Introducing our new Associate Director: Dr Kaveri Qureshi!

In this post, new GENDER.ED Associate Director Kaveri discusses her motivations, research, and hopes for GENDER.ED’s future with Communications and Events Intern, Mouna Chatt.

Mouna: Hello Kaveri! Welcome to the GENDER.ED team as our new Associate Director! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what drew you to work with GENDER.ED?

Kaveri: I'm a Senior Lecturer at the Global Health Policy Unit, in Social Policy at the School of Social and Political Science. I’ve been at the University for six years, and GENDER.ED has been very important to me throughout. The network has helped me grow, intellectually and in my feminist politics. GENDER.ED has also helped me to find like-minded community. I am excited about this role as it will allow me to spend even more of my working hours thinking about gender and sexuality issues!

Mouna: What are you currently researching?

Kaveri: My research is about intersectional inequalities in health, work and family life. I'm currently trying to take forward three areas of inquiry. I'm writing about how gender, class, caste, religion and migration shape and differentiate reproductive health and labour in Pakistan, and hope to have an edited volume out on this soon. I also have an edited volume in the pipeline on divorce in Asian contexts, and am writing papers about economic injustices in South Asian women's experiences of marriage and divorce. Third, and going back to my PhD, I have a long-standing interest in chronic disease. I’m involved in new collaborative research on the commercial determinants of health in three low and middle income countries, with a focus on ultra-processed food, alcohol and fossil fuel industry activities. Within this project, I’ll be exploring questions of equity and coloniality.

Mouna: What plans and hopes do you have for GENDER.ED?

Kaveri: My immediate responsibility is to step in and convene the gender and sexuality reading group during Dr. Rebecca Hewer’s sabbatical. I’m very happy to do this, as Becky has led this group to be one of the most vibrant, supportive, provocative and intellectually fulfilling spaces I know in the university. I hope to keep it so! I will be leading on the successful blog series, for which I hope to attend and report on lots of GENDER.ED events, and plan to feature research and initiatives by students and colleagues at all career stages. I will also be leading on the Annual Research Showcase, which this year we hope will put a particular spotlight on undergraduate research. I am looking forward to working closely with the wider team, to take GENDER.ED in exciting directions!

Kaveri Qureshi’s University profile page.