Kazi Ashraf Uddin
Ashraf is a PhD candidate in the School of Law, Society and Criminology at UNSW Sydney. His doctoral project aims to develop an intersectional methodological framework of transgender research in South Asian context.
Prior to his ongoing teaching career (at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh) spanning more than a decade in the field of English and Cultural studies, Ashraf had completed his MA in English Studies from the University of Bordeaux 3 (France) as an Erasmus scholar and BA and MA in English from University of Chittagong. In 2013, he undertook gender research project as a Scholar-in-residence at the Centre for Contemporary Theory (India) with a Ford scholarship.
Both an anglophone and a francophone, Ashraf taught courses like Postmodern literature, Critical theory and Applied linguistics, Advanced French, Translation studies, Psycholinguistics, and Postcolonial literature at both undergrad and postgraduate level. He has been closely involved in designing curriculum for English and French studies at tertiary level in Bangladesh and is an internationally accredited examiner for French higher diplomas.    Â
Research topic
Defining South Asian Transgenderism: Quest for a Queer Methodology through Disability Studies
Synopsis
My doctoral research project aims at developing a South Asian transgender research framework accommodating an intersectional perspective in investigating its epistemological and ontological research questions involving the hijras. Informed by a decolonizing methodological approach, this research aims to locate the socio-anthropological and political nuances of transgender identity in Bangladesh.  Â
Supervisors
Andy Kaladelfos (Scholl of Law, Society and Criminology); Joyce Wu (School of Social Sciences)
Areas of interest
Gender and sexuality studies, Critical posthumanism, Intersectionality, Spatial criticism, Critical pedagogy, Social and cultural anthropology.
- Publications
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- Kamola plays a Drag-Queen: Reading âLolita Complexâ in Humayun Ahmedâs Ghetuputra Kamola (2012) [accepted for publication in Identity in the Globalized World by University Press Limited (UPL), Bangladesh]
- ââViolence that dare not speak its name: Construing and de-construing minority âmenââ (co-author: Mashurur Shahid Hossain) in Discoursing Minority. Eds. Anisur Rahman, Supriya Agarwal, Bhumika Sharma, 01/09/2014, Rawat Publishers, India. pp. 76-96, ISBN-13: 978-8131606407.
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- âHeteronationalistic Necropower: Pandemic Double disenfranchisement and Alienation of Hijrasâ, Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures, Vol 2, N 1. (2020) DOI 10.48250/1031
- âSidewalk and Traffic Intersections: An Urban Anthropological Evaluation of the Spatial Organization and Practices of Dhaka Cityâ, accepted for publication in The Jahangirnagar Review: Part II: Social Science, Vol. XLIII (2019)
- âLocating the Sublime and the Real in Jibanananda Dasâ Poetryâ, Harvest, Jahangirnagar University Studies in Language and Literature, Vol. 34, 2019. Department of English, Jahangirnagar University, ISSN: 1729-8326.
- âUnderstanding Deviant Space: A Study of the Subversion of Power Dynamics in Paharganjâ Crossings VOL. 11 | 2020 | pp. 198-208 | ISSN 2071â1107.
- âVoicing Draupadi: (Re)Constructing the Female Archetypeâ, Southeast University English Department Journal, Vol. 3, 2018. pp. 7-16. ISSN. 2519-1543.
- âConsensual Hallucinationâ: Dystopian Posthuman Condition in Gibsonâs Neuromancer published at Harvest, Jahangirnagar Studies in Language and Literature, Vol. 32, Department of English, Jahangirnagar University] pp. 113-122, ISSN: 1729-8326.
- âSwinging between âRatanâ and âRatnaâ: Gender Ambiguity in Anan Zamanâs Shikhandi Kathaâ Harvest, Jahangirnagar Studies in Language and Literature, Vol. 30, Department of English, Jahangirnagar University. pp. 97-105, ISSN: 1729-8326.
- âSuicide in Sanatorium: Dysfunctional Utopia in Norwegian Woodâ in Harvest, Jahangirnagar Studies in Language and Literature, Vol. 29, Department of English, Jahangirnagar University. pp. 119-128, ISSN: 1729-8326
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- Kazi Ashraf Uddin, Rohingya Hijra Refugees: An Agambenian Understanding of Camp Life in the Production of the Figure of the Southern Transgender Refugees, 2nd International Trans Studies Conference, Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA, September 2024.
- Kazi Ashraf Uddin, Being a Refugee and Being a Hijra: A Reflection on the Ethno-religious Category of Gender Diversity in the Context of Forced Displacement, âDevelopment Futures' Conference (Development Studies Association of Australia), University of Melbourne, Australia, 2024.
- Kazi Ashraf Uddin, Pacing in Academia: Conceptualising Crip Temporalities at Neoliberal Universities, Abolishing the University and Borders in Higher Education | One-day conference hosted by the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, UK, 2023.
- Epistemology of the South: Exploring the Perspectives on Rohingya Refugee Research, 2nd International Conference on âRefugee, Resistance, and Recognition: Global Literary Representations in [Post] post-colonial Perspectivesâ, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, 24-25 February
- âReligious rehabilitation of the Hijras: An Alternative Transgender Integration Model in the Global Southâ, DevNet Conference 2022, University of Auckland, New Zealand, 7-9 December 2022.
- âTranslating âthe breastâ and âthe milkâ: In Search for an Oriental traduction fĂ©minineâ, 7th IATIS Conference: The Cultural Ecology of Translation, Barcelona, Spain + Online, 14-17 September 2021.
- âDefining South Asian Transgenderism: Quest for a Hijra Epistemology through Disability Studiesâ, PhD Student Masterclass Presentation at DSA 2021: Unsettling Development (Online), hosted by University of East Anglia, 24 June â 2 July 2021.
- âA Comparative Reading of Two Translations of Syed Waliullahâs novel, Lal Shaluâ, paper presented at ICLA Congress 2019, University of Macau, China. 29 July â 2 August 2019.
- Locating the Sublime and the Real in Jibanananda Dasâ Poetryâ, paper presented at the International Conference entitled âThe Current Literary Theories and Jibanananda Dasâ, 11 July 2019, University of Barishal, Bangladesh.
- âTeaching French in South Asia: Pedagogical Challengesâ, paper presented for the 23rd International Conference of NELTA, 15-17 February 2018, Kathmandu, Nepal.
- âFrom ChitrÄngadÄ to Chitrangada: Performativity and Transformativtiy of the Queer Bodyâ, panel-paper presented at International conference on âRedrawing Gender Boundaries in Literary Terrainsâ, May 2017, BRAC University, Bangladesh.
- âFrom Material to Meta-Material: Reading Visual Texts (A)Materiallyâ, paper presented at XIXth International Conference on âMaterialities: Objects, Matters, Thingsâ held December 18-21, 2016 at Doon University, India.
- âMonster in the Pastoral: Reading Eco-Subaltern Narrative in South Asian Literatureâ, paper presented at the International conference titled âConference of International Comparative Literature Association 2016 â ICLAâ, University of Vienna, Austria [July 20-27, 2016]
- ââReturn of the Repressedââ or Calling the Repressed: Reading the Spectrality of Lazarus in Literature and Popular Cultureâ, paper presented at International conference titled âThe River: Flows of Innovation and Exchange in the Global(i)zed English Worldâ, March 3-6, 2016, North South University, Bangladesh
- âGoodbye Blue Sky: Reading Post-Industrial Apocalypse in Pink Floydâ, paper presented at National Conference titled "The Machine in the Garden: Literature, Language and Technology in English Studies", 19 September 2015, Daffodil International University, Bangladesh
- ââTo-be-looked-at-nessâ: Masculine Politicized Gaze in Alfred Hitchcockâs Filmsâ, International Conference (IACSS) on âCultural Transformationsâ, December 2011, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
- Violence that dare not speak its name: Construing and de-construing minority âmenâ, (co-presenter: Mashrur Shahid Hossain), International Conference on âMinority Discourses Across Cultures,â March 2012, Central University of Rajasthan, India.
- ââYOU ARE FULL OF SHIT, MANâ: Constructing âTaxi-Driverâ Cult in Filmâ, International Conference on âLanguage, Literature, and Cultural Studies in the 21st Century: translocating, transgressing boundariesâ, May 2012, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh.
- Thou art âbase, common, and popularâ: popular culture and the minoritized âShakespeareâ, (co-presenter: Mashrur Shahid Hossain), 1st Conference on âEnglish and Interdisciplinairity: Shakespeare,â 15-17 December 2012, North South University, Bangladesh.
- Kamola plays a Drag-Queen: Reading âLolita Complexâ in Humayun Ahmedâs Ghetuputra Kamola (2012), 1st International Conference on Social Science and Humanities, 23-25 August 2014, Independent University, Bangladesh.