Biography of Qazi Arka Rahman
Qazi Arka Rahman
Assistant Professor
Qazi Arka Rahman is faculty (on leave) of the Department of English at Jagannath University and currently a doctoral student at West Virginia University, USA. His areas of interest are Digital Humanities (DH), Postcolonial South Asian Literary Studies, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, and Critical Theory. He is curious about the role of fiction in shaping the concepts of nation and nationality in modern South Asia and seeks to understand the multidimensional identity politics operating there. He is a firm believer in the power of narratives and actively tries to weave that philosophy into his pedagogical approach. He also enjoys critical studies of science-fictions, films, popular culture, and loves anything cyberpunk! He is an executive member of ASLE Bangladesh Planning Committee - which seeks to inspire and promote intellectual work in the environmental humanities and arts. He acts as one of the organizers of Golpokotha, a literary adda facilitated by the EMK center in Dhaka, which acts as a platform for young and emerging writers to showcase their creative works. He is also interested in acting and directing and has worked in the production of two short films, one of which has won an award in The Glasgow Cultural Program 2014.
Education
2018-present Ph.D. student, Department of English, West Virginia University
2015 MBA, Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Dhaka University
2013 M.A., Department of English, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh
2012 B.A., Department of English, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh
Publications (selected)
“Riverine Communities: A Study of Adwaita Mallabarman’s Titas Ekti Nadir Naam and Manik Bandopadhyay’s Padma Nadir Majhi [with Faria Alam] under review for The Bangladesh Environmental Humanities Reader: Environmental Justice, Developmental Victimhood and Resistance. Lexington Books, USA.
“How Sharp is ‘Razorgirl?’: Shades of Molly in Neuromancer” in Harvest: Jahangirnagar University Studies in Literature and Language, vol. 31, ISSN: 1729-8326
“Beneath the Mask: Unmasking the mask(s) in Mahesh Dattani’s Bravely Fought the Queen” [with Faria Alam] in Jagannath University Journal of Arts, vol.6 no.2, ISSN 2519-5816
“Shared Misogyny: Rise of Peeping Toms and Bystanders in Facebook in the Context of Bangladesh” in Jagannath University Journal of Arts, vol 5. no. 2, ISSN 2519-5816
Conference Presentations (selected)
“Why Know it All: Politics of the Land and its Representation in Zia Haider’s In the Light of What We Know” in virtual colloquium on "From Kabuliwala to the Fall of Kabul: Afghanistan in Popular Imagination", organized by The Department of English and Humanities, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh Oct, 2021
“The New ‘Now’: Usage of Magic as a Mode of Resistance in Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita” in International Conference on Magic and Literature, organized by The Department of English and Humanities, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh in May 2016
“Sacrificial Wasteland: Correlation of People and Landscape in Pizzolatto’s True Detective” in International Conference on Language, Literature and Culture, organized by DEML, North South University on March 2016
“Peaceful Earth Thriller: Eco-consciousness in Michael Jackson’s Works” in International Interdisciplinary Conference: Ecocriticism, Environmental Justice and Literature, organized by ASLE Bangladesh Planning Committee in Dhaka in August 2015
“Change/Space: The Call of the Wild in Patrick White’s A Fringe of Leaves” XXth Congress of the International Comparative Literatures Association in Paris in July 2013
“Harvesting Familiar Strangers: The Crisis of the ‘rejects’ in Ngũgĩ’s Petals of Blood” in International Conferences on “Minority Discourses Across Cultures” organized by Department of English, Central University of Rajasthan & Comparative Literature Association of India in Feb 2012
Important Links