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School for Cross-faculty Studies Global Sustainable Development

A. M. M. Noor-Us-Saiyem Khan

A.M.M. Noor-Us-Saiyem Khan

Contact details

Email: Amm-Noor-Us dot Khan at warwick dot ac dot uk
Social media: (20) Saiyem Khan (@saiyem) / Twitter
Website: TBC

Current PhD student

Biography

I am a first-year PhD student in Global Sustainable Development as part of the TRANSFORM programme, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. My research focuses on applying applied performance to explore the hybrid nature of 'development' and its need for sustainability. I am a multidisciplinary art practitioner and an activist. I am a theatre practitioner with professional experience in acting, directing, and designing. I have participated in theatre festivals nationally and internationally. I have been working for a decade with communities in the UK and abroad for their development in education, health, security, and social justice, using theatre as a tool for understanding our world. I have been a theatre practitioner for nearly two decades with a specialised practice in Theatre for Development (TfD), a method to understand theatre as a tool for social change. Using applied performance theories, I examine and analyse power, politics, and global construction of southern and northern culture through and within theatre practice. I am experienced in researching and reporting quantitative and qualitative data, e.g., International Children's Theatre and its impact on child theatre in Bangladesh; Theatre Festival Dhaka University, 2007; Manchester City of Literature Festival, 2021. I have studied critical film theories and video production techniques while achieving my MA in Video Production and Film Studies from the University of West London in 2010. I am a skilled director, cinematographer and editor in video production.

I was the CEO of a media company in London for a period of five years. During my tenure, I applied critical film theories to analyse power relations based on class, race, and gender. This helped me deconstruct visual politics and understand the political presentation of visuals and moving images. I also utilised film as a tool for development and therapy. As part of this endeavour, I directed and participated in short film festivals, such as the Reveal Festival, Bolton, in 2018.

I am based in Manchester, working with local communities and charities. While working with community theatres in Manchester, I applied the ethnographic research methods of Dwight Conquergood and Augusto Boal's Theatre for Development. I have experience working with the extremely poor and the elite urban in different countries, including over 80 nationalities. I have the honour and opportunity to work with a diverse range of people of varying age groups, from madrasa students to prisoners. I also work with people from LGBTQA+ and displaced backgrounds. I am also trained in Theatre in Education (TIE), combining educational research methodologies to experience a sustainable world for dropouts, the needy, and children from minority backgrounds in schools.

Academic background

University of Warwick (2022-26)

PhD candidate at Global Sustainable Development- School for Cross-faculty Studies.

University of West London (2009-2010)

MA Video Production and Film Studies.

University of Dhaka (2007-2009)

MA Theatre.

University of Dhaka (2001-2007)

BA (Hons) Theatre.

Supervisor(s)

Professor Xiaodong Lin, Global Sustainable Development, Room: R3.24 (Ramphal Building), University of Warwick, UK. Email: Xiaodong.Lin@warwick.ac.uk.

Associate Professor Bobby Smith, SCAPVC - Theatre Studies, University of Warwick, UK.

Extension number: 23021. Email: Bobby.Smith@warwick.ac.uk.

Research Overview

My research focuses on applying performance theories to conceptualise hybrid development by re-examining post-development and anti-development theories to understand real-world sustainable development. My research is aimed to examine the everyday practice of performance to:

  • Gaining a broad range of knowledge to understand GSD in the age of climate change and the change in human behaviours accelerating displacements for locating hybridity in development theories (Climate victim and climate leader).
  • Communicating proposed responses to global challenges using transdisciplinary techniques designed for a particular audience.
  • Identifying the relationship between the displaced person and the host in a shared space such as a performing space.

Research interests

  • Alternative Development Theories
  • Hybridity
  • Post-trauma theatre
  • Theatre for Sustainable Development
  • Displacement and Community Theatre
  • Local and Global art activism
  • Everyday theatre
  • Theatre of the Displaced

Projects

-I have been commissioned for a theatre project at Horizons Festival 2024 by HOME Manchester, UK. The festival is a highly anticipated event that takes place annually in Manchester, bringing together an eclectic mix of national and international artists under one roof. The festival celebrates the artistic prowess of the artists who call Manchester their home, featuring various art forms, including film, music, dance, visual arts, theatre, and more.

-I have worked on many arts-based projects. Recently, I co-managed and co-facilitated a pilot project in Bolton, UK. ‘Poter Gan- Storytelling Pictures’ (2021-2022).

  • An indigenous Bengali performance style- themed as ‘Different pasts/shared Futures’ online-based digital performance. Funded by Bolton at Home and National Lottery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPlp7QQWCnA.

Publications and conference papers

I acted in more than 14 public productions, including numerous street dramas.

Devised Drama for refugees co-directed and performed (2019)

School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, The University of Manchester, UK.

Brattyo-The Slingshot (2008)

Script: Nikolaï Kolyada. Direction: Sumi Kowsar. Dhaka University Theatre Festival- 2008.

Uruvangam (2007)

An Indian Classical Theatre Production, Direction and Costume Designer: Prof. Wahida Mollik Joly

Theatre and Performance Studies, Dhaka University Production, International Theatre Institute Festival, 2007.

(13) Uruvanga ঊরুভঙ্গ By Dhaka University - YouTube 

The Lady from the Sea (2007)

Script: Henreikh Ibsen, Direction: Prof. Israfil Shaheen, Royal Norwegian Embassy. Henreikh Ibsen Festival 2007.

Behular Bhashan (2004)

Direction: Prof. Syed Jamil Ahmed, Production: University of Dhaka. National School of Drama Festival (India), 2004.

(13) Behular Bhasan | Dhaka University Theatre Department Play Production - YouTube

Conferences:

Mentor at Early Career Researcher Sustainability Training School - Global 2.0, which took place in April 2024.

Nominated for The Development Studies Associations—DSA2024 Conference will be hosted by SOAS, University of London, in June 2024. The conference will have a hybrid format to ensure accessibility and inclusivity for participants worldwide.

Attended for presentations:

I was the Runner-up in the 'Resilience and Sustainable Development' conference organised by the Institute for Global Sustainable Development, held at The Scarman, Warwick University, from 5-9 June 2023.

Custodians of the Earth Interfaith Seminar, November 2022.

‘Community Engagement of Refugees: A way forward for Co-Development’, Passion Bolton 2030 Supporting Asylum Seekers and Refugees Conference, 2021.

‘Understanding Rasa, a Performance Technique to Interpret Western Theatre and the Audience: A Comparative Study of Performance Texts.’ University of Bolton, 2018.

‘Anti-war Film in Hollywood Cinema and its Visual Interpretation of the Victims’, University of West London, 2010.

‘Is Theatre Developed Enough for Development?’, SPACE, Bangladesh, 2009.

‘Theatre for Development: Development for whom?’- A Critical Analysis of Development in Bangladesh Using the Lens of Indigenous People in Rangpur, (2006). University of Dhaka, 2006.

‘The Lady from the Sea: Performance to Text’, University of Dhaka, 2006. (Reader)

Teaching

Associate Tutor

Theatre and Performance Studies Department at Warwick University

  • Applied Theatre, Refugees and Migrants on November 16th, 2023.

Guest Lecturer, Performing Arts and Theatre Department.

University of Bolton, BL3 5AB, UK (2018 & 2019)

  • Drama, Dance, and comparative studies.

Guest Lecturer, Psychology Department.

University of Bolton, BL3 5AB, UK (2019)

  • Therapeutic Theatre and the transformative power of the arts.
  • Refugees and Theatre of Displacement for social inclusion.

Theatre Trainer (Part-time), School of Performing Arts for Community Empowerment (SPACE), Bangladesh (2009)

  • Applied theatre training for community empowerment.

Theatre Director, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2006)

  • Co-direction comedy play, The Scapin, Script: Molière.

Funding and awards

  • I have been commissioned for a theatre project at Horizons Festival 2024 by HOME Manchester, UK. The festival celebrates the creativity of national and international artists who call Manchester their home.

  • Different Pasts/Shared Futures: Poter Gan- Storytelling Pictures’ (2021-2022), funded by the City of Sanctuary Bolton, Bolton at Home, and National Lottery, UK.

  • TRANSFORM, Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarship, Global Sustainable Development, the University of Warwick (2022-2026).

  • Dean’s Award, Faculty of Art, the University of Dhaka, scholarship for outstanding progress in Arts Studies (2007-2008).

Committee memberships and non-academic roles

  • Alumni- The University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  • Alumni- The University of West London, UK.
  • Member- Development Studies Association, UK.
  • Member and Communication Officer- City of Sanctuary, Bolton, UK.
  • Ex-Member- Muslim Arts and Culture Festival (MACFEST), UK.
  • Member- Bolton Interfaith Council, UK.
  • Member- XR Bolton, UK.
  • Member- ORCID, UK.