Nafisa Tanjeem
Nafisa Tanjeem
Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies
Nafisa Tanjeem
VIEW CV (508) 929-8642 ntanjeem@worcester.edu
Office Location
Sullivan-226C
Office Hours:
Please email for this information.
Areas of Expertise
Gender StudiesCritical TheoryCultural StudiesRace and Ethnicity

Bio

Nafisa Tanjeem (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at Worcester State University in Massachusetts, United States. She is also a Research Visiting Scholar in the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University and an Affiliate Faculty in the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University.

  • Click here to view Nafisa Tanjeem’s personal website.

  • Nafisa’s research and teaching interests include transnational, postcolonial, and decolonial feminisms; critical race theory; globalization and feminist politics; critical community engagement; nonprofit industrial complex; critical university studies; and transnational social justice movements with a specific focus on the United States and South Asia.

    Before joining Worcester State University, Nafisa taught at Lesley University, Rutgers University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Dhaka.

  • Nafisa has been actively involved in community organizing and social justice activism. She is an organizer of the Meye (“Woman” in Bangla) network, which is a voluntary, grassroots, and organic network advocating for women’s solidarity and leadership in Bangladesh. In the past, she was a co-chief steward of the core faculty union of Lesley University, which was a part of SEIU Local 509. She organized with the Rutgers University chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) on the garment worker solidarity campaign in New Jersey. She also worked as a Community Organizer and Events Coordinator with the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA) on poverty reduction, gender equity, and youth engagement among South Asian immigrant communities in Toronto, Canada. Nafisa recognizes the value of public scholarship and contributes to many local and international platforms, such as Common Dreams, Jamhoor, the Daily Star, New Age, Prothom Alo, Thotkata, and Bama.

Education
2017
Rutgers University
Women's and Gender Studies
Ph.D.
2009
University of Toronto
Women's and Gender Studies
M.A.
2008
University of Dhaka
Women and Gender Studies
B.S.S.

Research, Teaching, and Community Engagement

    • Introduction to Gender, Race, Sexuality (face-to-face, hybrid, and online)
    • Introduction to Liberal Studies
    • Introduction to Feminist Theories
    • Politicizing Sex, Gender, and Race: Transnational Perspectives
    • Feminist Theory and Writings: Selected Readings from the Early to Contemporary Periods
    • Feminist Debates and Discourses
    • Gender and Development
    • Gender and Globalization
    • Gender and Consumption
    • Doing Good or Looking Good: Decolonizing Community Engagement (face-to-face, hybrid, and online)
    • Transnational Digital Activism (face-to-face and online)
    • Social Media and Social Movements (online)
    • Global Issues and Challenges (face-to-face, hybrid, and online)
    • Research Methods
    • Internship and Seminar: The Non-profit Industrial Complex and Social Justice Organizing (face-to-face, hybrid, and online)
    • Senior Capstone Seminar: Global Social Change (face-to-face, hybrid, and online)
    • Introduction to Women and Gender Studies
    • Immigrant States – Jersey’s Global Routes
    • War – Critical Perspectives
    • Impacts of Economic Inequality on Women’s Health (Online)
    • Women’s Global Health Movements (Online)
    • Health Consequences of Global Pharmaceutical Industry (Online)

Available recordings

“Iran and Women’s Rights,” Durdeshe Bangla, Melbourne, Australia (17 November 2022)
“Domestic Abuse is NOT Okay”, Durdeshe Bangla, Melbourne, Australia (17 August 2022)
“The Killing of Munia: The Chronology of Events and Lack of Rule of Law” [মুনিয়া হত্যাঃ ঘটনাপ্রবাহ ও বিচারহীনতা], Justice for Munia, Bangladesh (8 August 2022)
“From Triangle to Rana Plaza: Workers’ Movement in the Age of Globalization,” Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity, Bangladesh (21 April 2022)
“Women’s Activism in Bangladesh,” Ireland India Institute, Dublin City University, Ireland (12 March 2022)
“What Feminism has Achieved for Women in Bangladesh? What’s Next? [বাংলাদেশে নারীবাদ নারীর কী কাজে এলো? এরপর কী?,” Ogniejatra, Ognie Foundation, Bangladesh (12 March 2022)
“Automation and Women Workers of the RMG Sector in Bangladesh,” Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity, Bangladesh (7 March 2022)
“ ‘We Don’t Want 1 GB Internet for Tk. 8. We Want Safe Roads’: Challenging the Autocratic State in Neoliberal Times,” Bangladesh at 50: Beyond Rhetoric (virtual), South Asia Forum, Queen Mary University of London (11 December 2021)
Discussant of the Report “Governing COVID-19 in Bangladesh: Realities and Reflections to Build Forward Better,” The Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies, University of California – Berkeley, USA (October 12, 2021)
“Experience as a University of Dhaka alumnus and thoughts on the current status of the University of Dhaka,” La fenêtre de Paris [Paris-er Janala], France (15 October 2021)
“COVID-19 and the Effect on Immigrant Women’s Labor,” Saheli – A Boston-based nonprofit organization working with South Asian Communities, Boston, USA (March 24, 2021)
“Tackling Gender-Based Violence in the Digital World,” EMK Center, Dhaka, Bangladesh (December 6, 2020)
“Orange the World: Raise Money to End Violence against Women and Girls – Can the Revolution be Funded,” Pragroshor – A feminist training, research, and resource center in Bangladesh (4 December 2020)
“Gender Sensitivity: Online Live Workshop,” Gen Lab and U.S. Department of State, Bangladesh (28 August 2020)
“The Labor of Fashion, the Global COVID-19 Crisis, and the Politics of Resistance in Bangladesh,” The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (12 June 2020)
“Garment Labor Organizing: A Contested Territory,” Organizing and Resistance across Borders: Bangladeshi Garment Workers’ Experiences, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA (21 September 2018)