At present
Sonja is pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Balkan Studies at the University of Ljubljana with a focus on maternal healthcare. Engaging in research on birth in the Balkans, her work is founded on the scholarship of reproductive anthropology, biopower, postcoloniality, and activist research.
Sonja is based between New York City and Belgrade, Serbia where she lives with her partner, Cole Highnam, with whom she collaborates, and a desert dog named Trout. In her free time, Sonja loves to travel, get lost in big novels, pole dance, and take butoh classes. She is working on a poetry manuscript and a collection of short stories.
Backstory
Sonja was born at home and grew up in Portland, Maine. Graduating a year early from high school, Sonja spontaneously enrolled at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she was introduced to postcolonial theory which would later inform her research interests.
Sonja completed a Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing from the University of Iowa. During this time, she experienced a health crisis spurred by the hormonal changes of birth control which required that she interact with a fractured healthcare system and rely on family for support, sparking her interest in holistic healthcare and reproductive advocacy.
Upon graduation, Sonja traveled around Latin America before moving to New York City to study poetry, where she also taught writing to youth from underserved communities. She completed a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from New York University and began teaching writing at the City University of New York where she continues to teach today.
Shortly after her graduate studies, Sonja felt a strong call to birth work and became a certified doula through DONA International and a HypnoBirthing® Educator through the HypnoBirthing® Institute. Additionally, she devoted a year to studying physiological birth under midwife Whapio Bartlett at The Matrona and is presently in a mentorship to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).
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