Firdous Azim

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Firdous Azim is a professor of English at BRAC University, a literary critic, and a women's rights activist.[1][2][3] She is the chairperson of the Department of English and Humanities at BRAC University.[4] She is a member of Naripokkho.[5]

Early life[edit]

Azim completed her master's degree in English from the University of Dhaka in 1976.[6] She joined the University of Dhaka as a lecturer in 1978.[6] She completed her PhD from the University of Sussex in 1989.[7] She was married to Bashirul Haq, an architect.[8]

Career[edit]

Azim worked at the University of Dhaka till becoming a full professor in the English Department.[6] She joined BRAC University in July 2004.[6]

Azim published her book, The Colonial Rise of the Novel, in 1993 through Routledge.[9][10] The books examines 18th century novels through feminist and post colonial lenses.[11] In June 1994 she published “Lost in India: The Stories of Kim and Gora" in the journal of the Bangla Academy with Professor Kashinath Roy of the University of Dhaka.[12][13]

In 1996, Azim edited the, along with Niaz Zaman, Infinite Variety: Women in Society and Literature through The University Press Limited.[7][14]

Azim, along with Niaz Zaman, edited Different Perspectives: Women Writing in Bangladesh in 1998.[15]

Azim presented her paper, Feminist Struggles in Bangladesh in Creating Collective/Doing Transnational Politics at the European Social Forum, on 16 November 2004 and this paper was later published in the Feminist Review in July 2005.[16]

Azim wrote Women and religion in Bangladesh: new paths for Open Democracy on 19 December 2007.[17] In March 2008, she moderated a discussion on Stories of Change documentary.[18]

Azim moderated a session of the 2012 Hay Festival.[19] She spoke in the Commonwealth Writers Conversation: The Untold Story session of the 2013 Hay Festival.[20] In March 2013, Azim edited Complex Terrains: Islam, Culture and Women in Asia for Routledge.[7]

Azim hosted a panel at the 2014 Hay Festival in which she spoke with Zia Haider Rahman about his new novel, In the Light of What We Know.[21][22] In 2015, she taught at the Umea Centre for Gender Studies in Umeå University.[7]

On 11 August 2016, Azim presented the Nari O Sahitya colloquium at the Central Women's University.[23] She was a judge at the 2016 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.[24]

Azim served as a jury DSC Prize for South Asian Literature of 2018.[25][26] Azim attended the launch of Resonance a literary journal of BRAC University in October 2019.[27] In March 2019, she signed an open letter with a group of other activists accusing the government of Bangladesh of cowardly action for forcefully canceling a talk between Shahidul Alam and Arundhati Roy in Dhaka.[28]

Azim is member of the Board of Trustees of Bangladesh Freedom Foundation.[29] She is an editor of the Feminist Review and member of the Naripokkho and Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Society.[7] She is the leader of Naripokkho's The Forgotten Women of 1971 project.[30][31] On 26 November 2020, she spoke at the Curriculum Integration (CI) Program of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.[32] Azim signed a petition with 41 other academics calling on the government to form a Supreme Judicial Council to investigate allegations against the Bangladesh Election Commission.[33] She attended a session, ‘Women Representing Women’, on the second day of the ‘English JUbilee Lit Fest 2021’ at Jahangirnagar University in March 2021.[34] In October 2021, she signed a letter with 46 other academics condemning attacks on Hindu religious minorities in Bangladesh.[35]

Azim wrote the introduction of the 2022 book Inherited Memories: Third-Generation Perspective on Partition in the East by Zubaan.[36] She is part of the research team for The Gendered Price of Precarity: Workplace Sexual Harassment and Young Women's Agency which is an ongoing project of The British Academy.[37]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Azim, Firdous (2017-06-24). "Redrawing Gender Boundaries in Literary Terrains 18th and 19th May 2017". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  2. ^ Mamun, Abdullah Al (2019-06-29). "Distance and Togetherness: A Reading of La Nuit Bengali and Na Han-yate". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-01-17. Firdous Azim identifies this as the typical western observer positioning himself as an explorer who seems to ascertain the secrets of the "other" world. The woman is seen to be the repository of those secrets, made to open the secret to the explorer.
  3. ^ Manzoor, Sohana (2017-06-24). "Thinking Beyond Boundaries: An Interview with Susie Tharu". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-01-17. Some of this important work has already been taken up by scholars like Firdous Azim and Perween Hasan, but there is much more that needs to be done to uncoverlong forgotten Bangladeshi women writers from the rubble of oblivion.
  4. ^ Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. "Firdous Azim". berkleycenter.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  5. ^ Azim, Firdous (2020-12-09). "Rokeya Day: Rokeya's vision for women". The Daily Star (Opinion). Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  6. ^ a b c d "Professor Firdous Azim Joins BU". BRAC University. Retrieved 26 June 2004.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Firdous Azim, PhD Professor and Chairperson". BRAC University. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  8. ^ "evergreens". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  9. ^ "The Colonial Rise of the Novel". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  10. ^ "The colonial rise of the novel / Firdous Azim". catalog.library.vanderbilt.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  11. ^ "The Colonial Rise of the Novel by Firdous Azim | 9780415095693 | Booktopia". booktopia.com.au. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  12. ^ "Kashinath Roy" (PDF). University of Dhaka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Prof Kashinath Roy no more". The Daily Star. 2021-01-18. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  14. ^ "'Because this book had to be published'". Dhaka Tribune. 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  15. ^ "Different Perspectives: Women Writing in Bangladesh | The University Press Limited". www.uplbooks.com. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  16. ^ Azim, Firdous (July 2005). "Feminist Struggles in Bangladesh". Feminist Review. 80 (1): 194–197. doi:10.1057/palgrave.fr.9400217. ISSN 0141-7789. S2CID 145272607.
  17. ^ "Women and religion in Bangladesh: new paths". openDemocracy. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  18. ^ Sarwat, Nadia (2008-03-16). "Stories of Change: Women tracing a path to live their dreams". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  19. ^ Hossain, Anika. "VEILED EXPRESSIONS". Star Weekend Magazine. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  20. ^ Salam, Upashana (2013-11-22). "Speaking About the Unspeakable". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  21. ^ "Hay Festival to begin November 20". The Daily Star. 2014-11-10. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  22. ^ Mahtab, Mayukh (2014-11-23). "The impossibility of knowing". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  23. ^ "Central Women's University | Colloquium on 'Nari O Sahitya'". www.cwu.edu.bd. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  24. ^ "Nova Gordon-Bell on Commonwealth Prize shortlist". The Gleaner. 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  25. ^ "The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2018 shortlist announced". Hindustan Times. 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  26. ^ "Longlist announced for US $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2018". indulgexpress.com. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  27. ^ "'Resonance' launched at BRAC University". Dhaka Tribune. 2019-10-12. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  28. ^ Batycka, Dorian (2019-03-05). "Shahidul Alam Discussion at Photo Festival Threatened by Bangladeshi Government Censorship". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  29. ^ "Board of Trustees". Bangladesh Freedom Foundation. Archived from the original on 2022-01-15. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  30. ^ "Firdous Azim - JLF Houston". jlflitfest.org/. 2013-09-17. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  31. ^ "Firdous Azim". mayday.leftword.com. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  32. ^ "Dr. Firdous Azim's Lecture at DEH CI Forum II: Fall 2020". University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh. 2021-09-17. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  33. ^ "Form Supreme Judicial Council". The Daily Star. 2021-02-01. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  34. ^ "3-day online lit fest under way". New Age. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  35. ^ "47 eminent citizens denounce communal attacks, demand justice". The Daily Star. 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  36. ^ Datta, Sudipta (2022-01-01). "'Inherited Memories: Third-Generation Perspective on Partition in the East' review: Remnants of a separation". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  37. ^ "The Gendered Price of Precarity: Workplace Sexual Harassment and Young Women's Agency". The British Academy. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
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