity. I have found these to be empowering.

1. Entering a space of learning should not be intimidating. We often dump our entire bios verbally in relational settings to feel more like we belong, so one of the practices I hold dear is encouraging introductions without masks — no institutional tags, no Professions. Name, practice, and a personal prompt.

2. Vocabulary is a tool for communication, not evasion. I gently request all learners to break words further down. We cannot communicate effectively if we rely heavily on abstractions we don’t fully understand.

3. Emphasis on questions, not packaged answers. I encourage learners to get comfortable sitting with questions. Questions with stakes. Part of that critical practice is borrowing frameworks and lenses, editing them, and building on them.