Sabikun Naher

I am a Bangladeshi Ph.D. student in anthropology at the University of Georgia (UGA). My work sits at the intersection of postcolonial studies, gender, and political ecology, with a focus on South Asia and comparative global contexts. I hold an MA in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University, Massachusetts, USA and MSS and BSS degrees in International Relations from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. My master’s thesis at Brandeis University explored women’s empowerment in Bangladesh through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals. Through research and presentations, I have also examined critical intersections, such as the interface between climate change and women’s vulnerability; how intersectional identities (gender, ethnicity and race) shape violence against women; and religion and women’s rights. These endeavors have strengthened my dedication to dismantling patriarchal structures and addressing gender disparities. My dissertation—'The Marginalization of Ethnic Minorities: The Colonial and Post-colonial Making of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh'—uses archival and ethnographic methods to examine how colonial and post-colonial state-building practices have constructed the CHT through environmental and political discourses, and how these constructions shape ethnic marginalization and majority–minority relations over time. The study centers men’s and women’s lived experiences—how people conceptualize, experience, navigate, and resist socio-political and economic marginalization across regimes.

Professionally, I have nearly eight years of research and program experience with the Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL), the Center for Mass Education in Science (CMES), the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC)–Dhaka, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since Fall 2023, I have served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Georgia (UGA). As an aspiring professor, my teaching philosophy aligns with my research in postcolonial studies, gender, and political ecology: learning should be participatory, reflexive, and accountable to the communities and histories we study. I wish to teach anthropology as a toolkit for questioning “common sense,” recognizing power in everyday life, and engaging differences responsibly. My goals for students are to: 1) analyze how knowledge is produced—by whom and for what purposes; 2) communicate across difference with clarity and humility; and 3) connect anthropological concepts to real-world problems and possibilities.