Research Interests

My broad areas of interest include decolonisation and higher education, critical pedagogy and curriculum design, transatlantic slave trade, race, ethnicity, state-society relations, multidimensional poverty, inequality, human development, human rights, Indian politics, Middle East politics, democratic decentralisation, local governance, politics of aid and humanitarian action, NGOs and the politics of development, political leadership, refugee, migration and border studies. In, addition, I am interested in exploring the role of leaders in different development contexts – as citizens, as practitioners, as policy makers and as activists.

Career Details

At Lancaster University, I have taught on both undergraduate and postgraduate courses within the PPR department. In addition, I have also taught in LEC and the History department. My research work in relation to the areas of decolonising, race, inequality, gender and refugees has been located within the Educational Research department. In the UK, I have also worked as a practitioner with a national-level NGO based in Lancaster called Money for Madagascar, which funds community development projects on the island of Madagascar. In the past, I have worked with the Youth and Community Services in Lancashire. Before coming to the UK, I worked with a grassroots-NGO and an international school in India.

External Roles

1. East meets West Committee – this women's group based in Lancaster aims to build a better understanding amongst women from both the East and the West by providing various forums for interaction and learning. EmW is very involved in supporting local asylum seekers and refugees.

2. Lancaster Black History Committee - LBH is a new grassroots community group of local residents working to fight racism through education. It was formed in June 2020. The group came together in response to the Black Lives Matter protests in the city, which were led by school children, university students and local unions. The main aim of the group is to make Lancaster a leading example of how Black British histories can be included in all aspects of education, arts and society. The group includes representatives from across the community – local community activists, school-teachers, arts organisations, voluntary groups, academics and historians.

3. Research Coordinator for Lancaster Black History Group's Slavery Family Trees Research Project - I am coordinating a community research project for Lancaster Black History Group that relates to examining the links between prominent Lancaster families and the transatlantic trade in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries.