Overview
Hannah Ali is a PhD student in Medical and Socio-Cultural Anthropology at Cornell University. Her research focuses on the anthropology of addiction, ethics, and care. Her master’s research examined how Somali Canadian families in Toronto respond to health and social challenges through community-based forms of care. Building on this foundation, her doctoral project investigates how Somali Canadians navigate Toronto’s ongoing drug toxicity crisis.
Her broader academic interests include art-based research methods (including play), psychoanalysis, community care, and constructions of health within Muslim diasporas in North America. Before beginning her doctoral studies at Cornell, Hannah earned a double master’s degree from York University, where her work centered on the discursive psychoanalytic analysis of Somali literary fiction and the everyday lives of Somali families. She also holds a B.A. from the University of British Columbia (UBC).
Hannah’s research is further shaped by her extensive experience working in Toronto’s shelter system.