Musqueam/Squamish/Tsleil-Waututh territories (Vancouver, Canada), 2019. Photo credit: Dick Powis

Rine Vieth

SOCIAL SCIENTIST AND SOCIOLEGAL SCHOLARSPÉCIALISTE EN SCIENCES SOCIALES ET ÉTUDES SOCIO-JURIDIQUE

Rine (they/them) is a scholar of law, asylum, religion, and Islamic jurisprudence. They are curious about intersections between legal processes and religion.Rine (iel) est spécialiste de droit, asile, religion et jurisprudence islamique. Iel est curieux.se des intersections entre les processus juridiques et la religion.

View of the Peak District, England, 2017. Rine Vieth.

About/Qui suis-je ?

Hello!I have a PhD in Anthropology from McGill University, where my research focused on how British asylum tribunals determine belief in cases of conversion. I have also studied at Colby College, SOAS and the London School of Economics and Political Science. My studies have been largely organized around socio-legal studies, with a focus on human rights, law and religion.Outside my doctoral research, I think a lot about human rights, religion, law, disability, mental health, gender and queerness. I enjoy creating visual and audio multimodal works, and have an art practice that combines participatory projects and community organizing.I love multidisciplinary approaches - as a mixed-methods researcher, I use participant observation, semi-structured interviews, large language models (LLMs), R coding, geoinformatics, and more in my work!

Salut !
Je suis titulaire d'un doctorat en anthropologie de l'Université McGill, où mes recherches ont porté sur la manière dont les tribunaux d'asile britanniques déterminent la croyance dans les cas de conversion. J'ai également étudié au Colby College, à la SOAS et à la London School of Economics and Political Science. Mes études ont été largement organisées autour des études socio-juridiques, avec un accent sur les droits de l'homme, le droit et la religion.En dehors de ma recherche doctorale, je réfléchis beaucoup aux droits de l'homme, à la religion, au droit, au handicap, à la santé mentale, au genre et aux choses choses « queer ». J'aime créer des œuvres multimodales visuelles et sonores, et j'ai une pratique artistique qui combine des projets participatifs et l'organisation communautaire.J'aime les approches multidisciplinaires - en tant que chercheur aux méthodes mixtes, j'utilise l'observation participante, les entretiens semi-structurés, les grands modèles de langage (LLM), le codage R, la géoinformatique, et bien d'autres choses encore dans mon travail !

Maine, 2019. Rine Vieth.

Current Projects/Projets en cours

Academic Writing/Ouvrages académiques
- “Hostile Environments, Hostile Terrains: Deserts and England’s ‘Green and Pleasant Land’” (journal manuscript)
- “British Narratives and Asylum Claims: Story Structure and Humanitarian Migrants”
- “Gay Enough? Christian Enough?: Proving Sexuality and Belief in the UK Asylum System”
- “Institutionalized Uncertainty and the ‘Hostile Environment’: Ignorance and Digital Data in the UK”Zines in Progress
- Multilingual zine about third-country agreements (US, UK, CAN)Audio
- Multilingual audio-snapshots of Montréal
- Audio vignettes that explore how people live in and experience urban areas as "home"
- Sonification of UK asylum tribunal and asylum-seeker claimant data
- Sonification of Canadian asylum-seeker data

CV

EDUCATIONPhD Candidate, Anthropology, McGill University (2015 - 2023)
Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Ronald Niezen
Thesis: Proving Faith: Conversion in the UK Asylum and Immigration TribunalsMSc Social Anthropology, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (2013 - 2014)
Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Nicholas Long
Thesis: Law, Religion, and a Complicated Context: Muslim Chaplaincy in the UK as Legal PluralismMA Islamic Law, SOAS (2011 - 2012)
Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Lynn Welchman
Thesis: Projects for Legislating Society: Legal Pluralism, the Code Morand, and the Iraqi ConstitutionBA History, Minor in Russian Literature and Language, Colby College (2006 - 2010)
Supervisor: Dr. Paul Josephson
Independent Study: “Bad Copyists”: Photography in the Early Soviet Union

PUBLICATIONSPublic Scholarship
Vieth, Rine. 2020. "I’ve Never Met Anyone Like Me, But Anthropologists (Not Me) Study People Like Me, Or: What if we trans/non-binary people weren’t just your objects of study?" Anthrodendum.
Vieth, Rine. 2020. "On Gutters and Ethnography." Anthrodendum.
Vieth, Rine. 2018. "Dis/ability to do Fieldwork." The New Ethnographer.Media
Vieth, Rine. 2019. "I am not your canary." The McGill Daily.
Vieth, Rine. 2013-2014. "Walking the River Programme." PULSE Radio, London, England.Translations
Mayakovsky, Vladimir Vladimirovich. Translated by Rine Vieth. 2010. "Listen!/Послушайте!" Colby College Russian Poetry Program, Waterville, Maine.

PRESENTATIONSConference Presentations
- Vieth, Rine. 2019. "'We Know When They Laugh With Us': Engaged Anthropology and the UK Asylum Tribunals." Law & Society Association (LSA) Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.
- Vieth, Rine. 2018. "'Genuine' Anthropology: Political Anthropology in the UK IACs." Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth (ASA) Annual Meeting, Oxford, England.
- Vieth, Rine. 2018. "Faith, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt." Society of Legal Scholars (LSA) Annual Conference, London, England.
- Vieth, Rine. 2018. "Faith, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt." European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) Biannual Meeting, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Vieth, Rine. 2017. “Projects for Legislating Society." Texas A&M Liberal Arts International Conference, Doha, Qatar.
- Vieth, Rine. 2016. "Diversity and Law: A Legal Anthropology Perspective." DRI Professional Liability Seminar, New York City, USA.Guest Lectures
- Vieth, Rine. 2021 "Anthropology of Institutions." Legal Anthropology, McGill University. Montréal, Canada.
- Vieth, Rine. 2017. "Legal Anthropology in the UK." Legal Anthropology, McGill University. Montréal, Canada.
- Vieth, Rine. 2017. "Anthropology of Religion." Introduction to Anthropology, McGill University. Montréal, Canada.
- Vieth, Rine. 2016. "Islam, Codification, and Syncretism." Anthropology of Religion, McGill University. Montréal, Canada.
- Vieth, Rine. 2015. "Codification Projects in North Africa." Social Change in Modern Africa, McGill University. Montréal, Canada.Roundtables
- Vieth, Rine. 2019. "The New Ethnographer." AAA/CASCA Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada.Panel Convener
- Vieth, Rine. 2019. "Legal Truth and Social Testimony: The Battle for Evidence." AAA/CASCA Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE (feedback available upon request)
- Anthropology of Meaning (Instructor): Winter 2022, McGill University
- Introduction to Anthropology (Instructor): Summer 2021, McGill University
- The Process of Anthropological Research (Teaching Assistant): Winter 2019, McGill University
- Anthropology of Law (Teaching Assistant): Winter 2017, McGill University
- The Process of Anthropological Research (Teaching Assistant): Fall 2016, McGill University
- The Anthropology of Development (Grader): Summer 2016, McGill University
- Anthropology of Religion (Teaching Assistant): Winter 2016, McGill University
- Social Change in Modern Africa (Teaching Assistant), Fall 2015, McGill University

SERVICE AND AFFILIATIONS
- Executive Committee Member, Anglophone Member-at-Large / Membre actif anglophone for the Canadian Anthropology Society, 2022 - 2024
- Creator and moderator, Anthro/Archaeo Jobs, a listserv for jobs in the social sciences with over 400 subscribers
- Graduate Student Representative on McGill University Arts Faculty Council: 2019 - 2020, 2020 - 2021, 2021 - 2022, 2022 - 2023
- Response Coordinator for AGSEM (graduate student labour union) response to University policy review on students with disabilities, Spring 2020
- Response Coordinator for AGSEM (graduate student labour union) response to University Equity, Diversity, Inclusion plan, Spring 2020
- Mental Health Working Group Coordinator (McGill University): September 2019 - February 2021
- Student Representative, Senate Subcommittee on Disability (McGill University): September 2019 - September 2021
- Member, Graduate Student Health and Wellness Committee, PGSS (McGill University): 2019 - 2020
- Union Representative, Working Group on the Policy Against Sexual Violence (McGill University): November 2018 - Present
- Mentor for Undergraduate Anthropology Students (McGill University): 2015 - Present
- Member, Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA): 2019 - Present
- Member, Law and Society Association (LSA): 2018 - Present
- VP Finance, Anthropology Graduate Students Association (AGSA) (McGill University): August 2015 - October 2017

RECENT EMPLOYMENT
- Instructor, McGill University (see specific courses above)
- Mobilization Officer, the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) (Montréal, Canada): 2019 - Present
- Teaching Assistant, McGill University (see specific courses above)
- Research Assistant, Dr. Ronald Niezen (McGill University, Montréal, Canada): 2015 - 2017
- Samba drumming instructor for Barking Bateria, Sambatage, and Sambattalion (London, England): 2011 - 2015
- Social Researcher, The HOME Project (London, England): 2012

LANGUAGESEnglish (first language)
French (advanced)
Modern Standard Arabic (advanced)
Russian (intermediate)
Darija (intermediate)
Farsi (beginner)
Spanish (beginner)

Interested in reading my theses, presentations, or lectures? Can't find my work elsewhere? Email me! [email protected].

Willow, 2020. Rine Vieth.

Resources / Des ressources

I firmly believe in sharing work and resources. Please cite (and, if you can, let me know!) if you use these.

Je crois fermement au partage du travail et des ressources. Veuillez citer (et, si vous le pouvez, faites-le moi savoir !) si vous les utilisez.

- Presentation: How to do Institutional Research - Information requests, free data tools, government data, and more! (Day One Slides) (Day Two Slides soon!)
- How to Reseach Your Institution - US Edition (English only / anglais seulement)
- How to Assert Yourself in Your First Academic Job
- Funding Google Calendar (largely US/Can-based social science funding)
- Anthro/Archeo Jobs Listerv (founder and moderator)

Art

I write and research...but I also create other works. I'm happy inking my comics with a paintbrush, or on an iPad.

J'écris et je recherche ... mais je crée aussi d'autres œuvres. Je suis heureux d'encrer mes bandes dessinées avec un pinceau, ou sur un iPad.

Vieth, Rine. "On Gutters and Anthropology." 2020. Digital comic, available on Anthrodendum

Vieth, Rine. "Cactus Grief." 2020. Digital comic. (Reproduced below)

Data Visualization/Visualisation des données

My interest in data visualization comes out of my research interests, my art practice, and my desire to communicate my research with a broader audience.Below are some examples of my work. I usually work in R for initial data analysis and exploration, though I also use Affinity, Canva, Excel, Python, and more to communicate important information in a creative way.

Mon intérêt pour la visualisation de données découle de mes intérêts de recherche, de ma pratique artistique et de mon désir de communiquer mes recherches à un public plus large.Vous trouverez ci-dessous quelques exemples de mon travail. Je travaille généralement en R pour l'analyse et l'exploration initiales des données, mais j'utilise également Affinity, Canva, Excel, Python et d'autres outils pour communiquer des informations importantes de manière créative.

Vieth, Rine. "Mapping Montréal Cartographie." 2021 - Present. Multilingual QPIRG Community Grant-funded project to map and analyze the impact of AirBnB on Montréal, as well as to trace changes in demographics in the city over time in an accessible way. Mapping/MTL/Cartographie maps and code available here

Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyaang (Montréal), 2017. Rine Vieth.

Contact/Contactez-moi

For general questions, media enquiries, consultation requests, or opportunities to collaborate together, please send an email to [email protected]I am particularly interested in work to do with law, religion, and politics—especially those that give back to communities involved in research.
(Let's minimize extractive research!)

Pour les questions générales, les demandes des médias, les demandes de consultation ou les opportunités de collaboration, veuillez envoyer un e-mail à [email protected]Je suis particulièrement intéressé par les projets liés au droit, à la religion et à la politique, en particulier ceux qui redonnent aux communautés impliquées dans notre recherche.
(Minimisons la recherche « extractive » !)