Researcher | Educator | Writer
I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Geography at Indiana University Bloomington (IU). My work bridges human geography, refugee studies, and international development, focusing on the governance of displacement and the lived experiences of marginalized communities.
My multi-method research examines the intersections of territory, mobility, and infrastructure development, particularly how humanitarian and state practices shape the lives of refugees in the Global South. Through multi-sited ethnography in Kutupalong refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar city, and Bhasan Char Island, I explore the spatial, social, and environmental dimensions of the Rohingya community’s protracted displacement. My dissertation, Refugee Habitats: Producing and Maintaining Displacable Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh, develops the concept of “refugee habitats” to analyze how camps, cities, and islands produce securitized spaces of governance and control against refugees’ right to belong and move. My work further unveils the geopolitics of humanitarianism and historicizes the current crisis of our time - forced mobility.
I am passionate about connecting classroom learning to real-world experiences through teaching and mentorship. As a Kovener Teaching Fellow at Indiana University, I have developed inclusive pedagogies that center student voices and experiences. My courses, such as Regions of the World, encourage students to critically engage with questions of inequality, geopolitics, representations, and environmental justice.
I value engaging with initiatives that accommodate diverse voices and blur the boundaries between universities and communities. I carry forward my experience as a Fulbright alum to mentor international students in social sciences and humanities in their pursuit of higher education. I helped launch and run the Center for Refugee Studies at IU, supporting refugee students and inviting scholars to disseminate research on forced migration.
Publications
*If you’re unable to access any of the articles through the journals’ website, please don’t hesitate to reach out, and I’d be happy to provide a copy.
Peer-reviewed journals
What happens when a million stateless Rohingya population seek refuge in a borderland? This article dives into Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where the arrival of Rohingya refugees has redefined space, identity, and politics. Through mobile ethnographic research, I expose how borderlands become sites of territorial and identity politics. Introducing the lens of "hybrid governmentality” reveals how state practices, from ID cards to surveillance, enforce physical and social boundaries between refugees and citizens. This is a story of displacement, division, and the everyday politics that govern life in the camps.
How do low-income communities adapt when food prices rise beyond reach? This article uncovers the dual forces of faith and innovation that help Bangladeshi communities navigate chronic food price volatility. Drawing from three years of qualitative research, it reveals how a mix of self-help and fatalism enables survival but limits transformation. From cutting meals to adopting makeshift diets, these strategies highlight resilience under duress, yet expose the absence of collective action and systemic support to escape poverty’s grip.
How do refugees reshape cities while being systematically excluded from them? This article examines Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Sri Lankan Tamils in India, and Rohingyas in Bangladesh to reveal how displacement disrupts ideas of citizenship and belonging across South Asia. Amid geopolitics and humanitarianism, cities become arenas of "unbelonging," where state policies enforce segregation, mundane bureaucratic violence, and spatial control. Yet, refugees challenge these exclusions, shaping urban economies and defying attempts to render them permanently displaceable.
Public Scholarship and Insights
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