Special Events
Plenary Panel on “Diverse Reflections on the Conference Theme: Feminist Scholars in Transnational Dialog”

Dr. Afiya Shehrbano Zia
Visiting Assistant Professor of Feminist, Gender and Sexualities Studies
Wesleyan University,
USA
Biography
Afiya S. Zia is a feminist scholar and has taught gender studies at the University of Toronto, Canada, and Habib University in Pakistan. She is author of three books – the most recent one is, Faith and Feminism in Pakistan; Religious Agency or Secular Autonomy? (2018, Sussex Academic Press). She has authored over a dozen peer-reviewed essays in scholarly publications including, Signs (2018), International Feminist Journal of Politics (August 2016), and Feminist Review (2009) and contributed chapters for over 10 edited volumes, including an award-winning Routledge publication on Human Rights.
Afiya Zia is an active member of the women’s and human rights movements in Pakistan, serves as a board member of the Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability and, is an advisory member of the Centre for Secular Space, UK. Her current research work is on Pious and Populist Political Muslim Masculinities, and on the #MeToo movement in Pakistan. At Wesleyan, Afiya will be teaching Sex/Gender Critical Perspectives and offering courses on Women’s Political & Sexual Revolutions in the Middle East & South Asia, and Decolonization, Feminism and Human Rights.

Dr. Catherine Ndinda
Research Director
Human and Social Capabilities (HSC)
South Africa
Biography
Catherine Ndinda is an urban sociologist who holds MSc in Urban and Regional Planning (Development) and PhD in Social Science (Gender & Housing). She has been a principal investigator in numerous research projects including the national Baseline assessment of informal settlements targeted for upgrading (2016) study. The findings were published into a main report and summary report by the National Department of Human Settlements (2020). She has been the principal investigator in studies such as women’s access to the city Gender planning, budgeting monitoring and evaluation and the national food security study. She has been involved in policy review and analysis of sectoral policies and programmes. She has authored journal articles, book chapters, and policy briefs focusing on human settlements, migration, and non-communicable diseases. She is currently a Research Director, Human and Social Capabilities, Human Science Research Council & Honorary Professor of Development Studies, University of South Africa.

Dr. Zamurrad Awan
Associate Professor
Political Science Department, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University)
Pakistan
Biography
Dr. Shehzadi Zamurrad Awan is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science. She has extensive experience of fifteen years in academics. She frequently writes in English newspapers and magazines over a range of socio-political issues, particularly dealing with national and international politics. Dr. Awan has 12 HEC-recognized research articles (published in 6 national and 4 international journals) and 2 contributed chapters to her credit. Dr. Awan has actively participated in 9 international and 4 national conferences. In this year, her significant achievement was the acceptance of her panel proposal with 2 international scholars, for the Global Liberal Arts Alliance Institute Transnational Feminisms, at The American University of Paris, France. Dr. Awan also serves as the managing editor of FCCU’s “Forman Journal of Social Sciences.”
Book:
Women and Social Change in Pakistan, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2022.
Description: The book highlights the effects of education, media, legislation, executive measures, political process, and civil society on women of Pakistan.

Prof. Elhum Haghighat
Chair at Lehman College &
The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY)
USA
Biography
Elhum Haghighat is a professor of political science (and chair) at Lehman College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). Her research is interdisciplinary and focuses on Demography (intersectionality of politics & demography, contextual demography), Development & Democratization, Politics of Inequality and Social Stratification, Gender, and Social Justice, and the nexus between education, work, and social mobility. Her regions/countries of expertise are the Middle East & North Africa (MENA).
Her books are:
– Demography & Democracy: Transitions in the Middle East & North Africa, published by Cambridge University Press.
– Women in the Middle East & North Africa: Change & Continuity, published by Palgrave-Macmillan.
Her publications [ http://www.elhum.com/publications.html] have appeared in a variety of peer reviewed journals including Middle East Critique; American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences; Identities: Journal of Politics, Gender and Culture; Industrial Relations, A Journal of Economy and Society; International Review of Sociology/Revue Internationale de Sociologie, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, International Studies in Sociology of Education; Diaspora: Journal of Transnational Studies; Review of Middle East Studies (RoMES); International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES).
She has held positions as a senior research scientist, consultant, quantitative and policy analyst for the U.S. Department of Labor, The World Bank, the Executive Office of Public Leadership of the ETS and published reports on politics of inequality and social justice, education, immigration policies. In addition, she has held visiting professorial posts at Bucknell University and Temple University prior to her positions at CUNY. Her current scholarly interests are on demographic and democratic transitions in the MENA region and the intersection of gender and politics.
Workshop on “Successful Strategies in Climate Crisis for Women Asylum-Seekers and Refugees"
Moderator

JOAN MATHIEU
Immigration Lawyer
USA
As the owner of her immigration law practice in Rhode Island, USA, Joan has for over 25 years devoted her law practice to representing asylum-seekers, victims of crimes, domestic violence, social, political, and religious persecution. She earned her Master’s degree in Public Administration at Harvard University, her law degree from Boston University, and her undergraduate degree at Vassar College. A longtime member of the American Immigration Law Association and past President of the Central Florida Chapter, Joan has been a frequent speaker at immigration law conferences and before community groups. Moreover, she has written many articles on immigration law and policy. She served in the Peace Corps in Gabon, Africa.
Publication Workshop
What is Feminist Publishing? A Workshop on Women’s Studies Scholar-activist Writing
Moderator

PROF. DIANA J. FOX
Director, Institute for Gender and
Development Studies (IGDS)
Regional Coordinating Office
The University of the West Indies (UWI),
Jamaica

Nupur Ray
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
Kamala Nehru College
University of Delhi
India

Goodness Thandi Ntuli
NIHSS - University of KwaZulu-Natal
Post Doctoral Fellowship Student from 2021-2023
South Africa.

Lihini Ratwatte
Gender and Development Specialist /
Independent Researcher
Sri Lanka

Vivienne Tailor
Independent Researcher
Comparative Film, Gender Studies & Transitional Justice
USA
Film Screening (José, a film by Li Cheng | Venice Film Festival Winner) & Panel Discussion
Sensitively written and beautifully performed, this passionate portrait of a young man’s journey in search of emotional fulfillment, shows the complexity of a same-sex relationship against the background of the harsh life in contemporary Guatemala. “José” by Li Cheng world premiered at Venice film festival (where “political film” is championed, alongside celebrity and entertainment); it’s the first film from Central America ever presented at Venice; it features indigenous Mayan-Guatemalan actor-activist Enrique Salanic and an all-Guatemalan cast and crew; and has featured on Sundance channel, in USA cinemas, and at 200+ film events (campuses, classrooms, conferences, art and cultural centers, and 100+ film festivals) in 70+ countries worldwide.
Moderator

PROF. DIANA J. FOX
Director, Institute for Gender and
Development Studies (IGDS)
Regional Coordinating Office
The University of the West Indies (UWI),
Jamaica

Dr. George F Roberson
PANELIST
Academic, Artist,
Social Advocate
USA
Biography
George F Roberson, PhD: academic, artist, social advocate. Dr Roberson works at sites of contestation and negotiation, employing a variety of social theories, place theory, art theory and postcolonial theory. In our especially challenging times, he’s foregrounding fiction filmmaking, and a range of theory-into-practice interventions. Dr. Roberson is writer-producer of narrative feature films that confront contemporary issues, to reach globally, spark dialogue and debate, and promote creativity and regeneration. His recent film, “José” by Li Cheng (https://linktr.ee/geo_arts), was made in Guatemala and Mexico amidst today’s all-too-common realities: deeply rooted violence and machismo, and failing social, political and economic systems – accordingly it’s about the search for love, livelihood, hope, change and inspiration.
Dr. Roberson holds a PhD in Geosciences from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst; was Fulbright Scholar to Morocco for research with the International Centre for Performance Studies, Tangier; since 2015, he’s served on the Jury of Cyprus International Film Festival and Bridges International Film Festival (Greece); a city-and-society urbanist, he’s lived and worked in 50+ countries. He’s making more films in Latin America, Africa and South and Southeast Asia, so is always seeking creatives and collaborators – he can be reached at suducinema1@gmail.com. Originally from The Berkshires in Lenox, Massachusetts, USA, he currently lives in Mexico City.

PROF. FAWZIA AFZAL-KHAN
PANELIST
Director, Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program (2009-15)
Fulbright Specialist (2015-2022)
Professor, Department of English
Montclair State University, USA
Biography
Fawzia Afzal-Khan was Director of the Women and Gender Studies Program from 2009-15, Professor of English at Montclair State University, and recipient of the University Distinguished Scholar Award 2009/10. She is author of two books of scholarly criticism, Cultural Imperialism: Genre and Ideology in the Indo-English Novel (Penn State Press 1993), and A Critical Stage: The Role of Secular Alternative Theatre in Pakistan (Seagull Press, 2005). She is co-editor of The PreOccupation of Postcolonial Studies (Duke University Press, 2000), and Editor of the best-selling anthology, Shattering the Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out (Interlink Books 2005). Her memoir: Lahore with Love: Growing Up With Girlfriends Pakistani Style was published by Syracuse University Press in 2010.
Afzal-Khan is a trained vocalist in North Indian Classical music, a published playwright and poet, and has worked as an actor and performer for Ajoka Theatre Troupe of Pakistan, as well as with the experimental theatre collective Compagnie Faim de Siecle of which she was one of the founding members. Her one-woman show Scheherezade Goes West and plays Sext of Saudade (co-written with Annie Lanzillotto) and Jihad against Violence (co-written with Bina Sharif) have been published in The Drama review, and performed internationally.
She serves as Contributing Editor on The Drama Review, and is Founding Chair of the South Asian Feminist Caucus of The National Women’s Studies Association of North America, where she also served as a member of the Governing Council. She was recently named on the Editorial Advisory Board of a new peer-reviewed e-journal published by CUNY called Arab Stages. She was awarded 2 Fulbright-Hays Fellowships to Pakistan during AY 2015-16 and has just completed her final Fulbright Specialist appointment at Forman Christian College (FCCU) in Lahore in March, 2020.
She is Creative Director and Producer on an award-winning short documentary film about Pakistani Female Singers entitled Siren Song: Women Singers of Pakistan, for which she won a development grant from the National Endowment o the Humanities in 2011. Her most recent book is Siren Song: Understanding Pakistan Through its Women Singers (OUP: 2020), which was launched in February 2020 at the Karachi Literary Festival.
Organized By

- The International Institute of Knowledge Management
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