Faculty

Dr David Taylor

Interim Pro-Vice Chancellor

Before joining AUW, David Taylor was for many years at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he became Pro-Director, Teaching and Learning, from 1998-2002. He then joined Aga Khan University in Karachi as Vice-Provost for Academic Development and worked there from 2002-2008. He also served as Interim Provost from 2003-2008. Later, he was appointed Director of the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London from 2013-2017. He is a political scientist and historian with a longstanding interest in South Asia, which he first visited as a student in 1962.

Research interests and publications

David Taylor has conducted research on Indian political parties and elections, in particular the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, Islamisation in Pakistan, the nature and origins of nationalism, and mass communication, particularly the Indian press. His publications include:

(ed. with Heewon Kim), Civil Society in South Asia (special issue of Journal of Civil Society, 17 (2021)

‘Pakistan: The Military as a Political Fixture’, in Peter Burnell and Vicky Randall, Politics in the Developing World, 5th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 291-99.

(ed.) Islam in South Asia (4 vols) (London: Routledge, 2011)

‘Religion and Politics’, in Devin Hagerty ed., South Asia in World Politics (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005) pp. 213-30

(with Bharati Ray), Politics and Identity in South Asia (Kolkata: K.P. Bagchi, 2001)

‘The Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu Nationalism in India’, in Katja Fullberg-Stolberg et al. eds., Dissociation and Appropriation: Responses to Globalization in Asia and Africa (Berlin: Verlag Das Arabische Buch, 1999) pp. 151-65

Pakistan (Oxford: Clio Press, 1990, World Bibliographical Series, vol. 10)

‘The Indian National Congress: A Hundred-Year Perspective’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1987, no. 2 pp 289-305 (reprinted with minor additions in Institutions and Ideologies, D. Arnold and P. Robb eds. (London: Curzon Press, 1993), pp. 245-64)

‘The Politics of Islam and Islamization in Pakistan’, in James P. Piscatori ed., Islam in the Political Process (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983) pp. 181-98

(ed. with M. Yapp), Political Identity in South Asia (London: Curzon Press, 1979)

‘Concepts of Duty held by Indian Nationalist Thinkers’, in W. D. O’Flaherty and J. D. M. Derrett eds, The Concept of Duty in South Asia (Delhi: Vikas, and London: SOAS, 1978) pp. 205-16

‘The Crisis of Authority in the Indian National Congress, 1936-1939’, in B. N. Pandey ed., Leadership in South Asia (Delhi: Vikas, 1977) pp. 321-40

Education

1966, University of Cambridge, BA History

1967, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, MA (Area Studies – South Asia)

1972, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, PhD (dissertation title – Indian Politics and the elections of 1937)

Dr Simon Clarke

Associate Dean of Academic Affairs - General Education and Humanities and Program Director of General Education

Simon Clarke is the Associate Dean of General Education and Humanities and teaches courses in PPE. He studied at the University of Auckland, New Zealand and received his doctorate from Oxford University. He taught at AUW in 2012-2014 before rejoining in 2022. He has also taught at the University of Canterbury (NZ) and the American University of Armenia. He is the author of Foundations of Freedom: Welfare-Based Arguments Against Paternalism (Routledge, 2012) as well as articles published in the Journal of Political Philosophy, Political Studies, Ethical Perspectives, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, and Journal of Applied Philosophy.

Research interests

Political philosophy, moral philosophy, bioethics, and the history of political thought.

Book Chapters, etc.

• ‘Populism in Armenia: A Conceptual Framework and its Application’, in Reinhard Heinisch (editor) Diverse Voices on Populism- New Insights from the European “Periphery” (Nomos Publishing, 2022, forthcoming).

Journal Articles

• Compulsory Vaccination and Nozickian Rights’, Journal of Applied Philosophy, forthcoming 2022.
• ‘Freedom and Happiness: Does freedom make people happy?’ Journal of Political Science: Bulletin of Yerevan University, volume 1, 2022.

Working Papers / Reports

• ‘The Case Against Mandatory Vaccination’, Dilemmas, Center for Population-Level Bioethics, Rutgers University, 2021.
• ‘Voluntary Euthanasia: For and Against’ Scoop, September 2020.
• ‘Was the Revolution Justified?’ EVN Report, November 2018.

Dr Mohiuddin Ahsanul Kabir Chowdhury

Associate Dean of Academic Affairs – Natural Sciences and Program Director of Public Health, Interim Takeda Chair, Program Director of CS

Dr. Chowdhury is Associate Dean of Natural Sciences.  He is conducting research activities besides teaching students. He received his PhD in Epidemiology from the University of South Carolina. Earlier, he has a prior experience of teaching as an Assistant Professor at BRAC University and also worked as an Assistant Scientist at icddr,b, a renowned research organization.

Dr. Chowdhury will be teaching Research Methods in Public Health. Social and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health, and Maternal and Child Health during this academic year.

Research interests
Maternal and Child Health, Implementation Research, Health Systems Research, Autism and disability, Migration and health, Gender based violence, and health disparities

Journal Articles

1. Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low-and-middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018. Kinyoki D, Osgood-Zimmerman AE, Bhattacharjee NV, Local Burden of Disease Anaemia Collaborators, Kassebaum NJ, Hay SI. Nature Medicine. 2021
2. Global, regional, and national mortality among young people aged 10–24 years, 1950–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. GBD 2019 Adolescent Mortality Collaborators. The Lancet. 2021
3. Fatal police violence by race and state in the USA, 1980–2019: a network meta-regression. GBD 2019 Police Violence US Subnational Collaborators. The Lancet. 2021
4. Mapping inequalities in exclusive breastfeeding in low- and middle-income countries, 2000–2018.Bhattacharjee VN, Schaeffer LE, Hay SI, Local Burden of Disease Exclusive Breastfeeding Collaborators. Nature Human behaviour. 2021
5. Mapping subnational HIV mortality in six Latin American countries with incomplete vital registration systems. Local Burden of Diseases HIV Collaborators. BMC Medicine. 2021
6. Subnational mapping of HIV incidence and mortality among individuals aged 15–49 years in sub-Saharan Africa, 2000–18: a modelling study. Local Burden of Diseases HIV Collaborators. The Lancet HIV. 2021
7. Are childbirth location and mode of delivery associated with favorable early breastfeeding practices in hard-to-reach areas of Bangladesh? Ali NB, Karim F, Billah SM, Hoque DME, Khan ANS, Hasan MM, Simi SM, Arifeen SE, Chowdhury MAK. PLoS ONE. 2020
8. The Interaction of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Resiliency on the Outcome of Depression Among Children and Youth, 8-17 years old. Elmore A, Crouch E, Chowdhury MAK. Child abuse and neglect. 2020
9. Morbidity and mortality from road injuries: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. James SL, GBD collaborators. Injury prevention. 2020
10. The burden of unintentional drowning: global, regional and national estimates of mortality from the Global Burden of Disease 2017 Study. Franklin RC, GBD collaborators. Injury prevention. 2020
11. Global injury morbidity and mortality from 1990 to 2017: results from Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. James SL, GBD collaborators . Injury prevention. 2020
12. Estimating global injuries morbidity and mortality: methods and data used in Global Burden of Disease 2017 study. James SL, GBD collaborators . Injury prevention. 2020
13. Prevalence and factors associated with caesarean section in four Hard-to-Reach areas of Bangladesh: Findings from a cross-sectional survey. Karim F, Ali NB, Khan ANS, Hassan A, Hasan MM, Hoque DME, Billah SM, Arifeen SE, Chowdhury MAK. PLoS ONE. 2020
14. RELISH-DB a large expert-curated database for benchmarking biomedical literature search Brown P, RELISH Consortium, Zhou Y . Scientific data. 2019
15. Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search. Brown P, RELISH Consortium, Zhou Y. Database. 2019
16. Prevalence and risk factors of postpartum depression among women living in urban slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Azad R, Fahmi R, Shtestha S, Joshi H, Hasan M, Khan ANS, Chowdhury MAK, Arifeen SE, Billah SM. PLoS ONE. 2019
17. Prevalence and determinants of initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth: an analysis of the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2014. Karim F, Khan ANS, Tasnim F, Chowdhury MAK, Billah SM, Karim T, Arifeen SE, Garnett SP. PLoS ONE. 2019
18. Quality of care during childbirth at public health facilities in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study using WHO/UNICEF ‘Every Mother Every Newborn (EMEN)’standards. Billah SM, Chowdhury MAK, Khan ANS, Karim F, Hassan A, Zaka N, Arifeen SE, Manu A. BMJ Open Quality. 2019
19. Competence of healthcare professionals in diagnosing and managing obstetric complications and conducting neonatal care: a clinical vignette-based assessment in district and subdistrict hospitals in northern Bangladesh. Khan ANS, Karim F, Chowdhury MAK, Zaka N, Manu A, Arifeen SE, Billah SM. BMJ Open. 2019
20. Ambiguous Genitalia – A social dilemma in Bangladesh: A Case Report. Chowdhury MAK, Anwar MR, Saha A. International Journal of Surgery Case Reports. 2018
21. Knowledge and Acceptance of HPV Vaccine for Cervical Cancer Prevention among Corporate Women in Bangladesh: A Mixed Method Study. Bhuiyan A, Sultana F, Islam JY, Chowdhury MAK, Nahar Q. BioResearch Open Access. 2018
22. A community-based cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) to evaluate the impact and operational assessment of “Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health Promotion Package”: Study Protocol. Hoque DME, Chowdhury MAK, Rahman AE, Billah SM, Bari S, Tahsina T, Islam T, Mori R, Arifeen SE. BMC Public Health. 2018
23. Domestic violence against women in urban slums of Bangladesh: A cross sectional survey. Chowdhury MAK, Rahman AE, Morium S, Hasan MM, Bhuiyan A, Arifeen SE. Journal of interpersonal violence. 2018
24. Child marriage: historical reality around the globe and in Bangladesh. Chowdhury MAK, Morium S. Archives of Psychology. 2018
25. Initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth and its determinants among normal vaginal deliveries at primary and secondary health facilities in Bangladesh: A case-observation study. Karim F, Billah SM, Chowdhury MAK, Zaka N, Manu A, Arifeen SE, Khan ANS. PLoS ONE. 2018

Working Papers / Reports

1. Report on demographic profiling and needs assessment of maternal and child health(MCH) care for the Rohingya Refugee population in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Chowdhury MAK, Billah SM, Karim F, Khan ANS, Islam S, Arifeen SE. icddr,b. 2018

Education

Ph.D. Epidemiology, University of South Carolina, USA

MPH, BRAC University, Bangladesh

BMBBS, Chittagong Medical College, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh

Dr Richard Sherman

Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Social Sciences, and Director, Politics, Philosophy and Economics

Professor Sherman offers courses in the Politics, Philosophy and Economics program. His research and teaching are in the area of international relations, with a focus on economic issues. He comes to AUW after holding academic positions at Syracuse University, Leiden University, the University of Utah, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Korea University, and the American University of Phnom Penh. He received the Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Washington. He also serves as AUW’s Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.

Teaching

AY 2023-2024:

PPE 2020, Research Methods

PPE 3105, Foundations of International Relations

PPE/ECON 3500, International Political Economy

PPE 3080, PPE Capstone

Research interests

International trade and financial policy

Politics and economics of migration

Political methodology and statistical computing

Political economy and microeconomic theory

Project involvements

Privatizing Commercial Diplomacy, a project on the role of domestic interest groups in US-EU trade politics

Grants Obtained

Small grants from Syracuse University’s Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs Institute and Center for European Studies

Book Chapters, etc.

“Rational Compliance with Rationalized Bureaucracy,” in Christopher Clague (ed.), Institutions and Economic Development: Growth and Governance in Less-Developed and Post-Socialist Countries (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997): 316-340 (with Margaret Levi)

Journal Articles

“Foreign Direct Investment and U.S. Industry Demands for Trade Protection,” Review of International Political Economy vol. 16 no. 5 (December, 2009), pp. 778-802. (with Ka Zeng)

“Privatizing Commercial Diplomacy: Institutional Innovation on the Domestic- International Frontier,” Current Politics and Economics of Europe vol. 18 no. 3/4, 2007 (with Johan Eliasson)

“Trade Disputes and Non-State Actors: New Institutional Arrangements and the Privatisation of Commercial Diplomacy,” The World Economy vol. 29 no. 4, (April 2006): 473-489 (with Johan Eliasson)

“Delegation, Ratification, and US Trade Policy,” Comparative Political Studies vol. 35 no. 2 (December 2002): 1171-1197

“Targeting Democracies: Regime Type and America’s ‘Aggressively Unilateral’ Trade Policy,” Social Science Quarterly vol. 83 no. 4 (December 2002): 1063-1078

“Import Prices and the Political Economy of Tariffs: Evidence from Germany, Japan, and the United States, 1954-1994,” Economics Letters vol. 76 no. 1 (June 2002): 11-17

“Endogenous Protection and Trade Negotiations,” International Politics vol. 39 no. 4 (December 2002)

“Democracy and Trade Conflict,” International Interactions vol. 27 no. 1 (June 2001): 1-28

“Fairness and the Dynamic Stability of Institutions,” Journal of Conflict Resolution vol. 45 no. 3 (June 2001): 297-219

Working Papers / Reports

“IR Theory’s Evolving Economic Metaphor” (with M. Scott Solomon)

“New Evidence on Interdependence and Conflict”

Dr Raghu Reddy

Assistant Dean of Faculty and Industry Partnerships

Raghu Reddy is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, Assistant Dean of Faculty and Industry Partnerships, and Director of MS (Master of Science) program in Apparel & Retail Management. He has been teaching courses in social sciences to undergraduate students. Raghu has a PhD in Sociology from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India. His primary research areas include gendered organizations, and diversity, equality & inclusion. He has published five papers in leading international journals. Raghu has two decades of prior professional experience in leading organizational change and process management initiatives in ICT organizations in India, USA, South Africa, South Korea and UK.

Teaching

Sociological Themes and Perspectives

Business Ethics

Feminism and Society

Ethics, Society and Inequality

People & Change

Research interests

Gender, Work and Organizations

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion

Grants Obtained

Awarded COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) grant from Texas International Education Fund (TIEC), 2022 – 23

Journal Articles

1. Reddy, R., Sharma, A. and Jha, M. (2019), “Hegemonic masculinity or masculine domination: Toward a comprehensive social theory of gender”, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 39 No. 3/4, pp. 296-310. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-08-2018-0133
2. Reddy, R. (2019), “Liberal gender equality and social difference: an institutional ethnography”, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 39 No. 9/10, pp. 680-694. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-06-2019-0114
3. Reddy, R., Sharma, A. and Jha, M. (2019), “Gendered labour process: Exploration in an information technology services organization in India”, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 39 No. 9/10, pp. 831-850. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-07-2019-0144
4. Reddy, R. (2022). Crossing the Gender Chasm for Productive Field Engagement. The Qualitative Report, 27(12), 2744-2760. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5783
5. Reddy, R. (2023). Workplace Bullying: The Problem That (Still) Has No Name. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 30(3), 360-373. https://doi.org/10.1177/09715215231183628

Conference Presentations

1. Online presentation in the Symposium on Sustainable Development – Leaving No One Behindon 20th May 2023 organized by Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance in collaboration with University of Aberdeen, Webster University & Ethics International Press.

2. Gender, Work, Organization 2021: 11^th Biennial International Interdisciplinary Conference, 30th June -2nd July, 2021, Virtual Conference (Organized by the ‘Gender, Work & Organization’ Journal – A Wiley Publication); University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.

Workplace Bullying: The problem That Has No Name

3. Gender, Work, Organization 2018: 10^th Biennial International Interdisciplinary Conference, 13th-16th June, 2018, Sydney (Organized by the ‘Gender, Work & Organization’ Journal – A Wiley Publication); Macquarie University Sydney, Australia

Hegemonic Masculinity or Masculine Domination: Toward a Comprehensive Social Theory of Gender, and 300 Years and 3 Waves Later: Liberal Equality and Social Difference

Winner of Highly Commendable Paper Award (Literati Award) of Emerald Publishing for 2020 for the paper Hegemonic Masculinity or Masculine Domination: Toward a Comprehensive Social Theory of Gender.

Dr Moinul Islam

Professor of Economics

Research

Professor Islam studies development economics, international economics, environmental economics, and monetary economics. His current research projects include:

“Consumers’ Attitude towards Eco-products/ organic Foods: Evidence from Bangladesh Cities” (With Mohammad N. Nobi)

“Households’ Willingness to pay to Avoid Water Logging in Bakalia of Chittagong City Corporation” (With Meherun Ahmed and Mohammad Nur Nobi)

“Influence of Parent’s Profession and Education on Student Performances at Tertiary Level: A Cross Country Study” (With Meherun Ahmed and Mohammad Nur Nobi)

Publications

Articles:

“Long Term Impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on Economic Growth of Bangladesh” Allato Academic Studies, International Ataturk Alatoo University Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN (2016). Co-authored with Afroza Alam and Mohammed N. Nobi,

“A Demand for Money Function with Output Uncertainty, Monetary Volatility, and Financial Innovations: Evidence from Japan”: Research Journal for Management Sciences, Vol.4(5), pp.15-20 May (2015)

“Economic Growth, Economic Freedom, and Corruption: Evidence from Panel Data”: International Research Journal for Social Sciences, Vol.4(5), pp.37-42 May (2015)

Role of Rural Women in Environment Conservation: A Case Study of a Bangladesh Village (Co-authored With T.A. Chowdhury) submitted for publication in the forthcoming issue of International Research Journal for Social Sciences.

Working Papers/Reports:

“Estimating the Environmental Cost of Shrimp Farming in Coastal Areas of Chittagong and Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh” (Coauthored with Mohammad N, Nobi)

“Does Facebook Reduce Unemployment? A Holistic Research on How Beauty Index Affects a Facebooker’s Chance of Getting Jobs” (Co-authored with Tram Pham)

Export Performance – Disadvantage of the landlocked countries (Co-authored with Kritika Kumari)

“Socioeconomic Disparities between Eastern and Western Part of Bangladesh: An Empirical Analysis” (with Jeenat Binta Jabbar)

“Impact of Remittance Inflows on Economic Growth in South Asia: Evidence from Panel data” (with Jyothi Nair)

Migrants’ Remittance Income and its Impact on Households’ Savings in Nepal

Education

Ph.D. Economics, Southern Illinois University, USA

M.S. Economics, Illinois State University, USA

M.S.S. Economics, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh

B.S.S. Economics, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh

Dr Shane Brennan

Associate Professor of History and Classics

Shane Brennan is Associate Professor of History and Classics and teaches courses in the Core Program. He completed his doctorate in 2011 at the University of Exeter in the UK and subsequently taught at Mardin Artuklu University in the south-east of Turkey (2011-16) and the American University in Dubai, UAE (2016-22). He is the author of In the Tracks of the Ten Thousand and Xenophon’s Anabasis: A Socratic History and has co-edited books on subjects including ancient Greek history and national identity in Türkiye. He is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

Teaching

Global History pre-1500

Introduction to Ethical Reasoning

Writing Seminar

Research

Brennan’s research interests are grounded in Anatolia and cut across several subject areas including classical historiography, ethnicity, and the Persian Empire. He is also interested in the societies of the contemporary Middle East, and in the question of early human settlement in the region, with especial curiosity about the prehistoric sites of Çatalhöyük and Göbeklitepe.

Authored Books

– Xenophon’s Anabasis: A Socratic History. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh (2022)

– On Binler’in İzinde: Adım Adım Türkiye, Suriye ve Irak (trans. Nihan Naiboğlu). Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları: Istanbul (2020)

Edited Books

– The Landmark Xenophon’s Anabasis. With David Thomas. Pantheon Books: New York (2021)

Book Chapters

– ‘From the Tigris to the Sea: The Problematic Geography of Anabasis Book IV’. Co-authored with Christopher Tuplin. Pages 105-29 in Xenophon’s Anabasis and its Reception. Edited by T. Rood and M. Tamiolaki. De Gruyter: Berlin (2022)

– ‘Classical Sieges of Byzantium’. Pages 63-79 in Byzantion’dan Constantinopolis’e İstanbul kuşatmaları. Edited by T. Kaçar and M. Arslan. Istanbul Research Institute: Istanbul (2018)

Journal Articles

‘The (Hi)story of a Technology in the Gulf: the case of man-made Irrigation Channels in Oman and Iran’ (forthcoming)

‘Theches: an Elusive Mountain’. Co-authored with Christopher Tuplin. Anatolian Studies 73: 129-49 (2023)

Book Reviews

– Llewellyn-Jones (L.) Persians: The Age of the Great Kings (Basic Books: New York, 2022). The Classical Review 73: 188-90 (2023).

– Baysal E. and Karakatsanis L., eds., Bordered Places: Bounded Times: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Turkey (BIAA Monograph 51: London, 2017). European Journal of Archaeology 22: 141-4 (2019)

– Kelly M. and Rose A., eds., Theories of History. History Read across the Humanities (Bloomsbury: London, 2018). International Network for Theory of History (2019)

Reference

– Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity (ed., O. Nicholson). ‘Carchemish-Europos’, ‘Dibsi Faraj’, ‘Harran’, ‘Kilise Tepe’, ‘Odaenathus’, ‘Pagnik Öreni’, ‘Palmyra, empire of’, ‘Seleucia ad Calycadnum’, ‘Trebizond’, ‘Zenobia’, ‘Zeugma’. Oxford University Press: Oxford (2018)

– The Literary Encyclopaedia (Archaic and Classical Greek volume, ed. L. Swift). ‘Xenophon’s Anabasis’. www.litencyc.com (2018)

General

– ‘The Enduring Appeal of Xenophon’s Anabasis’. Literary Hub. 2021

https://lithub.com/on-the-enduring-appeal-of-xenophons-anabasis/

– Podcast on Xenophon. School of War with Aaron MacLean.

https://podcasts.apple.com/sv/podcast/ep-10-shane-brennan-on-xenophon/id1589160645?i=1000545618760

– ‘What about Turkey’s Kurds?’ The Arab Weekly. October 2017

Dr Sayed Mohammed Nazim Uddin

(On-Leave) Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences

Research

Dr Mosae Selvakumar Paulraj

Associate Professor of Chemistry & Director of Environmental Sciences Program

Dr. Mosae Selvakumar Paulraj is a chemistry educator and researcher with over 20 years of experience in academia/Research/Industries across India, Germany, Srilanka and Bangladesh. He received his Bachelors and Masters degree in Chemistry from Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tamilnadu, India. He is a Diploma holder in teacher education and Master degree holder in psychology. He started his professional career in Jubilant Biosys Ltd, Bangalore, as a scientist in the cheminformatics division. Then he joined as a research fellow at Central Salt And Marine Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI) – a unit of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and obtained his Ph.D. degree. He also worked as a DAAD research fellow in Technical University, Kaiserslautern, Germany. Presently, Dr. Mosae is working as Associate Professor of Chemistry at Asian university for Women (AUW), Chattogram, Bangladesh. Before joining AUW, Dr. Mosae has worked as Assistant professor of chemistry at Karunya University, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. His expertise spans supramolecular chemistry, Green chemistry, Nanomaterials, and Palmyraculture for Sustainable Development with a strong focus on advancing scientific understanding and developing practical applications for societal benefit. He has developed curricula and pedagogies for both undergraduate and postgraduate programs, covering a wide range of subjects including general chemistry, organic chemistry, Inorganic chemistry, Analytical chemistry, Nano Science and Nano technology, Green Chemistry, Supramolecular chemistry, Applied Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Bio chemistry and Environmental Science.

He received several awards/fellowships and recognitions, including Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) in Chemistry from CSIR-India and DAAD fellowship from DAAD, Germany and  DST Fast track for Young Scientists. He is a Member of the International union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN), the Chemical Research Society of India(CRSI), the Material Research Society of India(MRSI) and the Luminescent Society of India(LSI). He has contributed to over 100 research publications including research articles, review papers, and book chapters, and filed a few patents on applications of natural materials.

His notable contribution to the society, Palmyraculture and the Green Bangle Project, focuses on environmental conservation through women involvement, empowerment, ecopreneurship and sustainable development through community involvement in Bangladesh and Asia.

Teaching

General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Introduction to Environmental Science, Women in Science, Bio Chemistry

Research interests

Supramolecular Chemistry, Chemo Bio Sensor,     ⁠Green Chemistry, Water treatment,  Waste to Wealth, Molecules and Nano-materials, Palmyraculture for Sustainable Development

Project involvements
1. Green Bangle Project – Plantation of 30,000 palms and mangroves in Sitakundu beach to fight rising sea levels and climate change.

2. A pilot study on packaging palmyra fruit juice with natural preservatives
3. Design, Synthesis and characterization of novel supramolecular helicates for their application in molecular recognition

Grants Obtained

1. Green Bangle Project – Plantation of 30,000 palms and mangroves in Sitakundu beach to fight rising sea levels and climate change- Swiss Philanthrophy Foundation Funded Project
2. A pilot study on packaging palmyra fruit juice with natural preservatives- AUW Faculty Research Grant
3. Design, Synthesis and characterization of novel supramolecular helicates for their application in molecular recognition- DST SERB Funded Project

Authored Books

Hussain, C.M., Selvakumar, P.M., Nuzhat, S. (2021). Source Reduction and Waste minimization, Elsevier, ISBN: 9780128243206

Book Chapters, etc.

Kuldeep, S.A., Paulraj, M.S. (2024). Role of Nanofillers in Food Packaging. In: Mallakpour, S., Hussain, C.M. (eds) Handbook of Nanofillers. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3516-1_114-1

Auishe, P.F., Haider, S.B., Mona, S.C., Paulraj, M.S.K. (2024). The Role of Nanofillers in the Environmental Industry. In: Mallakpour, S., Hussain, C.M. (eds) Handbook of Nanofillers. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3516-1_62-1

Huda, R.N., Pires, Z.B.D.G., Amin, R., Paulraj, M.S. (2024). Nanofillers in Environmental, Legal, Health, and Safety Issues. In: Mallakpour, S., Hussain, C.M. (eds) Handbook of Nanofillers. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3516-1_156-1

Selvakumar, P.M., Nuzhat, S., Quadrey, M.M., Monichan, S., Samdavid Thanapaul, R.J.R., Muthukumar Nadar, M.S.A. (2021). Green Nanomaterials: Design, Synthesis, Properties, and Industrial Applications. In: Hussain, C.M., Di Sia, P. (eds) Handbook of Smart Materials, Technologies, and Devices. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58675-1_98-1

Samdavid Thanapaul, R.J.R., Paulraj, M.S., Roh, D.S. (2022). Nanobiotechnology-Based Anti-aging Products. In: Handbook of Consumer Nanoproducts. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8698-6_62

Rozbu, M.R., Nuzhat, S., Selvakumar, P.M. (2022). Role of Nanotechnology in Cosmeceuticals. In: Handbook of Consumer Nanoproducts. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8698-6_60

Chowdhury, A.T., Rafa, N., Kabir, A., Selvakumar, P.M. (2022). Consumer Nanoproducts for Environment. In: Handbook of Consumer Nanoproducts. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8698-6_67

Rozbu, M. R., Kabir, A., & Selvakumar, P. M. (2021). Functionalized Bio‐carbon Nanomaterials for Environmental Utilizations. Environmental Applications of Carbon Nanomaterials‐Based Devices, 347-374  https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527830978.ch15

Journal Articles( Recent)

Selvan, G. Tamil, Joel Samson, P. Rajasingh, Xuesong Li, A. Ravi Kumar, Nuanfei Zhu, Sweety Angela Kuldeep, P. Mosae Selvakumar, P. Jun Tang, and Zhen Zhang. (2024). A captivating approach to elevate the detection of Al3+ ions incorporates the utilization of a tripodal receptor intricately embellishing the surface of zinc oxide. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 124339.

Selvan, G. Tamil, Israel MV Enoch, V. Srinivasadesikan, R. Mariselvam, A. Ravi Kumar, Xuesong Li, P. Jun Tang, P. Mosae Selvakumar, and Zhen Zhan (2024). Surface-modified gold nanoparticles: A novel chemical probe for precise fluorescent detection of aluminium (Al3+) ions; investigating DFT insights and molecular logic gate behaviour. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 397, 124039.

Paulraj, M. S., Eringathodi, S., Mollah, A. M., Alexis Thayaparan, C. T., Kuldeep, S. A., Subramanian, P. S., & Dhanaraj, P. (2024). 2-[(E)-(2-carboxybenzylidene) amino] ethan ammonium-like amino acid zwitterions: crystal structure, functional studies and its molecular dynamic simulation study with drug target receptors. Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 42(12), 6081-6090..

Thevamirtha, C., Balasubramaniyam, A., Srithayalan, S., & Selvakumar, P. M. (2023). An Insight into the antioxidant activity of the facial cream, solid soap and liquid soap made using the carotenoid extract of palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer) fruit pulp. Industrial Crops and Products, 195, 116413.

Ghosh, G., Mukherjee, D., Ghosh, R., Singh, P., Pal, U., Chattopadhyay, A., Santra, M., Ahn, K.H., Selvakumar, P.M., Das, R. and Pal, S.K., . (2023). A novel molecular reporter for probing protein DNA recognition: An optical spectroscopic and molecular modeling study. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 291, 122313.

Dhanaraj P, Muthiah I, Rozbu MR, Nuzhat S and Paulraj MS (2021) Computational Studies on T2Rs Agonist-Based Anti–COVID-19 Drug Design. Front. Mol. Biosci. 8:637124. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.637124

For more publications, Visit  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8712-1168

Patents Filed:

Ranjit singh, A.J.A., Mariselvam, R., Usha Raja Nanthini, A., Selvakumar, P.M. Eco friendly golden yellow dye from Syzygium cumini (L.) Jambolan) fruit seed endosperm extract and its application in the preparation of antimicrobial fabric, Indian Patent Application Number-2560/CHE/2014

Selvakumar, P.M., Dakshinamurthy, A., & Deena, S. Method of making antimicrobial fabric using silver nanoparticles, banana sap and natural dye, Indian Patent Application Number-3774/CHE/2014

Selvakumar, P.M., Ranjit singh, A.J.A., Mariselvam, R. Development of eco – friendly wound healing bandage from palmyra palm leaf secretions, Indian Patent Application Number-4011/CHE/2015.

Sureshkumar, C., Mariappan, C., Palavesm, A., & Selvakumar, P.M.. Method for the removal ofhighly resistantPseudomonas aeruginosa /Aeromonas hydrophila / Burkholderia cepacia from infeed Bore well water to different purification stages of water purification system at aseptic pharmaceutical manufacturing, Indian Patent Application Number-201641033678 A

Dr Herman T Salton

Visiting Associate Professor

Herman T. Salton is a tenured Associate Professor of International Relations based in Tokyo (Japan), and a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University (UK). Before moving to Tokyo, Prof. Salton was an Associate with the United Nations in New York City; a human rights officer at the Icelandic Human Rights Centre in Reykjavík (Iceland); and from 2013 to 2018 a professor at AUW. He is fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish, holds two PhDs (in international relations and in international law), and has published widely on the UN and international relations. More on www.hermansalton.net

Degrees:

J.D. Trento (Italy), PhD Auckland (Int’l Law), MPhil Oxford (Int’l Relations), PhD Wales (IR)

Teaching:

– “The United Nations in World Politics” (PPE)

– “Political Leadership” (PPE)

– “Genocide, Massacres, and Morality” (GE)

Research interests: international relations, international organizations; international history; international civil service.

Project involvements: Prof. Salton is currently under contract with Oxford University Press (OUP) to write the first ‘political history’ of the United Nations Secretariat.

Grants Obtained:

– From 2020 to 2023: Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT), The Influence of the US and China on the UN Secretariat (Grant for Scientific Research, approx. 40k USD);

– From 2024 to 2027: Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT), The United Nations Secretariat: A Political History (Grant for Scientific Research, approx. 50k USD).

Authored Books (latest):

– Salton, H. T. (2025) The United Nations Secretariat: A Political History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, under contract).

– Salton, H. T. (2024) L’Artisan de la Paix? L’ONU dans les Relations Internationales (Paris: L’Harmattan, in French).

– Salton, H. T. (2023) Le Nazioni Unite: Un’Introduzione Critica (Milan and Turin: UTET Università, in Italian);

– Salton, H.T. (2021) La Leadership nelle Relazioni Internazionali: Fonti, Tipologie, e Prospettive Disciplinari (Milan: FrancoAngeli, in Italian).

– Salton, H. T. (2017) Dangerous Diplomacy: Bureaucracy, Power Politics, and the Role of the UN Secretariat in Rwanda (Oxford: Oxford University Press);

Journal Articles (latest):

Salton, H. T. (2024) “Peacebuilding, Peacekeeping, and the Balance of Bureaucratic Power in Kofi Annan’s Secretariat: A Micro-History of Two United Nations Departments”, Peacebuilding [Routledge], 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/21647259.2024.2331375

Salton, H. T. (2023). ‘The Hand That Holds the Pen’: Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Peacekeeping, and American Influence Over the United Nations Secretariat in the Early 1990s’. International Peacekeeping [Routledge], 31(1), 87–113, https://doi.org/10.1080/13533312.2023.2269834

Dr Sadika Akhter

Assistant Professor of Public Health

Dr. Sadika has been teaching at AUW under the program of Public Health from September 2024. She has previously held academic appointments at Deakin University where she was awarded prestigious Dean’s post-doctoral fellowship. Dr.Sadika holds a PhD in Public Health and has extensive experience in qualitative research methods and data analysis. Her research focuses on gender-based violence, care-seeking behaviors, and policy analysis. She regularly supervises postgraduate students and contributes to academic publications in global health and social sciences.

Teaching

Social and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health

Pandemics, Culture, and Public Health

Research

Dr. Sadika’s research interests focus on gender equality, women’s empowerment, and social justice. As an anthropologist, she explores cultural dynamics related to gender-based violence, health inequities, and the impact of societal structures on marginalized populations. Her work often involves qualitative research methods, emphasizing intersectionality and the lived experiences of women in developing contexts. Additionally, Sadika is interested in policy development and practical interventions aimed at improving the lives of disadvantaged communities, particularly through collaborative efforts.

Dr. Sadika Akhter has secured multiple research grants as Principal Investigator, focusing on gender-based violence, health equity, and climate change. Her projects include a 2020 UNFPA-funded study on GBV and SRHR services, a WHO-funded study (2020-22) on gender and health programs in Southeast Asia, and climate change and gender analyses with IRRI (2021-22). She has also evaluated SRHR policies and urban health services, with support from SIDA, UNFPA, and other international organizations.

Published Articles in the last five years

1. Akhter, Sadika, et al. “Knowledge of gendered needs among the planners and policy makers for prevention of NCDs in Bangladesh: a qualitative exploration.” International Journal for Equity in Health 23.1 (2024): 110.
2. Akhter, Sadika, and Adrian J. Cameron. “A Scoping Review of Studies Evaluating the Healthiness of Street Food Vendors.” Current Nutrition Reports (2023): 1-16.
3. Akhter, Sadika, et al. “A rapid ethnographic assessment of cultural and social perceptions and practices about COVID-19 in Bangladesh: what the policy makers and program planners should know.” Qualitative Health Research 32.7 (2022): 1114-1125.
4. Akhter, Sadika, et al. “Exploring the lived experiences of pregnant women and community health care providers during the pandemic of COVID-19 in Bangladesh through a phenomenological analysis.” BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 21 (2021): 1-11.
5. Akhter, Sadika, Nabila Mahmood, and Shannon Rutherford. “A systematic review of the health of internal migrants in Bangladesh.” The International Journal of Health Planning and Management 37.2 (2022): 673-690.
6. Akhter, Sadika, Shannon Rutherford, and Cordia Chu. “Sufferings in silence: Violence against female workers in the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh: A qualitative exploration.” Women’s Health 15 (2019): 1745506519891302.
7. Akhter, Sadika, Shannon Rutherford, and Cordia Chu. “Exploring the system capacity to meet occupational health and safety needs: the case of the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh.” BMC Health Services Research 19 (2019): 1-7.
8. Akhter, Sadika, Shannon Rutherford, and Cordia Chu. “Sewing shirts with injured fingers and tears: exploring the experience of female garment workers health problems in Bangladesh.” BMC international health and human rights 19 (2019): 1-9.

Dr Tuhin Biswas

Assistant Professor of Public Health

Tuhin working as a Assistant Professor of Public Health at Asian University for Women. Before that, he worked as a Post-Doctoral Research fellow (Group: Health and Society) at the Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR), the University of Queensland in Australia. A public health by training, Tuhin’s research focuses on understanding the social and economic consequences of health and demographic change, particularly in developed and developing countries. He has been collaborating with multidisciplinary researchers and institutions in countries including Australia, USA, UK, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. His research interest in obesity and co-morbidities development and early prevention, diabetes, hypertension, adolescent health, health system, health policy, systematic review and meta-analysis. He started his research career as a research fellow in one of the centre of excellence “Centre for Control of Chronic Diseases” at icddr,b which was established with funding support from National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), USA. His PhD research focused on double burden of malnutrition among the women in South and Southeast Asia and its geographical variation, health inequality and health achievement.

Project involvements

1. Exposure to Trihalomethanes in pregnancy and birth outcomes in Queensland: integrated data analysis and case studies for better policy and health outcomes.
2. Mobile phone-based technology to improve health, population and nutrition services in Rural Bangladesh.
3. Community based lifestyle intervention for diabetes management in Nepal: A clustered randomized trial.
4. Obesity prevalence and patterns of diet and physical activity among children and adolescents in urban areas in Bangladesh.
5. Prevalence Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases among the Elders in Old-age Homes in Bangladesh.
6. Mobile Phone Intervention for Increasing Adherence to Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes in an Urban Area of Bangladesh: a Randomized Controlled Trial.
7. Social and economic impact of diabetics in Bangladesh: a case–control study.
8. Early life exposure to famine and its influence on later life metabolic syndrome: protocol for a community-based study on 1974 famine exposed population in rural Bangladesh.
9. Prevalence of maternal depression of autistic children in Dhaka city and feasibility of implementing household-based training for parents.
10. Factors determining development of effective policy strategy to improve rural retention of medical doctors in Bangladesh.
11. Assessing emerging challenges and solutions on Faculty Development in the Health sector in Bangladesh.
12. Situation analyses of health, nutrition, and water, hygiene and sanitation among Undocumented Myanmar Nationals (UMN) and people in host communities in Cox’s Bazar district in Bangladesh.
13. Determining the challenges and opportunities for strengthening NCD corners in Bangladesh: A situation analyses.

Journal Articles

1. Mannan A, Hasan MM, Akter F, Rana MM, Chowdhury NA, Rawal LB, Biswas T. Factors associated with low adherence to medication among patients with type 2 diabetes at different healthcare facilities in southern Bangladesh. Global Health Action. 2021 Jan 1;14(1):1872895.
2. Biswas T, Scott JG, Munir K, Thomas HJ, Huda MM, Hasan MM, de Vries TD, Baxter J, Mamun AA. Global variation in the prevalence of bullying victimisation amongst adolescents: Role of peer and parental supports. EClinicalMedicine. 2020 Mar 1;20:100276.
3. Biswas T, Scott JG, Munir K, Renzaho AM, Rawal LB, Baxter J, Mamun AA. Global variation in the prevalence of suicidal ideation, anxiety and their correlates among adolescents: A population based study of 82 countries. EClinicalMedicine. 2020 Jul 1;24:100395.
4. Islam MS, Biswas T. Prevalence and correlates of the composite index of anthropometric failure among children under 5 years old in Bangladesh. Maternal & child nutrition. 2020 Apr;16(2):e12930.
5. Islam SM, Uddin R, Zaman SB, Biswas T, Tansi T, Chegini Z, Moni MA, Niessen L, Naheed A. Healthcare seeking behavior and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes attending a tertiary hospital. International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries. 2020 Oct 8:1-8.
6. Begum T, Saif‐Ur‐Rahman KM, Yaqoot F, Stekelenburg J, Anuradha S, Biswas T, Doi SA, Mamun AA. Global incidence of caesarean deliveries on maternal request: a systematic review and meta‐regression. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. 2020 Sep 1.
7. Biswas T, Magalhaes RS, Townsend N, Das SK, Mamun A. Double burden of underweight and overweight among women in South and Southeast Asia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Advances in Nutrition. 2020 Jan 1;11(1):128-43.
8. Hasan MM, Magalhaes RJ, Ahmed S, Ahmed S, Biswas T, Fatima Y, Islam MS, Hossain MS, Mamun AA. Meeting the Global Target in Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Care Services in Low-and Middle-Income Countries. Global Health: Science and Practice. 2020 Dec 23;8(4):654-65
9. Ahmed S, Pervin S, Biswas T, Chowdhury MA, Hasnat MA, Shuvra MM. Undiagnosed isolated systolic and diastolic hypertension subtypes and their correlates in Bangladesh: a nationwide Survey. Osong public health and research perspectives. 2019 Feb;10(1):12.
10. Biswas T, Townsend N, Magalhaes RS, Hasan M, Mamun A. Patterns and determinants of the double burden of malnutrition at the household level in South and Southeast Asia. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2020 Sep 2:1-7.
11. Rawal LB, Kharel C, Yadav UN, Kanda K, Biswas T, Vandelanotte C, Baral S, Abdullah AS. Community health workers for non-communicable disease prevention and control in Nepal: a qualitative study. BMJ open. 2020 Dec 1;10(12):e040350.
12. Biswas T, Townsend N, Magalhaes RS, Islam MS, Hasan MM, Mamun A. Current progress and future directions in the double burden of malnutrition among women in South and Southeast Asian countries. Current developments in nutrition. 2019 Jul;3(7):nzz026.
13. Das S, Fahim SM, Islam MS, Biswas T, Mahfuz M, Ahmed T. Prevalence and sociodemographic determinants of household-level double burden of malnutrition in Bangladesh. Public health nutrition. 2019 Jun;22(8):1425-32.
14. Rawal LB, Kanda K, Biswas T, Tanim MI, Poudel P, Renzaho AM, Abdullah AS, Islam SM, Ahmed SM. Non-communicable disease (NCD) corners in public sector health facilities in Bangladesh: a qualitative study assessing challenges and opportunities for improving NCD services at the primary healthcare level. BMJ open. 2019 Oct 1;9(10):e029562.
15. Biswas T, Townsend N, Islam MS, Islam MR, Gupta RD, Das SK, Al Mamun A. Association between socioeconomic status and prevalence of non-communicable diseases risk factors and comorbidities in Bangladesh: findings from a nationwide cross-sectional survey. BMJ open. 2019 Mar 1;9(3):e025538.
16. Biswas T, Haider MM, Gupta RD, Uddin J. Assessing the readiness of health facilities for diabetes and cardiovascular services in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional survey. BMJ open. 2018 Oct 1;8(10):e0228
17. 1Das Gupta R, Gupta S, Das A, Biswas T, Haider MR, Sarker M. Ethnic predisposition of diabetes mellitus in the patients with previous history of gestational diabetes mellitus: a review. Expert review of endocrinology & metabolism. 2018 May 4;13(3):149-58.
18. GBD 2017 Causes of Death Collaborators (Tuhin Included). Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality for 282 causes of death in 195 countries and territories, 1980–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet 2018; 392: 1736– 88.
19. GBD 2017 Population and Fertility Collaborators (Tuhin included). Population and fertility by age and sex for 195 countries and territories, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet 2018; 392: 1995–2051.
20. GBD 2017 Mortality Collaborators (Tuhin included). Global, regional, and national age- sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet 2018; 392: 1684–735.
21. GBD 2017 Risk Factor Collaborators (Tuhin included). Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet 2018; 392: 1923–94.
22. GBD 2017 SDG Collaborators (Tuhin included). Measuring progress from 1990 to 2017 and projecting attainment to 2030 of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet 2018; 392: 2091–138.
23. Khandker NN, Biswas T, Khan AN, Hasib E, Rawal LB. Socio-demographic characteristics and tobacco use among the adults in urban slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Tobacco induced diseases. 2017 Dec;15(1):1-8.
24. Islam MS, Hussain MA, Islam S, Mahumud RA, Biswas T, Islam SM. Age at menarche and its socioeconomic determinants among female students in an urban area in Bangladesh. Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare. 2017 Jun 1;12:88-92.
25. Biswas T, Garnett SP, Pervin S, Rawal LB. The prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity in Bangladeshi adults: Data from a national survey. PloS one. 2017 May 16;12(5):e0177395.
26. Biswas T, Uddin MJ, Mamun AA, Pervin S, P Garnett S. Increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in Bangladeshi women of reproductive age: Findings from 2004 to 2014. PloS one. 2017 Jul 28;12(7):e0181080.
27. Rawal LB, Biswas T, Khandker NN, Saha SR, Bidat Chowdhury MM, Khan AN, Chowdhury EH, Renzaho A. Non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors and diabetes among adults living in slum areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh. PloS one. 2017 Oct 3;12(10):e0184967.
28. Biswas T, Islam A, Islam MS, Pervin S, Rawal LB. Overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in Bangladesh: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Public Health. 2017 Jan 1;142:94-101.
29. Biswas T, Pervin S, Tanim MI, Niessen L, Islam A. Bangladesh policy on prevention and control of non-communicable diseases: a policy analysis. BMC Public Health. 2017 Dec;17(1):1-1.
30. Islam SM, Biswas T, Bhuiyan FA, Mustafa K, Islam A. Patients’ perspective of disease and medication adherence for type 2 diabetes in an urban area in Bangladesh: a qualitative study. BMC research notes. 2017 Dec;10(1):1-8.
31. Uddin J, Biswas T, Adhikary G, Ali W, Alam N, Palit R, Uddin N, Uddin A, Khatun F, Bhuiya A. Impact of mobile phone-based technology to improve health, population and nutrition services in Rural Bangladesh: a study protocol. BMC medical informatics and decision making. 2017 Dec;17(1):1-9.
32. Islam SM, Niessen LW, Seissler J, Ferrari U, Biswas T, Islam A, Lechner A. Diabetes knowledge and glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes in Bangladesh. SpringerPlus. 2015 Dec;4(1):1-7.
33. Islam SM, Biswas T, Bhuiyan FA, Islam MS, Rahman MM, Nessa H. Injecting drug users and their health seeking behavior: a cross-sectional study in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Journal of addiction. 2015;2015.
34. Shariful Islam SM, Biswas T, Bhuiyan FA, Islam M, Rahman MM, Nessa H. Injecting drug users and their health seeking behavior: A cross-sectional study in dhaka, Bangladesh. Journal of Addiction. 2015 Jan 1;2015.

Dr Shinjini Paul Choudhury

Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering

I am an Assistant Professor in Environmental Engineering, set to join AUW in Fall 2024. My academic and research pursuits are deeply rooted in anaerobic digestion, industrial sludge and biomass utilization, biological treatment, and municipal solid waste management. My passion for research spans a wide spectrum, including solid and hazardous waste management, bioenergy production from sludge and biomass, soil heavy metal bioremediation, and water and wastewater treatment methods. I hold a PhD degree from Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati), India. I am passionate about developing practical solutions to environmental challenges, utilizing an interdisciplinary approach and a collaborative spirit to advance the understanding and management of organic waste biodegradation.

Research

Anaerobic digestion transforms organic waste into biogas, offering a sustainable solution for waste biodegradation through renewable energy production. Embracing this technology enhances global energy security and fosters environmental sustainability by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. My research interests lie in exploring the potential organic wastes suitable for bioenergy production, techno-economic potential through environmental impact assessments, and or life cycle assessments. My passion lies in biological treatment methods, bioreactors and municipal solid waste management. The key areas of my research include:

1. Exploring the biogas generation potential from industrial bio-sludges generated from the effluent treatment plants (ETP) of industries.
2. Exploring the biomethane enhancement techniques for augmentation of biomethane generation from sludge or biomasses.
3. Exploring suitable solutions with integration of biological treatment methods for efficient biodegradation of an organic waste in bioreactors.
4. Exploring sustainable solutions to municipal solid waste management.

Journal Articles:

Journal Manuscripts (Published: 06)

Impact Factor: 55 (JCR Thomson Reuters impact factor)

Citations: 95

h-index: 6

i10-index: 4

Prominent Publications:

1. Paul Choudhury, S., Haq, I., Kalamdhad, A.S., 2023. Unleashing Synergistic Potential of Microbially Enhanced Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Petroleum Refinery Biosludge and Yard Waste: Impact of Nutrient Balance and Microbial Diversity. Journal of Hazardous Materials. p. 132361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132361
2. Paul Choudhury, S., Panda, S., Haq, I., Kalamdhad, A.S., 2022. Enhanced methane production and hydrocarbon removal from petroleum refinery sludge after Pseudomonas putida pretreatment and process scale-up. Bioresource Technology. 343, p.126127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126127.
3. Paul Choudhury, S., Kalamdhad, A. S., 2021. Optimization of electrokinetic pretreatment for enhanced methane production and toxicity reduction from petroleum refinery sludge. Journal of Environmental Management. 298, 113469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113469.

Teaching Motivation:

Integrating expertise in gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data, alongside technical proficiency, effective communication, and collaborative skills, enriches teaching by fostering comprehensive capacity building. These competencies are pivotal in preparing students for success in resolving environmental engineering and allied problems, equipping them to tackle complex challenges innovatively and developing sustainable solutions to resolve them. As an educator, I view my primary role as fostering the enthusiasm and confidence of students in the subject, thereby cultivating their analytical abilities. I believe that effective learning occurs when students grasp the practical implications of the subject matter, making their learning experience purposeful and applicable.

Dr Daniel Herbert

Assistant Professor of PPE

Daniel is an Assistant Professor on the PPE and General Education programs and began teaching at AUW in the Fall trimester of 2024. He has taught various courses in philosophy, politics, and humanities at the University of Sheffield, Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, King’s College London, and the University of Roehampton. Daniel holds a BA, an MA, and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Sheffield, where he wrote his doctoral dissertation of Kant, Peirce, and transcendental philosophy, under the supervision of Professors Robert Stern and Christopher Hookway.

Teaching

Fall 2024: Foundations of Philosophy

Critical Thinking

Comparative Religion

Research interests

Pragmatism, Kant, Hegel and German idealism, phenomenology, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, early modern philosophy, Twentieth Century analytic philosophy

Grants Obtained for Project Involvements

2018-19 UPAEP funding for Visiting Humanities Fellowship on “Interdisciplinary Philosophy: Towards the Construction of a Realist Metaphysics”

2016 AHRC funding for Public Engagement Fellowship, University of Sheffield, Department of Philosophy/National Civil War Centre, Newark: “Philosophical Ideas of the English Civil War and Aftermath”

Book Chapters, etc.

“Hookway’s Exchange with Apel”, in Pragmatic Reason: Christopher Hookway and the

American Philosophical Tradition (New York, NY and Abingdon, Oxon. : Routledge,

2023).

“Husserl and Cassirer on Mythical Thought and Cultural Crisis”, in Thiemo Breyer, Elio

Antonucci and Marco Cavallaro ed., Husserl and Cassirer: Perspectives on the

Philosophy of Culture (Darmstadt: Wbg Academic, 2022).

“Peirce, Caso, and Positivism”, in Paniel Reyes Cárdenas and Daniel Herbert ed., The

Reception of Peirce and Pragmatism in Latin America: A Trilingual Collection (Mexico

City: Editorial Torres Associados, 2020).

“Nietzsche, Shame, and the Seal of Liberation”, in Cecilea Mun ed., Interdisciplinary

Perspectives on Shame: Methods, Theories, Norms, Cultures, and Politics (Lanham, MD:

Lexington Books, 2019).

Journal Articles

“The Will to Learn and The Will to Believe: Peirce and James”, William James Studies

(Spring 2023, Volume 18, No. 1, pp 62-85).

“Hegel, Naturalism, and Transcendental Philosophy”, Metafísica y Persona (No. 26

(2021), pp 23-32).

Dr Ahmedul Kabir

Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Dr Ayan Roy

Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics & Joint Programme Director for Biological Sciences

I am an Assistant Professor in Bioinformatics at AUW. I joined AUW in the Spring of 2023. I am interested in teaching courses related to bioinformatics and computational biology that include multi-omics analyses, genome biology and evolution, computer-aided drug designing, R and Python programming, machine learning and AI. Previously I worked as an Associate Research Scientist in the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at the Columbia University, USA. I did my postdoctoral research from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I am a computational biologist with an expertise of 13 years in the fields of sequence analysis, multi-omics data analysis, evolutionary modeling and computer-aided drug designing. I hold a Ph.D. degree from the University of North Bengal, India.

Teaching

1. Advance Bioinformatics with Programming [COURSE CODE: BINF4000]
2. BIOL 1100: BIOLOGY I- LECTURE
3. BIOL.1101: BIOLOGY II LECTURE

Research Interests:

• Multi-omics analyses and predictive modeling using machine learning and AI
• Genome sequence analyses
• Codon usage biology
• Computer-aided drug designing
• Viral and bacterial pathogenomics

Project involvements:
1) Multi-omics analyses in long-COVID, Autism and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (in collaboration with Columbia University, USA)

2) Biomarker discovery in Autism using machine learning and AI (in collaboration with Columbia University, USA)

3) Computational drug design against coronavirus (in collaboration with Teesside University, UK and Mangosuthu University, South Africa)

2) Codon usage and evolution of pathogenesis in viral and bacterial pathogens causing human infections (in collaboration with South China Agricultural University, China)

Research Collaborations

• Prof Ian Lipkin, Columbia University, NY, USA
• Yongyi Shen, South China Agricultural University, China
• Claudio Angione, Teesside University, United Kingdom
• devashan Naidoo, Mangosuthu University, South Africa
• Balachandar Vellingiri, Central University of Punjab, India
• Surajit Basak, Scientist-C, ICMR, India

* I am currently accepting students for thesis, and Teaching Assistants

* I am looking for collaborations in multi-omics at AUW

Book Chapters.

Singh B, Roy A*. (2020). Metagenomics and Drug-Discovery. In ed. Metagenomics: Techniques, Applications, Challenges and Opportunities. Springer Nature.

Journal Articles

Journal Manuscripts (Published: 43)

Impact Factor: 274.563 (JCR Thomson Reuters impact factor)

Citations: 557

h-index: 13

i10-index: 16

Publications:

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=BUYlhpsAAAAJ&hl=en

Selected Publications:

1. Roy A, Guo F, Singh B, Gupta S, Paul K, Chen X, Sharma NR, Jaishee N, Irwin DM, Shen Y. (2021). Base Composition and Host Adaptation of the SARS-CoV-2: Insight From the Codon Usage Perspective. Frontiers in Microbiology 12:548275.(IF: 6.064)
2. Kar P, Saleh-E-In MM, Jaishee N, Anandraj A, Kormuth E, Vellingiri B, Angione C, Rahman PKSM, Pillay S, Sen A, Naidoo D, Roy A*, Choi YE. (2022) Computational profiling of natural compounds as promising inhibitors against the spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 wild type and the variants of concern, viral cell-entry process, and cytokine storm in COVID-19. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry123(5):964-986. (IF: 4.480)

*Corresponding Author

Dr Ayan Saha

Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics & Joint Programme Director for Biological Sciences

Dr. Ayan Saha is an Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics at the Asian University for Women (AUW). Dr. Ayan has joined AUW during Fall, 2022. Before joining AUW, Dr. Ayan worked for a year and a half as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology at East West University, Dhaka.

Dr. Ayan graduated from the University of Chittagong with a BSc (Hons.) in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology degree in 2012 and completed an MSc in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in 2013. Later, Dr. Ayan completed his second MSc in Translational Oncology degree in 2015 at the University of Hull, UK with a Commonwealth Shared Scholarship. There, he worked on the role of bisphosphonates (BPs) in the MMP-2 level of breast cancer. Later in 2016, Dr. Ayan went to Australia to start his doctoral research at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) under the TF Scholarship. His research focused on new treatments for high-risk paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. As part of his project, he developed a noble in vivo patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse model to study minimal residual disease (MRD) cells, identical with patient samples. Dr. Ayan received his PhD in medicine from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, in 2020.

Dr. Ayan has been awarded the National Institute of Physiological Sciences Internship with Fellowship, Japan-2014, Commonwealth Shared Scholarship, UK-2014 and Children’s Cancer Institute Completion Scholarship, Australia-2019.

Research interests

Cancer Biology, Clinical Epidemiology and Computational Biology

Project involvements

• Risk Factors Related to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Bangladesh.
• Genetics, clinical profile and risk factors of Down syndrome population of Bangladesh.

Journal Articles

• A Saha*, KKS Marma, A Rashid, N Tarannum, S Das, et al. (2022) ‘Risk factors associated with self-medication among the indigenous communities of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh’. PLOS ONE 17(6): e0269622.
• TB Mahmood, A Saha, MI Hossan, S Mizan, SMAS Aman, and AS Chowdhury. (2021) ‘A next generation sequencing (NGS) analysis to reveal genomic and proteomic mutation landscapes of SARS-CoV-2 in South Asia’. Current Research in Microbial Sciences; Volume 2; 100065
• M Das, S Das, AT Bhuiyan, SD Nath, R Biswas, JD Gupta, A Ball, MJ Alam, MH Karim, RK Nath, and A Saha*. (2021) ‘Factors affecting the outcome of the usage of high-flow nasal cannula on severe or critically ill COVID-19 patients: a multicentric study from a developing nation’. Asian Journal of Medical and Biological Research; 7(3), 260–272.
• A Saha*, MM Ahsan, T-U Quader, MUS Shohan, S Naher, P Dutta, et al. (2021) ‘Characteristics, management and outcomes of critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU in hospitals in Bangladesh: a retrospective study’. The Journal of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene; Apr 29;62(1):E33-E45.
• FM Omar, A Saha, I Khan, Z Hassan, and L Ali. (2021) ‘Pro12Ala Polymorphism in PPAR-γ Gene of Impaired Glucose Tolerance Subjects in Bangladeshi Population’. (2021) Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences 44 (2):179-89.
• A Saha*, MM Ahsan, T-U Quader, S Naher, F Akter, HMH Mehedi, et al. (2020) ‘Clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 infected diabetic patients admitted in ICUs of the southern region of Bangladesh’. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews; Dec 30;15(1):229-235.
• RH Chowdhury, I Bhuiyan, A Saha*, IMHAI Mosleh, S Mondol, and CMS Ahmed. (2014) ‘Identification and analysis of potential targets in Streptococcus sanguinis using computer aided protein data analysis’. Advances and Applications in Bioinformatics and Chemistry; Dovepress 7.45.
• RH Chowdhury, R Saha, KMM Islam, K Fatema, F Afrin, MM Hossain, and A Saha. (2014) ‘Analgesic and neuropharmacological effect on ethyl acetate extract of ipomoea pes-tigridis in albino mice’. European Scientific Journal; 10 (27): 344–353.
• KUM Ashraf, P Barua, A Saha, N Mahammad, J Ferdoush, D Das, MH Hussain, and JM Alam. (2014) ‘An immunoinformatics approach towards epitope based vaccine design through computational tools from Bungarus caeruleus’s neurotoxin’. Journal of Young Pharmacists; 6(2): 35–43.
• MM Rahman, R Habib, MA Hasan, MA Amin, A Saha, M Shohel, and A Mannan. (2013) ‘Comparative assessment on in vitro antioxidant activities of ethanol extracts from Averrhoa bilimbi, Gymnema sylvestreand, Capsicum frutescens’. Pharmacognosy Research; 6(1): 36–41.
• J Das, Z Datta, A Saha, SM Nur, P Barua, MM Rahman, KAA Chowdhury, MM Chowdhury, RH Chowdhury, and A Mannan. (2013) ‘A comprehensive study on antioxidant, antibacterial, cytotoxic and phytochemical properties of Averrhoa carambola’. Journal of Bioassay; 2:5.
• A Saha, MJ Alam, KUM Ashraf, and A Mannan. (2013) ‘Computational analysis of bovine alpha-1 collagen sequences’. Bioinformation; 9(1): 042–048.

*Corresponding Author

Working Papers / Reports

• Downregulated expression of APC and AXIN2 is aggravating multiple cancer prognosis: Evidence from a multi-omics study.
• Structural analysis and conformational dynamics of SOCS1 gene mutations involved in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma.
• Prevalence and determinants of self-medication practices among general population: A cross-sectional study in Thimphu, Bhutan and Chattogram, Bangladesh.
• Risk factors associated with self-medication among the garments worker of Bangladesh.

Dr Suparna Das

Assistant Professor of Economics, Director of Economics Program

Dr. Suparna Das has obtained a doctorate in Economics with Summa Cum Laude from Central European University, Hungary in 2019. Currently, she is teaching as Assistant Professor of Economics in Asian University for Women (AUW) and also serves as Director of the Economics Program. Earlier, she completed Teaching Fellows Pedagogical Course for Global Teaching Fellows 2017/18 at CERGE-EI, Czech Republic in 2017 and taught in the School of Economics, Corvinus University in Budapest in 2017-18. Dr Das is a Gender Economist with around twenty years of research experience in various international and national institutes, think tanks and NGOs of India. Her research focuses on microeconomics issues in relevance with gender, household/family bargaining theory, education, unpaid household chores and care work, violence against women and labor market discrimination.

She has numerous research papers published as articles in national and international peer review journals, as chapters in edited volumes and also working papers. Since 2019, around 11 Economics major students have successfully completed their senior thesis under her supervision in AUW.

Teaching

Principles of Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Research Methodology,

Gender Economics, Labor Economics, Development Economics.

Research

Research interests

Gender Economics, Household economics, Applied Microeconomics, Development

Economics

Project involvements

Household bargaining and domestic violence

Women’s justification of wife-beating: Causes and consequences

Rohingya Women’s struggle and challenges faced living in the Camps

Book Chapters, etc.

Das, S. (forthcoming). Reshaping Working Women’s Status at Home in reference to Covid pandemic. Reshaping Gender in the Post-COVID Era: Paradigm Shifts, Transformative Narratives, and Empowered Voices, Routledge.

Das, S. (2023). An Economic Analysis of Demand Side Constraints for Girls’ Education in India. In: Mangalagiri, A. (Ed). Driving the Change: Towards the Sustainable Development Goal of Education, Institute of Social Science, Aakar Books, Delhi

Ahmed, M., and Das, S. (2022). A deplorable future for the stateless Rohingya ethnic minority? NGO intervention in refugee camps in Bangladesh. In: Gul Inanc, G. and Lewis, T. (ed) Forced Displacement and NGOs in Asia and the Pacific (pp. 48-70). Routledge, London

Mehta, A.K.; Das, S. and Satpathy, T. (2007). Beyond Micro-credit: Financial Inclusion and Micro-enterprise Development for Poverty Reduction presented at the NCAER-ADB seminar on 9th January and is published as 9th chapter in ‘Understanding Poverty in India’ ADB publication.

Journal Articles

Das, S. (forthcoming). Normalizing Domestic Violence Through Victim-Blaming Attitude: An Analysis of Indian Household.

Das, S. (forthcoming). Women against women: Who justify violence. International Multidisciplinary Research Journal.

Das, S. (2023). Impact of Covid on the Trend of Domestic Violence in Indian Households. Sexuality and Gender Studies Journal, 1(1), 31–46.

Das, S (2021). The Co-existence of Biased Sex Ratio and Crime against Women in India: Examining the Causality, Journal of Academic Perspectives, Vol 2020, No 4.

Das, S (2020). Impact of ‘Having a Son’ on Women’s Intra-household Status, International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies, Vol 8, No. 2.

Das, S. (2019). An economic analysis of the gender gap in household demand for education: Evidence from India, Journal of Academic Perspectives, Vol 2019, No 2.

Working Papers / Reports

Mehta, A.K.; Pratap, S. and Das Mukherjee, S. (2015). Efforts to Reduce Chronic Poverty: A Few Best Practice Cases, CPRC Working Paper 50, CPRC and IIPA Publication.

Chowdhury, S.; Mehta, A.K.; Das, S. and Ghosh, S. (2011). An Exploratory Analysis of Deprivation and Ill-Health led Poverty in Urban India: A Case Study of Delhi, CPRC Working Paper 49, CPRC and IIPA Publication.

Mehta, A.K.; Mahapatra, G.; Ali, A. and Das Mukherjee, S. (2009). MNRE – UNDP – FRG Project on Renewable Energy for Rural Livelihoods in villages in Rajasthan and Uttaranchal, A Report sponsored by MNRE, Government of India.

Ms Amina Akhter

Senior Instructor of Computer Science

Amina Akhter has returned back to Asian University for Women in November, 2023 after teaching here from the year 2010 to 2019 in the Department of Computer Science. She led the Computer Science Program at AUW during her first stint at AUW. In addition to teaching responsibilities, currently she is also the Coordinator of AUW PortFolio Learning Program which offers a series of externally certified, skill-oriented courses like Google and CISCO. She is a United Board scholar for pursuing PhD program in the Department of Computing, Macquarie University, Australia.

Amina started her career with university teaching and worked as a researcher in internet education and research laboratory (intERLab), AIT before joining AUW in 2010.

Her research interest focuses on but not limited to Computer Networking, Cybersecurity, IoT, Data science and leveraging the technology for developing the socio-economic infrastructure of the rising countries in Asia.

Selected Publications

“Learning with MOOCs: Integrating Digital Platform in the Learning Pedagogy to Achieve Global Standard Education”, Innovation in Education: Opportunities and Challenges in Southeast Asia conference, Indonesia, October 29-30, 2019, Amina Akhter, Nabila Alam.

• “Modified AODV for multi constrained QoS routing and performance optimization in MANET”, ECTI Transaction on Computer and Information Technology Proceedings, PP 263- 268, IEEExplore PP 234-238, 2010, Thailand, Amina Akhter, Dr. Teerapat Saungankotchakorn.
• “AAR: Agent Aided Routing for Faster and Efficient Spreading of Messages in Delay Tolerant Networks”, ECTI Transactions on Computer and Information Technology (ECTI-CIT), vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 123-132, 2014, Thailand, Shahid Md. Asif Iqbal, Alok Kumar Chowdhury , Amina Akhter

Working Paper

Review on IoT DDoS Attacks & Mitigation Technique using Machine Learning

Education

PhD: PhD Candidate, Department of Computing, Macquarie University, Australia.

Masters in Engineering: Information and Communication Technologies, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand.

BSc in Engineering: Computer Science and Engineering, KUET, Bangladesh.

Mr Mohammad Masudur Rahman

Professor of Practice in Performing Arts

Masudur Rahman started his journey in performing arts in his childhood. He first performed drama on stage at his age 7, in 1992. Cherishing this continuity, he succeeded to get an academic career in filmmaking and performing arts, and joined as an instructor of Performing Arts at Asian University for Women (AUW) in 2017. Currently he is working as the Professor of Practice in Performing Arts in the same institute.

He is an M.A. in English from the University of Chittagong. He received a scholarship from National Institute of Mass Communication (NIMC) on postgraduate course on Film Direction. Besides, he successfully completed a documentary film making course with an individual film production from Auroville Film Institute, India and a sound design workshop from Satyajit Roy Film and Television Institute, India. He has directed many music videos, short films, and promotional documentaries. He supervised more than 400 students’ film in last 7 years.

His documentary film ‘The Scrap’ received the Best Film Project Award in the Exposition of Young Film Talents 2022 program, organized by Liberation War Museum. His recently completed documentary film, ‘Unrecognized’ won the Best Film Award in the 11^th Liberation Docfest 2023. It was officially selected for screening in the 21^st Dhaka International Film Festival 2023 and in the 4^th Screen Film Award 2023, India.

He received the Mishuk Munier Memorial Award 2023 for his film ‘Unrecognized’.

 Teaching

1. Fiction Filmmaking
2. Documentary Filmmaking
3. Acting (on camera and stage)
4. Pantomime
5. Public Speaking
6. Screenplay Writing
7. Fundamentals of Journalism

Project involvements

Documentary: ‘We Gotta Rock it’, a documentary film project on the first Rock Star of Bangla Music.

Grants Obtained

Film Production Grant from Liberation War Museum (2022)

FILMOGRAPHY

• The Scrap (2023), received Best Documentary Film Project Award 2022 in Exposition of Young Film Talent 2022 organized by Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh, Best Documentary- National Category in Liberation Docfest 2024.
• Unrecognized (2022), a documentary film that explores the identity of an unrecognized freedom fighter, received Best Film Award in 11^th Liberation Docfest organized by Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh.
• A Friendship Deal (2021), officially selected for 6 international film festivals including Britain, Philippines and India, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eRHQS9TROs&t=49s
• The Circle of Desire (2021), officially selected for 3 international film festivals, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBHNtf-_JM&t=153s
• Ekusher Gaan (2021), music video, a song in 10 tribal languages of Asia to celebrate the Internatinal Mother Language day,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sehAGJc-9GY

• If…If…If… (2020), officially selected for exhibition in Mumbai International Film Festival 2022
• Nothingness and Being (2020), a one-minute documentary, officially selected for Just a Minute Festival, USA
• Hungriocracy (2020), a short photomontage film
• Dump Stories (2021), a short experimental film
• Fire Flood (2018), music video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vUEDJybWk4&t=83s
• Mega City Blues (2019), music video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb6Y0N0EDFk
• Why did you do it (2019), music video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYPlQ18qG5w

AWARDS AND SCREENINGS

Nothingness and Being

1. Official Selection: Just a Minute Festival 2021, USA

A Friendship Deal

1. Official Selection: Nabunturan Independent Film Exhibition 2021, Philippines
2. Official Selection: Art Gallery Film Festival 2021, India
3. Official Selection: Lift Off Global Network Sessions 2021, England
4. Official Selection: Cinephilia Flair Film Festival 2022, Pakistan
5. Official Selection: One Earth Award 2022, Banglore, India
6. Finalist: Indie World Film Festival 2022, Kerala, India

Circle of Desire 22

1. Official Selection: Lift Off Global Network Sessions 2021, England
2. Official Selection: One Earth Award 2022, Banglore, India
3. Finalist: Indie World Film Festival 2022, Kerala, India

The Scrap

1. Award: Best Film Project Award 2022 in Exposition of Young Film Talent 2022, Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh
2. Award: Best Film-National Category, in Liberation Docfest 2024
3. Official Selection: Dhaka international Film Festival, January 2024

If…If…If…

1. Official selection: Mumbai International Film Festival 2022

Unrecognized

1. Official selection: 21st Dhaka International Film Festival’ (DIFF) 2023, Wide Angle Section
2. 4^th Screen – Online Film Award 2022 (Screening Date: December 07, 2022)
3. Award: Best Film : Youth Juri, 11^th Liberation DocFest Bangladesh 2023
4. Award: Best Film: Mishuk Munir Memorial Award, September 2023
5. Official Selection: Cinemaking Filmfestival December 2023

Authored Books

Translations:

Gibran, Kahlil. A Tear and a Smile. Translated by Mohammad Masudur Rahman, 2017.

Journal Articles

• Article: “Pantomime Story Writing” published in Mime Directors Meet Journal (2018)
• Article: “Mime form of Bangladesh: A Draft of Some Aspects” published in Mime Directors’ Meet Journal 2019
• Article: “Adam Surat: A Seminal Creation of Tareque Masud,” https://www.newagebd.net/article/131923/adam-surat-the-seminal-creation-of-tareque-masud

Article: “How to Make Your Every Click Meaningful? A Short Note on Documentary Shot Content”

Ms Rubaiyat Kabir

Lecturer of Writing and Composition

Ms. Rubaiyat Kabir is an educator with 12+ years of collective teaching experience in English in the United States and Bangladesh. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Genre: Fiction) from The New School in New York, and attained her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Knox College, IL. Ms. Kabir also pursued a Post Baccalaureate in Theatre and Creative Writing after her graduation, and participated in the prestigious London-Florence program hosted by the American Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) during her junior year at Knox College. She was also the 2001 recipient of the Eugene & Ella Stewart Davenport Literary Award in Fiction.

Ms. Rubaiyat Kabir is a widely published writer and poet with short stories, poems and essays published in various anthologies. Ms. Kabir is also a former journalist and feature writer for The Daily Star Newspaper and Daily New Age in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Along with writing, teaching is her passion, and holds within her a sacred space. She aims to inspire her students to not only be active and engaged learners but to help them explore and discover the intricacies of selfhood through the craft of writing.

Douglas Clark

Industry Professional Operations Management and Industrial Engineering

Douglas Clark has worked with the clothing and textile industries for over 35 years. He has worked alongside global brands in multicultural and multilingual leadership roles globally, spanning apparel manufacturing, textile manufacturing, clothing retail, raw material sourcing, quality management, laboratory testing, fibre & yarn technology, product development, and technical liaison in regional corporate quality and sourcing offices in Hong Kong, China, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, and South Africa. His career has provided him many opportunities to work with major multinational brands serving the US, EU, China and Japanese markets, across product & fabric development, fabric & garment sourcing, fabric & clothing production, total quality management, lean manufacturing, color management, testing & performance, process implementation & enhancement, and problem solving. He is passionate about sharing his knowledge and experience through training, coaching, and support of individuals interested in the Fashion, Textile, and Apparel industries.

Dr Dipak C Jain

President Emeritus, Distinguished Professor of Marketing, CEIBS Co-Director of CEIBS Social Security and Aging Finance Institute Co-Chair of Academic Council of CEIBS Social Security and Aging Finance Institute

Dr. Dipak Chand Jain is a globally recognized marketing and innovation expert whose insights have inspired a generation of business leaders to pursue success with significance. Dr. Jain’s influential career spans nearly four decades as an educator, a senior business school administrator, and a consultant to corporations and governments. Throughout his career, he had furthered a pedagogical model that combines academic excellence and business relevance to produce high-impact results with social significance. Dr. Jain has previously served as Director of Sasin, Dean of INSEAD, and Dean of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. In recognition of his many scholarly achievements and outstanding teaching, he was named the Sandy and Morton Goldman Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies and Professor of Marketing at Kellogg. Dr. Jain earned his Bachelor’s degree in Statistics with honors from Gauhati University, where he taught for four years before pursuing his PhD in Marketing at the University of Texas in Dallas. Dr. Jain’s areas of research expertise include the marketing of high-tech products; market segmentation and competitive market structure analysis; cross-cultural issues in global product diffusion; new product innovation; and forecasting models.

Dr Ellen Touchstone

Associate Dean for Responsible and Sustainable Business Education at the International Business School Suzhou (IBSS), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Dr. Ellen E Touchstone is the inaugural Associate Dean for Responsible and Sustainable Business Education at the International Business School Suzhou (IBSS) @ XJTLU. She received her MBA in International Business from ASU Thunderbird School of Global Management and her PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Southern California. In addition to IBSS where she teaches Introduction to Marketing, Retail Marketing, and Marketing Ethics, she has taught at the University of Southern California (USC), the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), California State University-Long Beach, California State University-Los Angeles and Whittier College. She also has significant industry experience having worked at LingualCare, a 3M company, Peoplesoft, and the US Department of Commerce as well as several US retailers such as Dillard’s, Target and Jack in the Box Inc. Under her leadership, IBSS was recently named the first and only Champion business school in China by the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) organization of the UN Global Compact. The carbon reduction initiative she launched with the Sustainable Future Talents student group, “Fifteen Ways in Fifteen Weeks,” won the AMBA BGA Best CSR & Sustainability Initiative 2022 award. In March 2022, she was named a “China Super Woman” by Shanghai-based Green Initiatives for her work on environmental and gender equity initiatives in the Yangtze River Delta.

Dr Juergen Seufert

Lecturer of Accounting at Shanghai University for Science and Technology

Dr. Juergen H. Seufert received his PhD from the University of Wollongong, Australia, for his thesis on Qanta’s marginal abatement cost curve in the context of late capitalism and climate change. His research is multidisciplinary, ranging from environmental efficiency in economics to environmental management accounting in accounting. Specifically, his work in environmental management accounting focuses on the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve as an investment tool to save CO2 and cut costs. Dr. Seufert is currently an Accounting lecturer at Shanghai University for Science and Technology, in addition to holding visiting positions at various internationally recognized universities such as the University of Aberdeen, the University of Northern Iowa, Anglia Ruskin University, and Tongji University. Dr. Seufert also serves on various editorial boards of international academic journals. Previously, he was a CPA Australia Fellow and worked as an accountant and auditor at Ernst & Young. His teaching blends academic contemporary insights with practical insights from executive training inside and outside of China.

Dr Steven White

Associate Professor, Asian Institute of Technology

Dr. Steven White received an Ph.D. from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, an MA from the International University of Japan, and a BS from Duke University. He is currently an Associate Professor of Management at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy of Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management in Beijing. His research focuses on innovation, entrepreneurial strategy, and the emergence of new industries and ecosystems, and he teaches on strategic analysis, design thinking and entrepreneurial management. Since 2015, Dr. White has been recognized annually as one of the top 20 China-based management scholars based on his publications and citations. He is also an angel investor and provides strategic advice to new ventures.

John Storm

Director of EMBA Programs, University of Aberdeen

John Storm is an experienced entrepreneur, with 15 years of practice in strategic planning and leading teams across 30 countries. Merging the academic and corporate worlds together, he currently assumes the role of Executive MBA Programme Director at the University of Aberdeen, concurrently holding positions at Emlyon Business School, SKEMA Business School and the Asia-Europe Business School. He is also the co-founder of Outlander Consulting, a training organization that focuses on delivering character and leadership training in South-East Asia. John lived and worked in China for 10 years prior to returning to Scotland in early 2020, and between 2017-2020 was a partner at Suzhou Nuowander, a China- based company that delivered communication and entrepreneurial training to students in partnership with local government and universities. He continues to proactively engage with business, regularly developing consulting and/or leadership development training programmes across 3 continents.

Jon Newton

Adjunct Professor, NYU Shanghai

Jon Newton received his master’s degree in Entrepreneurship from the University of Cambridge in addition to an MBA from NCKU, and is currently completing his doctorate in Business Administration, specializing in Organizational Psychology. He is also an adjunct assistant professor of Management at New York University Shanghai, where he teaches within the NYU Stern Master’s in Organization Management and Strategy and the Tandon Master’s in Technology Management programs. With over 20 years of Chinese business experience, Jon brings a unique blend of practitioner expertise combined with his passion for sharing his lifelong learnings. He is a regular keynote speaker for visiting business schools on local business insights, team building, and entrepreneurship in China. Outside of running his own business interests, Jon’s teaching practice focuses on the social dynamics of team building and business negotiations as well as making sense of the psychological motivations behind work, especially in entrepreneurial or start-up contexts.

Dr Lin Wu

Assistant Professor in Operations Management Nottingham University Business School

Lin Wu is Assistant Professor in Operations Management in Nottingham University Business School. She teaches modules on Operations Management, Supply Chain Management and Facilities Planning. Lin’s research looks at digitalization and sustainability issues in the global supply chain, with a focus on food and manufacturing sectors. Her work has been published in leading academic journals, such as Journal of Business Research, Annals of Operations Research, International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Human Resource Management, and Business Strategy and the Environment.

Dr Timothy DeMay

Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Humanities

Timothy DeMay, an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Humanities starting in August 2023, received his PhD in English Literature from the University of Chicago in 2022. His dissertation, Occupations: A Repertoire of Experimental Political and Artistic Practices, documented the post-WWII avant-garde in relation to coterminous social movements and acts of political resistance. Additionally, Tim holds an MA in French from Middlebury College, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland and a BA in Philosophy and English from Northwestern University.

Alongside postcolonial literature and avant-garde studies, Tim studies languages and translation from academic and literary perspectives. His courses range from a theory survey through the genre of the manifesto, studies of post-war experimental literature, and creative writing workshops. His current project, a revision of the dissertation, focuses on the concept of the “repertoire” as used in performance studies and political sociology. He is also writing an article on the postal system and “opaque networks,” and finishing a fiction manuscript called Trade. Outside of his academic and writing interests, Tim has volunteered with refugee communities in France and the US, enjoys hiking and climbing, and looks for any opportunity to learn pieces of new languages.

Dr Stanford Howdyshell

Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Humanities

Stanford Howdyshell, an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Humanities starting in August 2023, received his Ph.D. from the University of South Florida in the Spring of 2023 after defending his dissertation The Ontological Grounds of Reason: Psychologism, Logicism, and Hermeneutic Phenomenology. While at USF, he also earned a Comparative Literary Studies Graduate Certificate for his work on the intersection of philosophical hermeneutics and literary criticism. Before attending USF, he earned an M.A. in Philosophy from Kent State University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Akron.

His primary research interest is the relationship between lived experience, reason, and the development and standards of knowledge, primarily from the standpoint of the phenomenological tradition. His research can be seen in the Pluralist and the Open Journal of Philosophy. He currently has articles under review by Philosophical Psychology and the Journal of Science and Engineering Ethics.

Stan has a track record of service to, and promoting equity within, the academic community. While at KSU, Stan was the founding president of the university’s Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) chapter. Then, at USF, he served as the local MAP chapter’s Treasurer and then Vice President. He also served as the Treasurer of USF’s Philosophy Graduate Student Organization.

Stan is also passionate about teaching philosophy to undergraduates. He has taught a diverse set of both introductory and upper-level courses, ranging from Introduction to Philosophy to Existentialism and Biomedical Ethics. This has given him experience teaching diverse bodies of students at all levels of undergraduate education.

Dr Francesca Pierini

Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Humanities

Francesca Pierini, an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Humanities at the Asian University for Women since January 2023, received her PhD in Cultural Studies from National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. Drawing from Postcolonial and Cultural Studies, Francesca’s PhD thesis explores the literary construction and representation of Southern European otherness in Anglophone literary and popular fiction from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day. Additionally, she holds her MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.

Francesca’s academic interests include Cultural Studies, Critical Theory, Anglophone Literary Representations of Italian Culture, and the Modern and Contemporary Anglophone Romance Novel. Recent publications include the articles “Roma Spelled Backwards: Love and Heterotopic Space in Contemporary Romance Novels Set in Italy” in The Routledge Companion to Romantic Love (2021), and “Imploding Fireworks: Love and Self-knowledge in the Contemporary Italian Sentimental Novel” in the edited volume Love and the Politics of Intimacy (2023), Bloomsbury UK. She has published over 20 articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes along two main axes: the topic of the Anglophone representation of Southern Europe in literary/popular novels, and the topic of popular forms of literature, especially the romance novel. She also published theoretical work, such as a book chapter on the emergence of postcolonial discourse analysis following the philosophic encounter between Edward Said and Michel Foucault.

Francesa is a former Adjunct Lecturer at the English Department of University of Basel in Switzerland, and a former postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of European and American Studies at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan. Currently, she teaches a yearly seminar on the popular Anglophone romance novel at the University of Regensburg in Germany. In addition, she has taught courses in Anglophone Representations of Italian Otherness, the literary Anglophone romance novel, and Critical Theory. While lecturing at University of Basel in 2021, Francesca received a nomination for The University of Basel Teaching Excellence Award.

Dr Suvaid Yaseen

Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Humanities

Suvaid Yaseen is historian of Kashmir and South Asia with research interests in modern Islam and social movements, political and intellectual history from below, contested sovereignties across the globe, and historical imaginations beyond nations and empires. He received his PhD from Brown University, where his dissertation received the History Department’s Distinguished Dissertation Award and Brown University’s Joukowsky Family Foundation Outstanding Dissertation Award in Social Sciences in 2023. He also has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Delhi, and an MPhil in Political Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

His book project based on his dissertation, “Islamic Intersections: Religion and Politics in Kashmir in the Long Twentieth Century,” examines intersections between Islamic reform, colonial modernity, and literary cultures from the late nineteenth century until the present. While centered on the hitherto unexamined lives and thought of poets, educators, ulema, activists, and rebels in Kashmir, it thinks deeply with other liminal spaces across South and Central Asia and the Middle East more broadly. This project rethinks the study of Islam in South Asia by moving beyond colonial and postcolonial historiographies; broadens the framework of Islamic discursive tradition beyond known foundational figures and movements; proposes the concept of an intellectual history from below to interrogate Islamic movements on their own terms; and thinks through the potentials of poetry, biography, and religious newspapers as sources for a complex and nuanced rendering of contentious histories.

After defending his PhD in August 2022, he was a Visiting Lecturer in History at Mount Holyoke College where he taught courses on anticolonial thought, history beyond empires and nations, Muslim politics in South Asia, and history through film. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in History at Brown University.

Matthew Glotfelter

Assistant Dean and Senior Instructor, Pre-UG Program

Senior Instructor of English

MS, Linguistics

CELTA

Ashfeen Aribea

Assistant Director, General Studies program

MA, Molecular Biology

Md Noman Udin

Asst. Director of Pre-Undergraduate Math Programs

MA, Mathematics

Noman was a member of the mathematics Faculty at Asian University for Women (AUW) for over seven years (From 2010 July to 2017 December). During this time, he worked to develop Mathematics Curriculum and implementing several large scale projects at AUW. In 2018 he went to University Technology Malaysia, Malaysia, for higher study in Mathematics. In 2021 he came back to AUW and join as an instructor of Precalculus in the Access Academy (AA). His responsibilities include lecturing, develop clear learning objectives and prepare comprehensive syllabi.

He received MS degree specialized in Mathematical Science from the university Technology Malaysia, Malaysia. He received a special Award by Faculty of Science University Technology Malaysia 2021. He also obtained Bsc (Hons) in Applied Mathematics from the university of Chittagong.

Research

Cosmology, Partial differential Equations (PDE)

Sharmin Rahmatullah

Promotion: Senior Instructor

Kausar Ferdous

Teaching Fellow Training, Senior Instructor

MA, English Literature

MA, ELT

Afrida Oishee

Admissions: Instructor

MA, Disaster Management
(ACCESS)

Education

Umme Aymun Siddiqua

Computer Studies: Instructor

MA, Computer Science

Umme Aymun Siddiqua received B.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering from the International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh in 2016 and her M.Eng. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan in 2019. Currently, she is serving as a Junior Instructor in Computer Science at Asian University for Women. Her research interests include natural language processing, multimodal opinion mining and knowledge discovery from social media data especially stance detection, sentiment analysis, emotion analysis, and hate speech detection using deep learning. She is the author or co-author of several articles in journals, conferences and research workshop contributions and presented her research at national and international conferences in the USA and China. She has received recognition for her excellent academic performance and research activities, including Merit-based Scholarship, Monbukagakusho Honors Scholarship and Best Paper Award.

Courses Teach:

Introduction to Computing and Programming
CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science by Harvard University (Lab)

Research Interests:
Natural Language Processing
Social Media Analysis
Multimodal Opinion Mining and Knowledge Discovery
Computational Linguistics
Machine Learning
Deep Learning

Journal Articles

Tweet Stance Detection using Multi-Kernel Convolution and Attentive LSTM Variants
Umme Aymun Siddiqua, Abu Nowshed Chy, and Masaki Aono
IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems (IEICE TOIS), Vol.E102-D, No.12, pp.2493-2503, December 2019.

Exploiting Transfer Learning and Hand-Crafted Features in a Unified Neural Model for Identifying Actionable Informative Tweets
Abu Nowshed Chy, Umme Aymun Siddiqua, and Masaki Aono
Journal of Information Processing, Vol.29, pp.16-29, January 2021.

Peer-Reviewed International Conferences

A Neural Network Model to Identify the Crisis-related Actionable Informative Tweets for Disaster Management.
Abu Nowshed Chy, Umme Aymun Siddiqua, and Masaki Aono
Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE Region 10 Symposium (TENSYMP), 5-7 June 2020, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Best Paper Award (as a co-author)

Tweet Stance Detection Using an Attention based Neural Ensemble Model
Umme Aymun Siddiqua, Abu Nowshed Chy, and Masaki Aono
Proceedings of the 2019 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technologies (NAACL-HLT 2019), ACL, 2-5 June 2019, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

Stance Detection on Microblog Focusing on Syntactic Tree Representation
Umme Aymun Siddiqua, Abu Nowshed Chy, and Masaki Aono
3rd International Conference on Data Mining and Big Data (DMBD 2018), Springer, 17-22 June 2018, Shanghai, China.

Combining a Rule-based Classifier with Ensemble of Feature Sets and Machine Learning Techniques for Sentiment Analysis on Microblog
Umme Aymun Siddiqua, Tanveer Ahsan, and Abu Nowshed Chy
International Conference on Computer and Information Technology (ICCIT 2016), IEEE, 18-20 December 2016, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Combining a Rule-based Classifier with Weakly Supervised Learning for Twitter Sentiment Analysis
Umme Aymun Siddiqua, Tanveer Ahsan, and Abu Nowshed Chy
International Conference on Innovations in Science, Engineering and Technology (ICISET 2016), IEEE, 28-29 October 2016, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

International Research Workshops

KDEHatEval at SemEval-2019 Task5: A Neural Network Model for Detecting Hate Speech in Twitter
Umme Aymun Siddiqua, Abu Nowshed Chy, and Masaki Aono
Proceedings of the 13th International Workshops on Semantic Evaluation (SemEval 2019) ACL, 6-7 June 2019, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

Neural Networks and Support Vector Machine based Approach for Classifying Tweets by Information Types at TREC2018 Incident Streams Task
Abu Nowshed Chy, Umme Aymun Siddiqua, and Masaki Aono
Proceedings of the 27th Text REtrieval Conference (TREC 2018), NIST, 14-16 November 2018, Maryland, USA.

Publication Records Summary:
https://scholar.google.co.jp/citations?user=zVDq8EAAAAAJ&hl=en

Sabrina Naoshin

Testing, Senior Instructor

Sabrina Naoshin is a highly motivated and dedicated individual who loves to promote positive thinking in her personal and professional life. She joined AUW in 2018 with around five years of prior teaching experience. As a big fan of technology, Sabrina utilizes related technology in her teaching approaches. She believes that student-centered and interactive classroom approaches increase students’ and teachers’ productivity and motivation at the same time. Sabrina devotes a significant portion of her time to personal and professional development. As a part of her professional development process, she is pursuing a Master of Education in Advanced Teaching (M.Ed.) with a concentration in STEM fields at the University of the People, California. Sabrina has completed her MBA from Premier University, Chattogram, Bangladesh. Working with students from different nationalities, cultures, and educational backgrounds helped her become a person with patience, dedication, and enthusiasm. Her interests include reading, spending time with family, playing Sudoku, and writing.

Shuva Karmaker

Learning Center, Instructor

Mr. Shuva Karmaker, an esteemed educator, writer, artist, and activist, began his journey with the Asian University for Women (AUW) in 2023. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Language, Literature, Applied Linguistics, and ELT, along with a Master’s in ELT from Jahangirnagar University, and a second Master’s in Educational Leadership and School Improvement from BRAC University. His approach to promoting a comprehensive educational experience is rooted in his diverse background, encompassing language studies, educational innovation, music, and cultural research.

With a wide-reaching professional portfolio, Shuva has contributed extensively to advancing women’s education, supporting underprivileged communities, collaborating with government institutions, and integrating academic frameworks such as Cambridge and liberal arts curricula. As an alumnus of Teach For Bangladesh and Teach For All, he has engaged in internationally recognized programs, including the 2019 World’s Largest Lesson & Empatico Fellowship through UNESCO & UNICEF, as well as the Global Girls’ Education Fellowship by Teach For All.

In addition to his academic pursuits, Shuva is an independent musician and lifelong Hindustani classical artist with training in Indian classical music from an early age. As a certified Nazrul Sangeet Artist and Teacher Trainer from the Nazrul Institute in Dhaka, he has also released several original singles, blending his passion for music with cultural preservation. His dedication to both education and the arts reflects his commitment to promoting intercultural understanding, using the power of creativity to inspire personal and academic growth in his students and community.

Teaching

1. English Reading and Writing
2. English Listening and Speaking
3. Study Skills Program

Research

Shuva’s research interests span ELT, Applied Linguistics, Educational Leadership, School Improvement, and South Asian Cultural Studies. He has been involved in projects related to Language Education and South Asian Cultural Studies, with notable research on Bengali Music and literary figures, notably Kazi Nazrul Islam.

Journal Articles

1. Karmaker, S. (2023). Understanding Parental Support in Children’s Education at Home. BRAC University.
2. Karmaker, S. (2023). The Lady Named Maya.
3. Karmaker, S. (2022). Radha-Krishna; A Historical Exploration.
4. Karmaker, S. (2021). The Words of Language.
5. Karmaker, S. (2019). Modernization Theory & Educational Approach, BRAC University
6. Bengali Songs and I, Swarbyanjan, 2022
7. In Search of the Temple of Peace, Swarbyanjan, 2021
8. Development of Indian Classical Music, Banglanews24.com, Swarbyanjan, 2016
9. Story of the Festival, Swarbyanjan, 2020
10. The Loop-Hole of GPS Education, Swarbyanjan, 2019

Rayhana Fatema Chowdhury

Advisement: Instructor

Rayhana Fatema Chowdhury is an Instructor of English Language in Pre-Undergraduate Program. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD at University of Malaya in Educational Psychology and Counseling. She has obtained two Masters Degrees in ELT and English Literature. Before joining AUW in 2023, she had been teaching English language and literature at Port City International University as an Assistant Professor. In her long teaching career since 2013, she has supervised almost hundred thesis papers. She had also served as the Chairman of the Department of English at PCIU where she was a Syndicate Member.

Teaching

English Reading and Writing

English Listening and Speaking

Research

Psycholinguistics

Neuro-linguistics

Special Education

Educational Psychology and Counseling

Publications

Journal Articles

International Journal (03)

1. REASONS OF RETICENCE IN SPEAKING ENGLISH AMONG THE FRESHMEN IN PORT

CITY INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY; CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH: A CASE STUDY. ELK

ASIA PACIFIC JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES. ISSN 2394-9392; DOI:

10.16962/EAPJSS/issn.2394-9392/2014; Volume 2 Issue 3 (2016). (Solo Author). JD Impact

Factor : 2014: 1.112

2. THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT LEARNER AUTONOMY IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A

FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) AT TERTIARY LEVEL IN BANGLADESH. ELK ASIA PACIFIC

JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES. ISSN 2394-9392; DOI: 10.16962/EAPJMRM/issn. 2349-

2317/2015; Volume 2 Issue 4 (2016). (Co-Author). JD Impact Factor : 2014: 1.112

3. FEEDBACK PRACTICES IN THE TERTIARY LEVEL EFL WRITING CLASSROOM IN

BANGLADESH, “Australasian Journal of Business, Social Science and Information

Technology” ISSN 2206-4451 Volume 4 Issue 4 (2018).

National Journal (02)

1. Integrating Language and Literature in Teaching English: A Critical Study. “Port City International

University Journal” Volume – 1, Issue – 1, 2014, ISSN: 2311-3146 (Solo Author).

2. Eye-Heart: A Mortal War or Oneness in Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 46 and 47, “Port City

International University Journal” Volume – 2, Issue – 2, 2015, ISSN: 2311-3146 (Solo Author).

Abdul Wahid

English Language, Senior Instructor

Master of Education (TESOL)

Cambridge CELTA

Wahid has four years of experience in teaching English at tertiary level. Before joining AUW as a Language Instructor, he taught Language and Linguistics at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) and at IUBAT – International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, Dhaka. He completed his Master of Education (TESOL) from the University of South Australia (UniSA), with a thesis in refugee education. Wahid also has a CELTA from the British Council. Previously, he worked as an Interpreter in Africa under the United Nations for some time. During his University years in Adelaide, he attended the evening school of ‘Ann Peter’s School of Acting’ which sparked his interest in psychology of human behavior and communication. His research interest includes inner speech and bilingualism, psychology of language, education psychology and the like.

Master’s Thesis:

“Factors that affect the academic performance of African refugee students at UniSA”

Conference Paper:   

1. Wahid, “Learning and Education – shouldn’t they be same? : A conceptual review”. In the pursuit of Quality in Higher Education: Challenges Ahead, (2019).

Working Paper:

“Intervention of Self-limiting L1 Inner Speech during L2 Presentations: A Study of Bangla-English Late Bilinguals”

Supervised Theses:

Postgraduate

1. Face to Face and Online ELT Classes: A Comparative Study
2. Academic Self-concept and Academic Performance: A Co-relational Study
3. Role of L1 in English Language Learning and Teaching: A Perspective of Schools in Bangladesh
4. Challenges in Adapting Reading Materials in an ELT Class: A Case Study

Undergraduate

5. The Role of Previous Knowledge in Reading Comprehension
6. Individual Learner Differences and Speaking Performance : A Case Study
7. Persuasive Techniques used in English Bulletins in Bangladeshi Television Channels
8. First Language Acquisition of A Three Year Old Bangladeshi Child : A Case Study

Conducted Workshops:

“Your Language Thoughts, Your Language Reality”; 2^nd September 2019; University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) Auditorium.

“You Are Who You Think You Are”; 3rd April, 2019; University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) Auditorium.

“Self-development and Learning”; 13th November, 2018; University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) Auditorium.

Israt Happy

Science, Instructor

MA, Public Health
(Pathways)

Israt has always been passionate about teaching and this is her 4^th year at AUW as a faculty. She received her bachelor’s degree in Public Health from Asian University for Women in 2015 and also earned her Master’s degree in Public Health from American International University Bangladesh in 2017. Currently, she is responsible for teaching English Language course to Pre Access-Academy (PAA) students.  Previously, she educated PAA students for two years and taught Leadership Seminar course to Access Academy students for one year. Israt believes that instilling confidence into students enables them to be higher achievers in their lives. Hence, her lessons are focused on breeding confidence, allowing students to speak, make mistakes and learn at their own pace.

Abu Nowhash Chowdhury

Scheduling, Junior Instructor

B.Sc. (Engg.) in Computer Science and Engineering

Abu Nowhash Chowdhury received his B.Sc. (Engg.) in Computer Science and Engineering from the International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh in 2022. Currently, he is serving as a Junior Instructor in Computer Science at the Asian University for Women. His principal research interest includes opinion mining from informal social media data, measuring the informativeness of user-generated texts, deep learning technologies, computational linguistics, and natural language processing (NLP). However, he is always interested to explore other interdisciplinary research areas too. He published his research findings at two International conferences in India and Bangladesh. One of his recent articles was awarded the Best Paper Award at The 3rd International Conference on Innovations in Science, Engineering, and Technology (ICISET), IEEE, Bangladesh. Besides he received recognition for his excellent idea generation and software development skills at the National level Intra university Hackathon contest. He is very fond of learning and teaching programming languages. He has a great zeal to make a positive impact in the education, teaching, and research sectors.  He is always passionate to help young students deepen their interest in learning and research.

Courses Teach:

• CS Intensive (Computer Fundamentals and C Programming)
• Python Programming

Research Interests:

• Opinion Mining and Knowledge Discovery from Informal Social Media Data,
• Text Informativeness,
• Data Mining,
• Estimating Data Semantics,
• Information Retrieval,
• Natural Language Processing,
• Computational Linguistics,
• Deep Learning.

Peer-Reviewed International Conferences:

• Abu Nowhash Chowdhury, Shawon Guha, Nurul Amin, and Shahidul Islam Khan, “Exploiting Ensemble of Transformer Models for Detecting Informative Tweets”, IEEE India Council International Conference (INDICON), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, India, IEEE, 2021.
• Abu Nowhash Chowdhury, Shawon Guha, Nurul Amin, and Shahidul Islam Khan, “Exploiting Diverse Contextual Features through Transformers for Detecting Informative Tweets”, The 3rd International Conference on Innovations in Science, Engineering and Technology (ICISET), P.P-350~355, IEEE, Bangladesh, 2022. (Best Paper Awarded)

Publication Records Summary:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LUksIeoAAAAJ&hl

Arif Chowdhury

Lecturer of Writing and Composition, Pre-UG and UG Programs

MA, ELT
(General Studies, ACCESS)

I have been teaching at AUW in General Studies Program for developing four language skills for more than 5 months and I am currently teaching academic Reading and Writing at AUW’s Pre-UG (Access) program.

Previously, I have taught various ESL, EFL and Academic English, and departmental courses at Huddersfield University, British Council recognized English language centers, UK and University of Creative Technology Chittagong.

My academic qualifications include a master’s degree from London Metropolitan University in Int’l ELT and Applied Language Studies; a Trinity CertTESOL; a Teaching English for Academic Purposes (TEAP) certificate from London School of Economics (LSE); and more than 10 years of experience as an educator.

Ashraf Siddique

Senior Instructor

MA, TESOL

CELTA

DELTA

Sharmin Siddiqui

Senior Instructor

Sharmin Siddiqui started as a senior instructor at the Asian University for Women, Chittagong, in September 2023. She began her career in January 2007 as a teaching assistant at Southeast University Bangladesh. After that, she joined Stamford University Bangladesh as a lecturer in English in February of the same year. She was employed as an English lecturer at King Khalid University in Abha, Saudi Arabia, in 2009.  From September 2009 to August 2023, she worked at King Khalid University.

Sharmin Siddiqui completed her BA (Hons) in English and MA in Applied Linguistics and ELT from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Teaching

Reading across the Disciplines 6

Reading across the Disciplines 5

Language and Composition 5

Research interests

Sociolinguistics, ELT, Psycholinguistics, Second Language Acquisition

Journal Articles

• Faruquzzaman, A., Almosa, A., Siddiqui, S., Chowdhury, G., Ahamed, M. M., Mishu, A., Ahmed, J., and Sultana, S. (2023). On Linguistic Reviews of Arabic and Bangla: A Comprehensive Study. Theory and Practice of Language Studies. Vol. 13, No. 9, 2375-2383. DOI://https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1309.25

• Siddiqui, S., Ahamed, M. M., Chowdhury, G., & Mishu, A. (In Press). Teaching Writing to EFL Learners: Issues and Concerns. Journal of Language Teaching and Research. Journal of Language Teaching Research.
• Ahamed, M.M. & Siddiqui, S. (2021). From the Normal to the New Normal: Reflecting Metamorphosis in Pedagogies. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Special Issue on CALL (7). 419-434. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/call7.29
• Siddiqui, S. and Ahamed, M. (2020). Teachers’ Roles Beyond and Within the Context: An Ever-Changing Concept. Arab World English Journal, 11(1), 282-296. DOI:https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol11no1.21

Presentations

• “Learning Goals and Teachers’ Roles,” Language Research Center, King Khalid University, KSA, April 2019.
• “Creating Future Leaders by Teachers as Core Professionals,” Language Research Center, King Khalid University, KSA, February 2020.
• “From Normal to New Normal: Rethinking the Methodologies,” Language Research Center, King Khalid University, KSA, January 2021.
• “Enhancing Communicative Competence in English: Some Needs to be Addressed,” Language Research Center, King Khalid University, KSA, March 2022.

Md Aftab Uddin Chowdhury

Senior Instructor

Md. Aftab Uddin Chowdhury joined as a Senior Instructor of English at the Asian University for Women (AUW) in 2023. He had previously worked as an Assistant Professor in English at the State University of Bangladesh (SUB) for almost three years and as a Lecturer in English at BRAC Institute of Languages (BIL) for nearly seven years. Prior to joining BRAC University, he had been working as a Research Assistant in the Department of English and Modern Languages at North South University. He also completed the E-Teacher course offered by Oregon University, USA in 2014. To his credit, he was selected for the English Language Program Award by the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh for attending the ‘TESOL Certificate: Advanced Practitioner’ program offered by TESOL International Association in 2015-2016. In addition, he completed his (PGCHE) in Higher Education at Falmouth University, UK in 2018-2019 and his M.A. in English (Linguistics) at North South University in 2012. He is also keenly interested in research and publication and has had some of his research articles published in international journals.

Teaching

Reading Across Discipline (RAD) with level 5 and level 6

Research interests
Discourse Analysis, Classroom Management, Classroom Instruction, Curriculum Development

Journal Articles

1. Chowdhury, A. U., & Mohammad Akteruzzaman. (2021). The application of guided peer feedback in facilitating L2 writing: Action research with tertiary-level language learners in Bangladesh. The Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(2), 171–185.
2. Chowdhury, A. U., & Akteruzzaman, M. (2015). Teaching the Structures of Academic Writing Through Peer Review: A Study on the Beginners of English Language Courses at BRAC University. GSTF Journal on Education, 3(1).
3. Akteruzzaman, M., & Chowdhury, A. U. (2015). Transforming Ineffective Feedback of the Students to Effective Feedback: A Study on the Students of ENG 091 and ENG 101 of BIL at BRAC University. International E-Journal of Advances in Education (IJAEDU), 1(2).

Tahmina Akter Mili

Senior Instructor

Tahmina Akter Mili is an enthusiastic and passionate teacher. Her extensive experience in the field of education has led her to the firm belief that education can be a tool for women’s empowerment. Ms. Mili holds a Master of Education in TESOL from the University of the West of Scotland. She has also earned her Master of Arts in English Language and Literature from Eden Mahila College under the National University of Bangladesh and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature from Eden Mahila College under the National University of Bangladesh. Previously, she taught English in Abdul Kadir Molla International School as well as summer school programs in St. Andrews Language College and MLI International. She is interested in working with bilingual and multilingual English Language speakers.

Peter A Birmingham II

Instructor

Pete is very excited to join AUW as an Instructor of English in the Pre-Undergraduate Program.  His work in non-traditional education over 15 years has been in six developing countries, with a diversity of learners, and he remains motivated by the transformative potential of a shared, engaging learning process.  In recent years, he has taught language arts and leadership at a Somali high school, supported Honduran teachers in developing more student-centered and democratic classrooms, volunteered to build a post-grad prep curriculum for Indian school-leavers, and served Afghan refugee families near his hometown of Cincinnati.  Here at the University, Pete looks forward to collaborating in a rich, multicultural environment that helps prepare committed young women for success as global humanitarians!  Outside of school, you can usually find him reading, exploring, or behind a camera.

BS, International Business; BA, Global Development; BA, German

MA, International Development for Education

• Thesis: “Education and Social Development in Ukraine” (2014)

Certified in TEFL, SEL, and fitness instruction

Research Interests
– women in development

– neurodiversity in the learning process

– mindfulness and youth mental health

Project Involvements
– women’s university club soccer fitness coach

– twice director of healthy lifestyles summer camps

– twice co-director of residential camps for at-risk youth

Grants Obtained

– PEPFAR community grant for HIV / AIDS education

– small project assistance (SPA) grant for student journalism

BMK Haider

Instructor

MA, International Relations
MA, History
(ACCESS)

Md Ariful Hasan

Instructor

Md Ariful Hasan is an Instructor of English Language in Pre-Undergraduate Program. Currently, he is pursuing his MEd in ELT at Kathmandu University, Nepal. He has done another Master’s Degree in English from Jagannath University, Bangladesh. He passed his CELTA course in 2018. Before joining AUW in 2024, he had been teaching English language and literature at University of Creative Technology Chittagong as a Lecturer & Coordinator. In his long teaching career since 2010, he had taught in many renowned schools and colleges of Bangladesh.

Teaching

English Writing (L&C)

English Reading and Writing

Presentation Skills

Research interests

Education

Syllabus Design, Testing & Evaluation

ESL/EFL

Homayra Binta Hafiz Silvee

Instructor

Ms. Silvee is teaching at AUW for last 2 years. Before that she worked with UNICEF and Ministry of Information and various renowned English Medium schools. She completed her Masters in Literature in English. She is CELTA certified too.

She worked on creating 3 consecutive courses namely “Presentation Skills”, “Public Speaking and Debate” and “Ethics and Critical Thinking”.

Teaching

“Presentation Skills” and “Ethics and Critical Thinking”.

Nargis Sultana

Junior Instructor

Highest Degree – MELT

Sofia Siddiqua

Junior Instructor

Ms Sofia Siddiqua has been an education professional at the tertiary level for half a decade now. Her professional scope spans from teaching basic English language skills to Rohingya, Afghan and several other national communities to teaching linguistics, presentation, and debating skills courses. Previously, she has taught as a Lecturer at two reputed universities in Dhaka; Daffodil International University and United International University.

Ms Sofia has had a flawless academic background in English Language and Literature. She is an M.A. in TESOL from North South University and is a Cambridge CELTA certified teacher and is currently a DELTA enrolled active candidate and an author of academic publication.

Her work includes all dimensions of English language and skills teaching, effective lesson plan and material development, ensuring individualistic development of several groups of students across General Studies and Pre-UG programs. Her skills include effective classroom management, coordinating across unexpected situations, addressing cross-cultural pedagogical, affective and individualistic needs, relevant administrative tasks, managing assessment, tracking individual performance and gradual academic development and providing feedback and support. 

Ms Sofia characterizes her performance with dedication, sincerity, ownership, transparency, and fairness. She intends to keep evolving as a professional through consistent CPD, higher studies and self-reflection.

Teaching

General Studies: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking skills.

Pre-UG: Reading Across the Disciplines, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking and Debate.

Research

Research interests: Second Language Acquisition, writing skill development, grammatical/ systemic aspects of language and skills, language and culture, teaching and learning process, classroom strategies, phonology and phonetics, sociolinguistics, testing and evaluation, and education policy and procedure.

Publications

Journal Articles: Decolonizing English Studies in Bangladesh and Integrating Bengali Literature into English Language and Literature Education at Tertiary Level: A Case Study

Working Papers: Writing apprehension at tertiary level and framework of teaching.

Jannatul Akmam

Junior Instructor

ACCESS and Pathways

MA, English

Jannatul Akmam did BA and MA in English from Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. During her career of teaching for more than 9 years, she taught at higher secondary and tertiary levels of different institutions including teaching as an Adjunct Faculty of Core at Asian University for Women. She was awarded Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) Fellowship in Spring 2022 (Gender Cohort) and received professional development training at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. She has joined AUW in Fall 2022 as a Junior Instructor of English Language; and teaches ESL and Presentation Skills.

Research Interest: Education and Leadership of Muslim Women, Gender Studies, Post-colonial Studies, Disability Studies and Cultural Studies.

Research Works:

Gender Expectations and Balancing Identities: Education about Gender in High Schools in Bangladesh. (Presented online) Twenty-ninth International Conference on Learning at Universitat de Valencia – Facultat de Magisteri, Valencia, Spain, 13-15 July, 2022.

Eastern Women’s Entrepreneurship: Liberating the Enslaved Mind beyond the Patriarchal Gaze. Eastern Perspectives on Women’s Roles and Advancement in Business edited by Ela Burcu Uçel, by IGI Global, Hershey, PA, USA, EISBN13: 9781799887447 (Chapter 7, Page 139-154), February, 2022. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-8742-3.ch007.

Islamic Schools in France: A Tool for Change towards Inclusiveness. Virtual Conference of New England Educational Assessment Network Fall Forum 2021, 5 November 2021.

Living Parallel-ly in Real and Virtual: Internet as an Extension of Self. (Co-authored with Nafisa Huq) Defining Identity and the Changing Scope of Culture in the Digital Age edited by Alison Novak and Imaani Jamillah El-Burki, by IGI Global, Hershey PA, USA, ISBN 9781522502128 (Chapter 14, Page 230-239), May, 2016. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-0212-8.ch014

Women in War-Wounded or Wonderful? Relativity in Revelation (In the Light of Nasiruddin Yusuf’s “Guerilla” and Mrityunjay Devvrat’s “Children of War”). (Co-authored with Nafisa Huq and Prakash Sarkar) International Conference “Diasporas and Diversities: Teaching English in a Changing World”, Department of English, Independent University Bangladesh, 5-7 November 2015.

Partition across the Border: A Study of the novels The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh and Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai. Trends in Indian English Novels edited by Nagraj G. Holeyannavar, Manglam Publisher, India, ISBN 9789382983231 (Page no. 222), 21 October, 2014.

Dream Identity beyond the Patriarchal Gaze: Liberating the Enslaved Mind. 1st International Conference on Social Science and Humanities August 23-25, 2014, Center for Social Science Research, School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Independent University of Bangladesh.

New Police on the Block: Reading Contemporary Advertisement as Panopticon. Dissertation, Master of Arts Program, 2012. (Publication-in-progress)

Ngugi’s Petals of Blood: A Critical Analysis from Fanon’s Concept of Violence. Short Research Paper, Undergraduate Program, 2011. (Publication-in-progress)

Sadia Maisha

Junior Instructor

BA, Economics (Pathways and ACCESS)

Sadia Maisha is a Junior Instructor (Mathematics) for the pre-undergraduate program at Asian University for Women (AUW). Currently she is teaching both pathways and access academy students. Before joining AUW, she worked at Chittagong Grammar School as an 8th grade teacher. During her undergraduate years, she worked as peer tutor for 9 months at the Science & Math Center at AUW. She also actively volunteered as an Academic Mentor for Mathematics and also worked as teaching assistants for courses like econometrics, principles of microeconomics & basic economics at her university.

Sadia Maisha received her Bachelor in Arts in Economics (with double minor in Mathematics & Finance) in the year 2020 from AUW.

Hasan Mahfuj

Junior Instructor

MA ELT

CELTA

ESL and Foundation

Hasan Mahfuj joined AUW as an instructor of English as a Second Language in August 2022. He has set foot at AUW with an experience of 16 years of teaching English in IGCSE and ESL areas.

Hasan’s academic qualifications include an MA in ELT; a BA in English Language & Literature; and a CELTA.

Tahira Tazreen

Junior Instructor

MA,
(Pathways)

I am working as Junior Instructor of Pathways for Promise in AUW. Although it is my first-time teaching in Pathways, I have experience of working with them in different ways. After graduating from AUW in 2018, I joined Pathways for Promise as Program Officer and got the opportunity to work directly with the students, as well as with the instructors. Earlier, as a student of under graduation program, I worked as academic mentor for the students of Pathways, where I facilitated them in learning English (speaking, writing, and reading).

Nusrat Tahsin

Junior Instructor

MA, ELT
(General Studies)

Nusrat Tahsin joined Asian University for Women (AUW) as a Junior Instructor for Pathways for Promise Program in August, 2022. She has been in teaching career since 2014. Before Joining AUW she was a secondary level English teacher who had been teaching English Language in O level for almost eight years. She completed the Cambridge International Examinations Professional Development course for O level Examination. Nusrat is an US Department of State Exchange Alumni who received training as an international educator in Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) Program in Montana State University, USA. As a part of TEA program, she also served as a guest teacher in Chief Joseph Middle School at Bozeman, Montana, USA. She is also involved in charitable Access program funded by US Department of State for teaching underprivileged students. Besides teaching she served as an Academic coordinator in English Access Microscholarship Program, Chattogram for one and half year. Her aim is to finding potential and empowering students from disadvantage class and Pathways program in AUW is the perfect area to fulfill her goal.

Academic Qualification

MA in English Language and Literature. International Islamic University Chittagong

B.A. (Hons) in English Language and Literature. International Islamic University Chittagong

Lutfun Nahar Anika

Junior Instructor

I am currently serving as the Junior Instructor of Mathematics at the AUW. I am teaching quantitative reasoning at level 2 and precalculus at level 3. I’ve joined AUW for the spring session of 2023. I also served as a TA in intermediate macroeconomics, principles of microeconomics, and introduction to finance during my university career. I have my own startup, QEC, which is an EdTech platform basically to prepare sixth grade students for the most competitive “Cadet College Admission Test.” The middle school students are also cared for academically both online and offline. Additionally, I created projects for K–12 kids and the Bangladesh Civil Service courses while working as the project-based instructor at the 10-minute school, Bangladesh’s largest EdTech platform.

Nayma Afreen

Junior Instructor

Nayma Afreen joined AUW as a junior instructor of English in January 2023. She embarked on teaching profession in 2017. Prior to joining AUW she served three universities. Her academic background includes concentration on English Language Teaching (ELT) both in graduation and post-graduation. Her research interests revolve around ELT and social, psychological and technological effects on language learning.

Umma Salma

Junior Instructor

Ms. Salma is a TESOL graduate from North South University, Dhaka and joined Asian University for Women as a Junior Instructor.

Teaching

Currently teaching Presentation Skill for the level 3 students along with 2 courses on ESL for the level 2.

Research

Salma is deeply interested in the Critical Pedagogical field that includes mainstreaming morality and ethics education at every level. Also, diasporic discourse, cultural imperialism, ethnocentrism etc. are some of the areas that she is mostly invested in.

Mehzabeen Zaman

Junior Instructor

BS, Environmental Science
(General Studies, Pathways)

Mehzabeen joined as Junior Instructor for pathways in January 2022, a long-held aspiration of her started when pathways began its journey back in 2016. Besides teaching English curricular she is determined to be a great mentor for her students building confidence in their personal and professional lives. She hopes for her students to be higher achievers in their lives and serve as a strong woman in their community. Previously she served as a residential life coordinator at AUW where she acted as mentor, advisor and trusted friend to the residential students.

Majored in Environmental Science and minored in Development Studies from Asian University for Women.

Ibtida Tahera Aziz

Junior Instructor

Ibtida Tahera Aziz is serving at AUW since January, 2024. Previously she worked as a faculty of Mathematics in Military Institute of Science and Technology,  Bangladesh. She has obtain her BS and MS degree in Pure Mathematics from University of Dhaka. In 2022, she has also received A. F. Mujibur Rahman Gold Medal for her excellence in Mathematics.

Teaching

Ibtida teaches the course Precalculus to level 4 and level 6 students in AUW.

She has the experience of teaching university level mathematics courses e.g. Complex Analysis, Laplace and Fourier Transform, Vector Analysis throughout her teaching career.

Project involvements

APPLICATION AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS IN TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS  FOR REAL LIFE DATA  |University of Dhaka

Supervised by:   Dr. Mohammad Babul Hasan,  Professor, Department of Mathematics  University of Dhaka.

Grants Obtained

NST Fellowship (2019) for Master’s thesis.

Sensitivity Analysis of Transportation Problems: Monitoring Changes in Market Equilibrium Implementing Optimization Methods and Business Software, MIST Journal of Science and Humanities, Vol 1, Nov 2022, pp. 6-13.

Ruheya Khourshed

Junior Instructor

With a keen eye for detail and a natural aptitude for education, I am thrilled to join Asian University for Women (AUW) as a Junior Instructor of Mathematics for the Pre-Undergraduate Program. Throughout my four years of one-on-one tutoring experience with multiple students spanning from high school to university, I have honed my skills in creating a stimulating and supportive learning environment. With a BA in Economics and minors in Mathematics and Finance from AUW, I have a strong academic background that I am eager to apply to my role as an instructor. In addition, my experience as a Creative Director at Lussotica, a startup fashion label, and as HR Member at Youth’s Voice Organization, respectively, has given me valuable leadership and management skills. I am excited to contribute to the university’s mission of building a more progressive society through education and am delighted to be part of the esteemed faculty at AUW.

Teaching

Mathematics for the Pre-Undergraduate Program

Tasnuva Rahman

Junior Instructor

Tasnuva Rahman joined AUW in January 2024. She has completed her BA in English Literature from Chittagong Independent University. Later, she pursued her Master’s in English, majoring in TESOL at East Delta University.

From February 2022, she continued working at The English Academy as an EFL Instructor for a year. Later, Tasnuva worked for the Speakers’ Council as an EFL Instructor and maintained a full-time position as an English Teacher at Al-Hidaayah International School.

Teaching

English Reading and Writing

English Listening and Speaking

Research interests

Tasnuva Rahman is interested in teaching psychology, including adult students’ attitudes toward learning a foreign language. She focuses on making use of literature and arts as an effective method of teaching a language, which includes value added participation. Tasnuva believes inspiration always comes from the real world. From this vision she carries interest in fictional characters’ psychological perspectives and connecting them with nonfictional behaviors. Her preferred areas of exploration are human psychology, perspective, and reasoning.

Tanzim M Ahmed

Junior Instructor

Tanzim joined Asian University for Women in September 2024 as a Junior Instructor in Mathematics in the Pre-UG Department. He previously taught Fundamentals of Quantitative Reasoning and Student Development Seminars courses in Access Academy at East Delta University, Chattogram, Bangladesh. He is pursuing a Master of Science in Computational Mathematics from Premier University, Chattogram, Bangladesh, and he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Engineering from East Delta University. He ranked 5th at the Final Round of the 12th iteration of the National Undergraduate Mathematics Olympiad (NUMO) held under Bangladesh Mathematical Society. He was also the champion of the Intra-University Engineering Olympiad (2021) organized by East Delta University.

Teaching

Pre-Calculus (MATH 400)

Research interests:

Natural Language Processing, Computational Drug Discovery, Computer Vision

Fariha Anjum

Junior Instructor

Fariha Anjum received B.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering from the International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh in 2022. She is serving as a Junior Instructor in Computer Science at Asian University for Women since January 2023.  During her final year, she has worked as a Health Data Analytics Intern in the eSystems Research and Development Lab of BUET for a period of three months.

Teaching

Information Technology, General Studies

Computer Literacy, Pre-UG

Research interests:

Data Science, Natural Language Processing, Image Processing, Health Data Analytics, Human Activity Recognition.

Peer-Reviewed International Conferences:

1. Anjum, S. Alam, E. H. Bahadur, A. K. M. Masum, and M. Z. Rahman, “Deep Learning for Depression Symptomatic Activity Recognition,” in 2022 International Conference on Innovations in Science, Engineering and Technology (ICISET), 2022, pp. 510-515: IEEE.

Journal Articles

“Recognition Exhibiting Symptoms Activity of Depression Employing Deep Learning” (under review by Hindawi)

On-Going Research

“Smartphone Sensors Based Heart-Rate Prediction and Pattern Recognition of Activity Intensity for Early Staging of Depression”

Publication Records Summary:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CYGJJ8oAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra

Syeda Reiyan Azim

Junior Instructor

Mathematics (Pathways)

BA, Economics, Asian University for Women

Naima Halim Tushi

Junior Instructor

MA, Developmental Studies
(General Studies, Pathways)

Naima started teaching the Pre-UG Program at the Asian University for Women in January 2022 to help students be ready for the institution’s undergraduate degree programs. In addition to teaching Naima encourages females to become future leaders. Naima completed her undergraduate studies from Asian University for Women (AUW) with PPE (Politics, Philosophy & Economics) major and Development Studies minor on 2018. After that, she pursued her graduate studies at University of Malaya (UM) in Malaysia and graduated from the Department of Development Studies. Naima’s research interests lie on women and gender issues which have been published in renowned international journals. She has received a best paper award on an international conference.

Senior Thesis: Status of E-Learning at University Level in Bangladesh: Opportunities & Limitations

Journal Articles:

Shamsi, T., & Tushi, N. H. (2019). Empowering Rohingya Women For A Sustainable Refugee Camp. International Journal of Legal Developments and Allied Issues, 5(4).

Tushi, N. H., & Shamsi, T. (2020). Dowry Practices in Bangladesh and India. Journal of Legal Studies and Research, 6 (2).

Conference Acceptances:

Tushi, N. H., & Shamsi, T. (2020). International Social Sciences Research Colloquium. India

Jannatul Bakya

Junior Instructor

I will be working as a junior instructor of mathematics in the pre-undergraduate program. I am required to teach a maximum of 15 credit-hours per trimester. On August 28, 2022, I started teaching at AUW. I had been working as a teaching assistant for three courses at my academic level.

Education:

B.Sc. Bioinformatics and Public Health, Asian University for Women, Chittagong, Bangladesh

Khadija Kubra

Junior Instructor

Khadija Kubra is a Senior Fellow of Computer Science, Pre-UG. She has joined AUW in January 2023. She is teaching Computer literacy. She has completed her Bachelors of Science and Masters from American University-Bangladesh. She was an intern teaching assistant at AIUB. Her research interests include machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, Pattern Recognition, object detection & Classification. She is extremely motivated to have a positive influence on the fields of teaching, research, and education. She is constantly driven by a desire to increase the interests of young students in learning and study.

Teaching

Computer Literacy

Research Interest

• Machine Learning
• Deep Learning
• Computer Vision
• Pattern Recognition
• Object Detection & Classification

Project involvements

• DeepFBAs: Fetal Brain Abnormalities Detection from MRI Images using CNN with Stacking Strategy
• Fisher Motion descriptor for LSTM-based gait analysis using SVM Classification.
• Robust Walking Pattern Recognition Using Silhouette and Pose Estimation

Tasnuva Khan Tanisha

Junior Instructor

Tasnuva Khan Tanisha has joined Asian University for Women (AUW) as a Junior Instructor of English in January, 2023. She will be teaching Level 1 ESL and Level 3 Reading Across the Discipline in Pre-Undergraduate Programs. Before joining AUW, she worked at American School Chittagong for 4 months.

Tasnuva Khan Tanisha has received her Bachelor in Arts in English Language and Literature from Premier University, Chittagong in the year 2021. Currently, she is pursuing her Master of Arts in English Language Teaching (ELT) from Premier University.

Teaching

Level-1 (Reading and Writing)

Level-1 (Listening and Speaking)

Level-3 (Reading Across the Discipline)

Research interests:

• Learning Disability
• Feminism in Ancient Literature

Isthina Rafique Rini

Junior Instructor

M.A in English from East Delta University

B.A (Hons.) in English from East Delta University

ACCESS and Pathways

Farishta Murad

Junior Instructor

With a formal teaching experience spanning from high school to university, including almost four years of working as a part-time teaching assistant in parallel to being a full-time student at Asian University for Women (AUW), I am thrilled to advance into representing the university as a Junior Instructor of Mathematics in Pre-UG. AUW has contributed significantly to my career accomplishments , from qualifying for a mid-senior level Banking position at HSBC as my first job to launching my own Graphic designing company called Grafiqe, and finally transitioning to a Math Faculty. I believe my calculative decision to gear into this occupation will wholly compensate my gratification level as I am driven by passion for numbers. Looking forward to accelerating the university’s ideals to build a more progressive society through education and beyond.

Teaching
Mathematics, Pre-UG.

Research
Research interests: Education and Housewives
Project involvements: I have conducted four independent research projects as a part of academics including my senior thesis – “The Worth of Housewives’ Time: A Micro-level Analysis in Chattogram, Bangladesh.”

Afifa Afrin Shifa

Junior Instructor

Ms. Afifa Afrin is a Senior Fellow of the English Language in Pre-Undergraduate Program. She had worked in three different universities. Before joining AUW in 2024, she had been teaching English language and literature at University of Science and Technology Chittagong as a Lecturer. She completed her B.A. (hons.)  in English Language and Literature from premier university Chittagong and M.A. in TESOL from North South University, Dhaka. She had received gold medals from both of the universities for her excellent result. Moreover, She completed the French Course (till B1) from  Alliance Française de Dhaka. She has keen interest in research and has some publications in the pipeline.

Teaching

English Listening and Speaking (Level-1)

English Reading and Writing (Level-1)

Research interests

Her research interests are particularly based on sociolinguistics, comparative linguistics, applied linguistics and TESOL in Bangladesh.

Lenora Yee

Junior Instructor

Lenora joined AUW in June of 2024 with in-country experience working in multilingual education in Spain, Argentina, and the US. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in English with a focus in Creative Writing and Spanish Literature, Language and Culture from the University of Puget Sound, where she also minored in music. She also holds a CELTA Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from International House in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Lenora possesses a deep interest in community building through collaborative multilingual learning, and is especially interested in exploring how language learning and musicality can be healing and foster wellbeing in others.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina Lenora was a Fulbright Grantee. There, she taught at the tertiary level, primarily at English teacher training and translator institutes. She taught English conversation and poetry analysis classes, and co-taught US comparative history, phonetics, English language, and migration courses. Lenora is also a musician, a published poet, songwriter and a mediation group facilitator. In Spain, she worked at a trilingual primary school which specialized in serving students with motor and cognitive difficulties. She helps facilitate and create content for the Mixed Race Mediation Group. As an undergraduate she was the co-founding President of the Coalition of Multiracial and Biracial students.

Lenora often infuses elements of mindful practices, music, movement, and creative communication in her English courses. At AUW she will primarily be working as an instructor of foundational English, with the pre-undergraduate program.

Publications

Sound Ideas Digital Archive Research Publication
Yee, Lenora, “Womxn of Color in Print Subculture: 1970-2018” (2019). Summer Research. 357. https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/summer_research/357

Short Stories and Essays
Yee, Lenora. “How Will You Know?” Crosscurrents Literary & Arts Magazine. 2020.
Yee, Lenora. “Dear Silence.” Cascade Effects: Letters in the Time of Quarantine. Eastern Oregon University. 2020.
Yee, Lenora. “How to Get Unstuck.” Wetlands Magazine. 2020. https://issuu.com/wetlandsmag/docs/fall_2020/1
Yee, Lenora. “On Ancestry & Lineage” Mixed Race Meditation Blog. 2022. https://www.mixedracemeditation.com/blog/mixed-race-ancestry-lineage

Select Poems
Yee, Lenora. “I Have Come to Replace Placelessness with Boundlessness.” Mixed Race Meditation Blog. 2022. https://www.mixedracemeditation.com/blog/i-have-come-to-replace-placelessness-with- boundlessness
Yee, Lenora. “Sea glass.” Crosscurrents Literary & Arts Magazine. 2020.

Khadija Sultana

Junior Instructor

With 10 years of formal teaching experience and keen interest in the field of education from a very young age, Khadija has joined AUW as a Senior Fellow of English in the Pre-UG Program in Spring ‘24. Prior to this, she has completed her BA in English and Humanities with a minor in Sustainable Development from University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh followed by MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from the same institution. Alongside education, she loves to conduct social activities, especially for women. Notably, she has organized a workshop titled ‘Being Period Positive’ in a street children’s home, and another titled ‘Good Touch, Bad Touch’ in a school alongside multiple other events. The reason Khadija chose AUW to make a contribution through her knowledge is also because of the same cause, she aims to work for the empowerment of women.

Teaching

English Reading & Writing

Presentation Skills

Research Interests

Applied Linguistics

Discourse Analysis

Social cause including basic human rights

Mst Shaila Afrin

Senior Fellow

Shaila Afrin graduated from AUW in 2023, majoring in Bioinformatics and Biotechnology with a minor in Computer Science. Transitioning seamlessly into academia, she’s now a fellow of Computer Studies, teaching courses like Computer Literacy and Computer Fundamentals for the Pre-UG program since spring 2024. Before that, she worked as a teaching assistant throughout her undergrad in the same subject and courses, such as Code in Place, Data Analysis, and Advanced Bioinformatics with programming. The fusion of her tenure as a student body, member of the student government, and teaching assistant at AUW premises has provided her a well-rounded perspective from both the student and faculty viewpoints. She has been actively engaged in various educational/scientific conferences, led workshops, and maintained a balanced focus in both major and minor research areas.

Teaching

• Computer Literacy
• Computer Fundamentals

Research interests
Machine Learning, Computational Biology, Internet of Things, and Data Science.

Project involvements

• Identification of Prostate cancer related potential biomarkers using integrated multi-omics and promising drug leads through Computational Drug Designing.
• Discovery of Novel Therapeutic Compounds Against Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Computational Approach Targeting PARN and TERT protein

Publication

• F. Ahmed et al., “Towards a secure 5G-enabled Internet of Things: A survey on requirements, privacy, security, challenges, and opportunities,” IEEE Access, 2024, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3352508.
• F. Ahmed, M. S. Bin Alam, S. Afrin, S. J. Rafa, N. Rafa, and A. H. Gandomi, “Insights into Internet of Medical Things (IoMT): Data fusion, security issues and potential solutions,” Inf. Fusion, p. 102060, Sep. 2023, doi: 10.1016/J.INFFUS.2023.102060. IF 18.56.
• Shawon, S. S., Afrin, S., Yeasmin, N., Azim, M. A., & Alom, Z. (2022). Prediction of IDH1 Gene expression in Glioblastoma Using Machine Learning Techniques. Proceedings of 2022 25th International Conference on Computer and Information Technology, ICCIT 2022, 336–341. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCIT57492.2022.10054918

Ornika Jaman Akhai

Senior Fellow

Ornika joined AUW back in August 2022 as an adjunct math faculty and from summer 2023 semester, she is working as a fellow in the Pre-UG program. She is required to teach a maximum of 15 credit hours per trimester. Along with teaching mathematics, she is committed to mentoring her students and helping them become more confident in both their personal and professional lives.

Ornika started her journey with AUW as a formal student. She graduated from AUW in 2022 with a major in Economics and a minor in Development Studies. Prior to joining AUW as a faculty member, she worked as a Teaching Assistant at her academic level for two different courses.

Teaching

Mathematics in Pre-UG

Research

Research interests
Economics and Developments of Bangladesh, Women’s education

Project involvements

Worked with BRAC (WASH) and Breaking The Silence project, and also worked with UNDP to “Stop cyberbullying and fake news spreading”

Grants Obtained

Received $5000 from UNDP after wining the competition

Shaneeza Binte Alam

Senior Fellow

Shaneeza Binte Alam is currently serving as a Senior Fellow of Mathematics for the Pre-UG program. She joined Asian University for Women as an adjunct instructor in Fall 2023. She earned a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from AUW in 2014, followed by a Master’s in Business Administration with a major in Finance from East Delta University in 2016. In 2018, she embarked on her entrepreneurial journey by launching Jardin de Fleurs, a home décor business that allows her to express her creativity while working with clients with unique preferences and requirements

She attended a training program titled “Changing Perception and Building Classroom Communities,” in 2017, which deepened her passion for education. Being part of the academic journey of enthusiastic students at AUW, helping them build confidence and fostering a love for learning is deeply rewarding for her.

Teaching

Quantitative Reasoning, Level 1 and 2

Research interests

Her primary research interest focuses on the economic dependency of women on male family members, regardless of their own educational backgrounds. She is particularly interested in understanding this dynamic and exploring the social, cultural or religious factors that shape the mindset of women in this regard.

Jyoti Tina Devi

Senior Fellow

Jyoti is a Senior Fellow of Science in the Pre-UG program, with a passion for health, nutrition, and empowering young girls through education. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health from the Asian University for Women (AUW). Jyoti worked on a research project focused on women’s reproductive health for one and a half years before beginning her career in education. Her dedication to teaching and creating health awareness among young women is a driving force in her academic and professional pursuits.

Teaching

1. Integrated Science
2. Women’s Health

Samiha Mannan

Senior Fellow

Senior Fellow at the Pre-undergraduate level – Mathematics, Asian University for Women, Bangladesh

M.Sc. in Water Science, Policy, and Management, University of Oxford (2022-2023), United Kingdom

B.Sc. degree in Environmental Sciences with minor in Mathematics, Asian University for Women (2017-2021), Bangladesh

Teaching

Pre-UG Mathematics Level 300 & 400

Research

Wastewater Management and Water security issues in developing countries.

Abrar Taher

Senior Fellow

Abrar Taher, a Computer Studies Fellow at Asian University for Women, previously served as a Lecturer in the CSE department at Port City International University. He received his B.Sc. (Engg.) in Computer Science and Engineering from Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology (CUET), Chittagong, Bangladesh in 2023. His research centers on image processing. He published his thesis work at an International conference in Bangladesh organized by IEEE Bangladesh section. He possesses a strong affinity for acquiring and imparting knowledge in programming languages. His enthusiasm is focused on creating a beneficial influence within the realms of education, teaching, and research. He consistently demonstrates a keen dedication to assisting aspiring students in fostering a genuine interest in learning and research.

Teaching

1. Computational Thinking & Programming
2. Computer Literacy

Research interests:

1. Image Processing
2. Medical Images
3. Deep Learning
4. Regression & Classification

Nusrat Jahan Yamim

Senior Fellow

Nusrat Jahan Yamim is presently working as a Senior Fellow of Science under the Pre-UG program. She holds a bachelor degree from Asian University for Women in Bioinformatics and Biotechnology. She is committed to create an engaging environment for the students, fostering an inquisitive mindset and encouraging them to explore STEM fields.

Teaching

• Integrated Science
• Women’s Health and Reproductive Rights

Research interests

• Cell biology, codon usage biology, cancer biotechnology
• Biophysical characterization, drug-drug interaction, Metabolic Profiling

Akhtari Zameel

Senior Fellow

Akhtari Zameel is serving as a Fellow in Computer Science at Asian University for Women. She received her B.Sc. (Eng.) in Computer Science and Engineering from the International Islamic University Chittagong and her M.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering from the Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey. Currently, she is attending a doctoral degree at Sakarya University, Turkey. She is the author of several articles in journals and conferences. She has received recognition for her excellent academic performance, awarded by TUBITAK and Erasmus + scholarship program, Turkish Gov. full funded scholarship for both her masters and Ph.D. She is extremely motivated to have a beneficial influence in the fields of teaching, research, and education.  She is constantly driven by a desire to increase the interests of students in learning and study.

Teaching

Computer Fundamental

Research interests

• Internet of Things (IoT),
• Wireless Communication,
• Blockchain,
• Machine Learning,
• Deep Learning.

Project involvements

• Adjustable Intelligent Antenna Based Next Generation Internet of Things (IoT).
  Sponsored by: The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)

Saifa Ahmed

Fellow

Saifa Ahmed completed her Bachelor of Science with a major in Public Health from Asian University for Women, graduating with the highest CGPA from her department in August 2024. She has developed varied experiences regarding research, teaching, and data analysis during her time at AUW. She also worked as a Research Reviewer at Covidence, developing the systematic review on prenatal drug exposure, and has held positions as a teaching assistant in programs like AUW’s Math & Science Summer School, among others related to health.

She has expertise in SPSS, R Programming, and different data analytics tools, powered by a strong background in both the English and Bengali languages. Saifa is passionate about collaborative learning environments and committed to student success, reflected in the teaching and mentoring roles at AUW.

Ms. Ahmed will be teaching Mathematics in Pre-Undergraduate Programs.

Teaching

Mathematics in Pre-Undergraduate Programs

Adiba Humayera

Fellow

Ms. Adiba is a Fellow of Science, currently teaching Integrated Science and Women’s Health
in a Pre-Undergraduate program. Her strong passion for STEM has been a driving force in
her career trajectory. Prior to becoming a Fellow, she earned a bachelor’s degree in
Bioinformatics and Biotechnology from the Asian University for Women. She aspires to
pursue advanced studies abroad, building on her expertise in her undergraduate field.

Teaching

– Integrated Science (Level 6)
– Women’s Health (Level 5/6)

Miftahul Jannat Mim

Fellow

Miftahul Jannat Mim is a multifaceted professional with a bachelor’s degree in Bioinformatics and Public Health. She possesses a diverse skill set spanning both wet and dry lab techniques, including DNA extraction, PCR, DNA damage analysis & cloning, pharmacology, and bioinformatics tools. Miftahul gained valuable industry experience through an internship in R&D at Beximco Pharma and has collaborated with various research organizations including BCSIR. Currently serving as a teaching fellow in science. Her unique blend of technical proficiency, research experience, and teaching ability makes her a valuable asset in bridging the gap between bioinformatics, public health, and science education.

Teaching

1. Integrated Science
2. Women’s health

Research interests

Miftahul Jannat Mim’s research interests focus on the discovery of anti-cancer compounds, particularly anti-austeric agents for pancreatic cancer treatment. She explores the metabolic vulnerabilities of pancreatic cancer cells in nutrient-deprived environments. Miftahul utilizes bioinformatics tools, especially Cytoscape, for network analysis and visualization of complex biological systems. Her work integrates pharmacology with biotechnology, employing computational methods to predict drug-target interactions and therapeutic efficacy. Her interdisciplinary approach exemplifies the synergy between molecular biology, drug discovery, and data-driven cancer research.

Arshiya Tunazzina Najib

Fellow

Arshiya Tunazzina Najib attended UWC Atlantic College in the UK for high school, a
milestone which she believes was critical in shaping her worldview and commitment to
fostering diverse and inclusive communities. After this, she completed her degree at the
Asian University for Women (AUW) in 2024, where she pursued a Bachelor of Arts in
Economics and Finance as a minor.
During her time at AUW, Arshiya was actively involved in campus initiatives, including
serving as Co-President of the Women Empowerment Project Club, reflecting her strong
belief in gender equality. She also played key roles in the HULT Prize at AUW, where she
served as Finance Director and Co-Campus Director over two consecutive years. As part of
her academic experience, Arshiya worked as a Teaching Assistant for the Labor Economics
course at AUW. In addition to her on-campus roles, she also gained experience teaching at
ALOHA Bangladesh, a mental arithmetic institution, where she developed her passion for
mathematics education.
.
Arshiya has now returned to AUW as a Teaching Fellow in Mathematics, where she is eager
to further develop her skills and deepen her passion for the subject.
In the long run, Arshiya intends pursuing a master’s degree in relation to finance and seeing
herself working in a corporate industry.She is particularly interested in applying her
knowledge of economics and finance in a dynamic professional environment, where she
hopes to make a meaningful impact.

Teaching

Math Level 3

Jareen Tasneem

Fellow

Ms. Tasneem graduated from AUW in 2023 with a major in Economics and a minor in Mathematics. Her teaching career began while she was still in her high school years, and continued even as she studied full-time. During her undergraduate career, she worked with an organization dedicated to women’s empowerment through education, demonstrating her commitment to social justice causes. Her dedication and passion for teaching highlight her drive to make a positive impact in the field of education.

Dr Dale Taylor

Founding Principal

Dr. Taylor is a Canadian and Barbadian citizen who graduated magna cum laude with a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Concordia University in the United States. She holds MA in Education from The College of New Jersey and a Bachelor of Education with Distinction from the University of Alberta in Canada. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from McGill University in Canada. She has led schools in India, Bangladesh, Istanbul and Qatar and has worked as a teacher, social worker and social science researcher.

She is an avid reader and bibliophile and aims to build strong learning communities.

Dr. Taylor also seeks out spectacular locations in the world to hike, swim and cross-country ski.

Research interests

International Education

Global Citizenship

Teacher Pre-Service Programs

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Education Spaces

Women in Educational Leadership

Project involvements

Association of International Educational Leaders of Color Research Collaborative

European Council of International Schools Anti-Racism Task Force

Authored Books

A Teachers Guide to Social Studies: Brazil

Book Chapters, etc.

Taylor, D. (2008) Helping international students adjust to living and studying in an Arabic and Islamic environment. In I. Guske & B.C. Swaffield (Eds.), Educational landscapes in the 21^st Century (pp. 219-232). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Journal Articles

Taylor, D. (2023) Creating Truly Inclusive Learning Environments for K-12 Students

Taylor, D. (2019). Making Meaning of IB Approaches to Teaching and Learning: A Phenomenological Study of Teachers’ Experiences Implementing the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (Doctoral dissertation).

Taylor, D. (2019) Design Thinking for Educational Leaders, International Baccalaureate Regional Conference, Istanbul

Taylor, D. (2019) Mapping the New Educational Landscape, SEV Schools, Istanbul

Taylor, D. (2015) Assessing Non-Cognitive Learning Outcomes, Centre for Inspiring Minds, ACS International Schools, London

Taylor, D. (2012) International Mindedness, Al Bayan School IB Teacher Conference, Doha

Taylor, D. (2010) Connecting Cultures and Providing New Centers of Learning, Worldwide Forum on Education and Culture, Rome

Working Papers / Reports

Taylor, D. (2024) New Pedagogies for Inclusive Learning Environments

Taylor, D. (2024) International Education: State of Play and Current Issues

Taylor, D. (2024) New Models of Support for Women as Educational Leaders

Rehana Khan

Senior Director of Administration & Admissions

MA, English Literature

Master Trainer ELT

Yasmin Afifi

Teaching Fellow

Yasmin Afifi is a 2022 graduate of Wellesley College, with double majors in Computer Science and Cinema & Media Studies. During her time there, Yasmin served as a teaching assistant for Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction courses. She also co-led women’s health and co-design workshops in Kenya through MIT’s Gender & Development D-Lab program. As an Albright Global Affairs Fellow, she collaborated with Small Acts for Sustainability to scale their online presence across the US, South Africa, and India. In addition, Yasmin also studied Cinematography and the societal impacts of visual media at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). After graduating, she worked as a software engineer in Boston before spending a year living in Germany as a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) for Young Professionals fellow. In Germany, she split her time between German language school in Cologne and attending technology and entrepreneurship courses at the University of Hamburg. In Hamburg, she also worked with the ReDI School of Digital Integration, providing refugees with access to free tech courses and career support.

Afrah Chowdhury

Teaching Fellow

Afrah Chowdhury, a recent Physics graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, immigrated from Bangladesh to the United States as a young girl. She aspires to pursue graduate studies in Physics following the AUW Teaching Fellowship. Afrah’s research experience mainly focused on understanding glass properties, contributing to the field of glass physics. Afrah’s interest in teaching stems from her experience participating in the Penn Libraries Community Engagement Program (PLCE), where she engaged Philadelphia community members on topics related to literacy and library access, contributing to a learner-centered approach. Afrah also collaborated on projects selecting children’s books with social justice and emotional literacy themes.

Nicolette Decker

Teaching Fellow

Nicolette Decker (or Nico) is a Wellesley 2024 graduate, with a B.A. in English & Creative Writing. While at Wellesley, Nicolette was the Treasurer of the Equestrian Team, performed with Wellesley Wushu, Upstage, and the Babson Players, and was published in The Wellesley Review, Wellesley’s literary magazine. Nicolette has won numerous writing awards in Wellesley’s English Department, including the Johanna Mankiewicz Davis Prize for Prose Fiction, the Jacqueline Award for Literary Essay, and the Virginia Wainwright Sonnet Prize. She has a passion for teaching, and was previously an SAT/ACT English tutor, where she helped students raise their score by hundreds of points. Nicolette also worked as a Summer Marketing Intern with Strand Magazine, a Mystery magazine, where she was promoted to Scrum Master/Lead Intern in her last two months.

Mimi Diaz-Salgado

Teaching Fellow

Mimi Diaz-Salgado, a Wellesley College alum, graduated with a double major in Peace and Justice Studies and Latin American Studies. She also studied abroad in the University of Bologna, Italy and with Advanced Studies in England in Bath, England. In her senior year of college, Mimi conducted extensive research on the impact college-access programs have on first-generation, low-income students in various universities. She presented her findings, titled “‘Always Personal Best:’ Reflections from FGLI Students in a College-Access Program,” for the New England Council on Latin American Studies in November 2023. Most recently, Mimi interned with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino, focusing her work and research on Mexican orchids and highlighting their functions within Indigenous communities all over the country.

Samantha Fisher

Teaching Fellow

Samantha Fisher is a 2024 graduate of Yale University, where she majored in History and received a Certificate of Advanced Language Study in Italian. She recently received the Edwin W. Small Prize for her original research on religious toleration in early colonial Maryland. While at Yale, she spent a summer studying abroad in Siena, Italy. She also volunteered as an ESL tutor for the New Haven community and with the student ministry at St. Thomas More Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale. She was active in Yale’s theater scene, performing, directing, and working backstage on seventeen shows and two short films, including three of her own original plays. In 2023 and 2024, she interned at the American Battlefield Trust, the largest American nonprofit organization dedicated to historic battlefield preservation. While there, she conducted original education policy and historical research and wrote for the Trust’s website.

Emma Guenthner

Teaching Fellow

Emma Guenthner earned a Bachelor of Arts from Earlham College where she double majored in Human Development & Social Relations and Spanish & Hispanic Studies and minored in Studio Art. While at Earlham, Emma spent a semester studying in Granada, Spain, where she also volunteered as an English teacher for Spanish-speaking immigrants. As a junior, she received a grant from the Freeman Foundation to pursue a summer internship in Shanghai, China where she taught for Stepping Stones China. Following graduation, she worked in Lexington, Kentucky as the Communications and Outreach Liaison for the non-profit, Seedleaf, through the AmeriCorps VISTA program. During this time, she also worked as an English and writing tutor for Bluegrass Community and Technical College. In 2022, she lived in rural Joya Honda, Guatemala, working as an English teacher for Pre-K and Kindergarten students at The Little Mountain School. Most recently, Emma completed a Fulbright grant where she worked as an English teaching assistant at the National University of the South in Bahía Blanca, Argentina.

Audrey Kim

Teaching Fellow

Audrey Kim graduated from Smith College in 2024, majoring in Statistical and Data Sciences (SDS) and concentrating in Community Engagement and Social Change. While at Smith, she was a peer tutor for the SDS department and worked as a part of a Data Science Corps, collaborating with other students to provide data science services for a local nonprofit. Audrey also spent time as a coxswain on the varsity rowing team, playing on the club ultimate frisbee team, and in the student-run ceramics studio. Interested in the application of data science skills to “common good” issues, such as health, social justice, and the environment, Audrey interned with the data science team at Delfina, a maternal healthcare startup based in San Francisco, CA. She has also volunteered with Wildlife in Crisis, a wildlife rehabilitation clinic in Weston, CT, and most recently, Audrey spent two months learning about farming and sustainability in Wai’anae and Hilo, HI.

Yee-Lynn Lee

Teaching Fellow

Yee-Lynn Lee graduated from Amherst College in 2023, majoring in economics. At Amherst, Lynn was awarded the Economics Department Junior Class Prize, the Hamilton Prize in Economics, and the Walker Prize in Problem Solving from the Department of Mathematics. Lynn served as a teaching assistant, grader, and peer tutor for multiple courses in the economics and math departments, including “An Introduction to Economics” and “Advanced Microeconomics.” She also worked for the online math education company Art of Problem Solving for several years, helping students in grades 5-12 in classes ranging from pre-algebra to calculus. In her sophomore year, Lynn started writing and editing news stories for her campus newspaper, The Amherst Student. She eventually served as editor-in-chief of the paper for a year, where she worked to streamline the production process and promote inclusive journalism. Lynn also held a number of community engagement roles on and off campus, supporting residents as a community advisor for the Office of Residential Life, and providing services to homeless individuals as a caseworker at local nonprofit Amherst Community Connections.

Hannah-Abigail Mosier

Teaching Fellow

Hannah-Abigail Mosier, recently received her MA in Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During her time at UW-Madison, she studied Indonesian as a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellow. As a graduate student, she served as a representative on the intercollegiate Graduate Education and Training in Southeast Asian Studies (GETSEA) consortium, which enhances and supports Southeast Asian Studies programming and resources across North America and beyond. Prior to graduate school, Ms. Mosier worked in marketing and non-profit administration. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Indonesia from 2018 to 2020 where she taught English at a middle-school madrasah. Ms. Mosier received her BA in Public Relations and Women’s and Gender Studies from Syracuse University in 2017.

Olivia Moss

Teaching Fellow

Olivia Moss, a Politics and International Relations undergraduate student from the University of Bath, will be completing her placement year as a Teaching Fellow at AUW. She is most interested in gender development and is the Campaigns Officer for the University’s Feminism and Gender Equality Group, promoting gender equality on campus. Her experience as a Diplomat for the 2021 Global Youth Diplomatic Forum fueled a passion for international relations. She worked alongside other Youth Diplomats to create policy plans on Indigenous education while learning from experts on topics such as diplomacy and AI, sports diplomacy, and cultural engagement. Olivia’s first experience in teaching came with being a Peer Mentor, and since then, she has continued to explore this passion. She volunteered in Sri Lanka as an English teacher and looks forward to developing her TESL skills and using them to encourage educational gender development.

Li Platz

Teaching Fellow

Li Platz attended Williams College, where she majored in Environmental Studies. Born in China and raised in Wyoming, Li is passionate about environmental communications and gender equity. She has worked as a writer at The Nature Conservancy and helped develop curricula for a program supporting youth climate policy activists in California at Ten Strands, a nonprofit expanding environmental literacy in classrooms.

Afiya Rahman

Teaching Fellow

Afiya Rahman is a 2024 graduate of Harvard University, where she studied Social Studies, with a focus in South Asian Studies. Originally born in Bangladesh, Afiya has lived in Upstate NY her entire life, where she was her high school valedictorian. Afiya is an inaugural member of the 2022 Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship, created by former President Obama and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. At Harvard, Afiya was co-president of the South Asian Women’s Collective, and co-coordinator of the Muslim-American Studies Working Group. She has interned at various non-profit organizations, such as the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. She has also served on the editorial board for the Harvard Crimson, publishing and writing opinion pieces. Her senior thesis, which focuses on the lives of the Bangladeshi American diaspora in New York, was awarded the 2024 Alwaleed Bin Talal Undergraduate Thesis prize at Havard.

Emma Ryan

Teaching Fellow

Emma Ryan is a 2024 graduate of the University of Notre Dame where she majored in Political Science and Global Affairs. At Notre Dame, she was a research assistant for the Notre Dame Reparations and Compliance Lab where she published a paper on the World Bank Inspection Panel in the Texas International Law Journal and served as a teaching assistant in classes on International Development and Positive Psychology. She also was a co-lead for the Indiana Driving Record Card Project, a student group that collaborated with local advocates to lobby for a bill that would provide undocumented Indiana residents with a record card to drive legally. Emma interned at the United Nations Global Compact in New Delhi, India, sparking her interest in South Asia. She also studied abroad in Santiago, Chile and returned the following summer to volunteer at a children’s organization.

James Allan Scanlan

Teaching Fellow

James Allan Scanlan is a politics and International Relations student from the University of Bath. He was born and raised in Manchester, UK. James is extremely interested in Politics and Culture. He has travelled extensively across the globe, immersing himself in many foreign cultures such as Bengali and Vietnamese, and is currently learning Mandarin and Bangla.  James has also worked for 3 British Members of Parliament. Whilst working in the office of the MP for Bath, he worked within an election campaign team. This team led the Liberal Democrat party to win a historic victory in the 2023 Bath and Northeast Somerset Council Election. He also hosted and produced politics and foreign affairs interviews and podcast series for his university Radio station (URB).

Shivank Singh

Teaching Fellow

Shivank Singh is a lawyer with research interests in constitutional theory, human rights, and legal philosophy. He read for his Master of Law (LLM) at Cambridge as a Commonwealth & Cambridge Trust Scholar, and for his LLB and BA in India. Shivank has been part of several research and advocacy initiatives. During his LLM, he served as Project Manager for a Cambridge Pro Bono Project aimed at researching the treatment of women in conflict with the law in cases of infanticide. As a Research Assistant at the Centre for Justice, Law and Society (CJLS) and a student at the Law and Marginalization Clinic at Jindal Global Law School, he worked in the areas of reproductive and health rights, family law, and human rights of the elderly. He graduated with a Dean’s Award for ‘Outstanding All-Round Performance.’ During his undergraduate degree, Shivank was also involved in university debate and served as a judge in various debate tournaments.

Shireen Amna Waraich

Teaching Fellow

Shireen Amna Waraich graduated from Princeton in 2024 with a major in History and a minor in South Asian Studies. Born and raised in Islamabad, Pakistan, Shireen was involved in student advocacy throughout her time at Princeton and served as the President of the Princeton South Asian Progressive Alliance (SAPA), and the President of the Pakistani Students Association. During her time there, she also served an Editor for the Princeton Historical Review, Tiger Trends, and the Princeton Progressive. Additionally, she served as an Academic Peer Advisor, providing academic support and mentorship to a group of 16-18 first-year students. Outside of the university community, Shireen interned at the Bronx-based Smiling Coast Women Empowerment Network. Interested in archival research and cultural preservation, she also spent time as an intern at the 1947 Partition Archive, working as a digital archivist. Shireen was a recipient of a summer research grant from the South Asian Studies Department in 2023, and a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship for Pakistan in 2023.

Anya Wintner

Teaching Fellow

Anya Wintner, a 2024 Wellesley College graduate, majored in International Relations with a concentration in History and minored in Computer Science. Anya was a data science research assistant in the Wellesley Credibility “Cred” Lab, and spent her senior fall as a Policy and Communications intern at J-PAL Global, an organization with the mission to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. She spent almost two years teaching students to code through games at the afterschool program Code Ninjas in Wellesley, Massachusetts. While teaching there, Anya was responsible for redesigning the junior class curriculum, transforming a one semester program into a 2-year course.

May Yuasa

Teaching Fellow

May Yuasa, a 2024 graduate of Cornell University, majored in civil engineering with a focus on sustainable infrastructure. She was a team lead of a project team within Cornell University Sustainable Design, as well as the structural lead for Engineers Without Borders. She is also a recipient of the Community Partnership Funding Board of Cornell University. During her undergraduate years, she worked at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum on Cornell’s campus as a student educator intern and was the president of an undergraduate organization Women’s Higher Education Now, which primarily focused on fundraisers and awareness events for AUW. In this capacity, she started an English exchange program between Cornell students and students enrolled in the pre-undergraduate program for mentorship, professional development, and English language practice.

Antara Binth Iqbal

Teaching Fellow

Antara has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Independent University, Bangladesh. She completed her MBA in Finance from East Delta University. Her passion for teaching took her to Germany to pursue a second masters.

She completed Master of Science in Economics & Finance from Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences with a thesis on Financial literacy in 2017. She worked on similar research during her master’s program analyzing the impact of education & income on human development.

Previously she has worked as a Development Trainee for CARE Bangladesh. She worked for people in need of alternative income sources, under the USAID project, that alleviated their living conditions through job placements.

Her career in academia started with Daffodil International University as a Teaching Apprentice Fellow, ending in a Lecturer position, in the height of the Corona pandemic. This paved her path to upgrading her online education management skills, operating LMS (learning management systems) and learning interpersonal skills especially in handling students and unconventional situations.

She believes education & literacy is the way forward and the elevator to a better life and better future for all. She is dedicated to work in the education sector to witness and contribute to making her vision a reality.

Ferowza Swapnil

Chief Teaching Fellow and Program Coordinator

Ferowza completed her bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Mathematics from AUW in 2019, where her academic excellence and leadership were recognized with the Andy Matsui Award. During her time at AUW and even after graduation, she took on various roles, including serving as a Teaching Assistant in the Economics department, Senior Tutor at the AUW Writing Center, and Academic mentor to Pathway for Promise students.

After her undergraduate studies, Ferowza briefly worked as a Revenue Analyst at Marriott International in Hong Kong before pursuing her Master’s degree in Economic Policy in Global Markets at Central European University in Vienna, Austria. It was during her Master’s program that she developed a keen interest in the Economics of Education and Education Policy design and implementation.

Ferowza’s dedication to community service and potential to contribute to alumni communities earned her the prestigious Alumni Scholarship award at CEU. As an Alumni Scholarship Recipient, she actively engaged in maintaining vlogs about the university, reaching out to potential students as a UNIBUDDY, fostering community bonds, and establishing partnerships with potential organizations in the development sector for creating placement opportunities for CEU students. She was also part of the team that initiated the first policy incubator for CEU.

In her current role, Ferowza is dedicated to ensuring the overally efficient operation of the Graduate Program in Education. She facilitates communication with partner universities and AUW-SF while also overseeing AUW’s Afghan Online Learning Project, known as Roshin e Omid.

Teaching

She co-teaches courses such as “Curriculum Development” alongside Dr. Glenn Devoogd and “Introduction to Global Education Policy and Analysis” with Dr. Kathlyn Eliott at the Graduate Program in Education. Ferowza also conducts writing workshops in the program to further enhance the educational experience.

Research Interest

Her research endeavors primarily revolve around addressing unique inequality challenges. Currently, Ferowza is focused on identifying sustainable and innovative solutions to educational barriers, particularly in regions where access to education is hindered by political obstacles.

Zuhairia Ibnat

Teaching Fellow

Zuhairia is a graduate of AUW Batch of 2020 with a double major in Environmental Science and Bioinformatics. Her undergraduate degree was followed by a Masters of Science in Quantitative and Computational Biology from the University of Trento in Trento, Italy. She has worked on research projects related to single-cell sequencing and data analysis during her masters. Her research interests include studying omics data from a holistic point of view.

Apart from her academics, Zuhairia is an enthusiast of organizing, traveling and crafting.  Currently, she is working as the Teaching Fellow for the Graduate Program in Education at AUW.

Rubiyat Jahan Sarker

Teaching Fellow

Rubiyat has graduated from Asian University for Women with a major in Economics and a minor in Mathematics. She completed MSc. in Economics from North South University, Dhaka Bangladesh right after her graduation. Alongside this research intensive Master’s program, she attended the Fellowship program of Teach For Bangladesh in 2022. She also served as a TA in the Economics department in her undergraduate years.

Her internship at Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Clearings Limited in 2018 enhanced her experience and interest in research in policy and decision making as she worked in the Legal and Compliance Department. This experience helped her in the Fellowship program and stakeholder management to establish a sustainable library in an underprivileged school.

As part of her research interest she worked as a co-author in an article titled “ High Diversity and Transmission Dynamics of HIV-1 Non-C Subtypes in Bangladesh’ that was published in the journal of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease in 2023. She intends to work in the field of Health Economics and Education.

Rubiyat loves to travel and plans to explore as many places as possible. She loves to watch thrillers and listen to music in her free time.

Teaching

Rubiyat taught Mathematics and Bangladesh Studies to adolescent students of 7th grade

Research interests

Rubiyat is interested in the fields of Health Economics, Education and Development and actively working on them currently.

Project involvements
She previously worked with KOICA on Water Sector Partnership project and Energy and Climate Partnership project.

Journal Articles

High Diversity and Transmission Dynamics of HIV-1 Non-C Subtypes in Bangladesh

https://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/8/9/451

Sumaiya Sharmin

Teaching Fellow

Sumaiya Sharmin is a highly motivated and accomplished professional with extensive experience in both teaching and research. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Economics, with a minor in Development Studies and Mathematics, from the Asian University for Women in 2018. Following this, she completed dual Master’s degrees: a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Calgary, and a Master’s in Public Policy and Leadership from Bangladesh, where she graduated top of her class. 

Sumaiya’s teaching career began as an instructor in the Access Academy at East Delta University, where she was later promoted to Lecturer in the Business School. There, she developed and taught courses such as Academic Reading and Writing, Advanced Academic Reading and Writing, and Student Development Seminar. She later worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Calgary, tutoring courses such as Principles of Macroeconomics and Intermediate Microeconomics. More recently, she has served as an instructor at Robertson College and CIOT College, teaching business and economics courses. In these roles, she excelled at bridging theoretical concepts with practical applications, guiding students through academic challenges while enhancing their learning experience with interactive and experiential teaching methods. 

In addition to her teaching expertise, Sumaiya has a robust research background. She worked as a researcher in both the Health Sciences and Economics department at the University of Calgary. As a Health Economist and Research Assistant, she has contributed to significant government funded projects, including ABCHIP, ABSHIP, and AIDP. Her research has spanned healthcare financing, cost-effectiveness analysis, and policy evaluation, where she conducted literature reviews, quantitative health economics studies, and large-scale data analysis.  

Sumaiya’s blend of teaching, research, and student support experiences has equipped her to foster an inclusive learning environment and drive intellectual development in the academic community. 

Research interests 

Sumaiya’s research interests encompass a diverse range of fields, including Health Economics, Labor Economics, Education Policy, Public Policy, and Gender Studies. 

Publication 

Lu M, Sharmin S, Tao Y, Xia X, Yang G, Cong Y, Yang G, Jiang J, Xiao Y, Peng L, Quan J and Xu B (2024) Effectiveness of acupuncture in treating patients with pain and mental health concerns: the results of the Alberta Complementary Health Integration Project. Front. Neurol. 15:1366685. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1366685 

Tansum Tanha

Teaching Fellow

Tanha completed her undergraduate studies at AUW with a major in Economics and a minor in Development Studies. Following her graduation, she joined BRAC Institute of Educational Development, where she explored roles as Media and Communications Officer, and Short Course Facilitator.

Subsequently, she pursued her Master’s in Economic Policy in Global Markets at Central European University in Vienna, where she honed her data analysis skills. During her time there, she also served as a Social Media Assistant at Central European University. Tanha’s research interest lies in educational policy analysis, and the economics of Early Childhood Education. Drawing from her five years of professional experience in media marketing within educational institutions, her curiosity extends to researching innovative digital media marketing strategies that promote educational equity.

Sharika Tasnim

Teaching Fellow

Sharika Tasnim earned a Master of Arts in Conflict, Security and Development from the University of Sussex. Her undergraduate studies at the Asian University for Women in Politics, Philosophy & Economics, coupled with a minor in Computer Science, provided a solid foundation for her interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving.

Sharika’s professional journey encompasses a range of roles, from serving as an Adjunct Faculty at North East University Bangladesh, where she taught the history and governance of Bangladesh, to her tenure as an International Student Ambassador at the University of Sussex, where she actively engaged with prospective students, offering valuable insights into university life. Sharika interned at Onwelo in Warsaw, Poland, where she underwent training in RPA/Intelligent Automation, demonstrating her adaptability and willingness to explore new domains. Her experience as a Project Associate for the Law and Justice Network at the Youth Policy Forum underscores her commitment to policy reform and research-driven advocacy. She contributed extended academic assistance as a teaching assistant for Composition and Critical Reasoning courses, where she had to aid and communicate with AUW’s diverse student community from different cultural and lingual backgrounds.

Sharika is a polygamist reader. When she is not working or studying, she may be found jamming to kpop music or going into the deep rabbit hole of Reddit trying to decipher the recent Marvel development.

Research interests

Her research interests include the (in)security practices by security actors in the name of national interest, alongside the knowledge of ethnic, moral and religious constructs that govern the security interests.

Conference Paper

Barua, A., T., Tasnim, S., Alom, Z., Aung, Z. & Azim, M., A. (2022, May 10). Data mining and the associated social benefits. In V. Goyal, M. Gupta, S. Mirjalili & A. Trivedi (Eds.). Proceedings of international conference of communication and artificial intelligence (pp. 623-636). Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 435. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0976-4_52

Dr Fatema Alam

Dr Mehri Rezaee

Mental Health Counsellor (Afghanistan)

Dr Mehri Rezaee is from Afghanistan and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Psychology. She also has advanced degrees, including a Master’s and Ph.D. in International Law from Tehran University and Allameh Tabatabaei University in Iran. For over eight years, She has taught international law and human rights courses at undergraduate and graduate levels in universities in Afghanistan. Since September 2022, She has worked with the AUW as an External Wellness Consultant. She is also currently a visiting scholar at the University of Oklahoma. Before this, she worked as a psychologist counselor at the Meraj Consultant Center for two years.

Nabila Afroz

Student Counselor

Graduated with a Master of Science degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Dhaka and started working as a psychologist at AUW on May 29, 2022. Covering all cases related to mental health distress and also working collaboratively with AUW Health Center to ensure the entire well-being of our students She was a Counselor for the UNFPA’s Generation Breakthrough Project: Phase-II prior to joining AUW. She earned her clinical practice degree from Dhaka Medical College and also held a part-time counselor position at the University of Dhaka’s Teacher-Student Center (TSC), Student Guidance and Counseling Office.

Counselling

Offering sessions that are wellness-focused and awareness-raising, Monthly repeating sessions on expressive art, progressive muscle relaxation, and meditation, as well as sessions for developing resourceful groups (Residential Assistant training).

Research Interests

Art and human healing process, Neuro-linguistic programming

Project involvements

• The Psychological Well-being of Blind Students of Chittagong University
• Adaptation of the Trauma Appraisal Questionnaire in Bangla

Engr Abdullah Al Shahid Chowdhury

Junior Instructor

As a junior instructor at AUW, he coordinates prestigious certification programs for industry leaders like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. With a B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from International Islamic University Chittagong, he brings valuable insights and real-world expertise from his prior experience as a technical trainer and electrical engineer in renowned industrial groups. Passionate about guiding and empowering students, he is a dedicated advisor, providing unwavering support to those pursuing valuable certification certificates. Committed to fostering an enriching academic environment, he actively contributes to research activities, inspiring students to unlock their full potential.

Teaching

• Google IT Support Professional Certification Course
• Google Cybersecurity Professional Certification Course
• Google Data Analytics Professional Certification Course
• Google Project Management Professional Certification Course
• Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certification Course

Research interests

• Robotics and Automation
• Internet of Things
• AI, DL, ML, NLP
• Embedded Systems Security
• Power System Resilience and Cybersecurity
• Hardware-Software Co-design
• Energy-Efficient Cloud, Edge Computing
• Quantum Computing
• Energy System

Project involvements

• Design of A Robot for Military Operation & Multipurpose Surveillance.

Developed an advanced rescue and surveillance robot with autonomous and manual control capabilities. Compact, lightweight, and precise for versatile operations.

• IoT Based Vehicle Safety and Accident Position Detecting System.

Developed a smart vehicle safety system to reduce street accidents in Bangladesh. Offers durability, low maintenance, and energy efficiency.

Journal Articles

• Anisur Rahman, S.M.G Mostafa, Md. Shakil Ahmed, Masud Hasan and Abdullah Al Shahid Chowdhury, “Multilevel Automated Car Parking System,” Journal of Advanced Research in Dynamical and Control Systems, Vol. 12, 07-Special Issue, 2020, pp. 1273–1281.

Peer-Reviewed International Conference:

• Abdullah Al Shahid Chowdhury, Yasir Arafat, M. Shafiul Alam, “IoT-GSM Based Controlling and Monitoring System to Prevent Water Wastage, Water Leakage, and Pollution in the Water Supply,” 2022 International Conference on Innovations in Science, Engineering and Technology (ICISET), Chittagong, Bangladesh, 2022, pp. 567-572.

Working Papers / Reports

Graph Neural Network for Traffic Forecasting

Under the guidance of Professor Shams Forruque Ahmed, he is researching traffic forecasting in intelligent transportation systems and the Internet of Vehicles. Focusing on deep learning models, like convolutional and recurrent neural networks, and exploring the potential of graph neural networks (GNNs) for improved performance. Addressing challenges of data privacy and edge device implementation

Publications Record Summary:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5mOBx3oAAAAJ&hl