Dr Bulbul Siddiqi has been awarded a visiting professorship by the Institute of Advanced Study at the University of Warwick. Dr Siddiqi is Associate Professor in Anthropology at the Department of Political Science and Sociology at North South University, Bangladesh and Director of the Confucius Research Institute. Dr Siddiqi leads the qualitative research in Bangladesh for TRANSFORM Work Package 1.

Dr Siddiqi was awarded a PhD in Anthropology from Cardiff University in 2014 based on research on the Tablighi Jamaat in the UK and Bangladesh. He has conducted research on Muslim identity and religious reformist groups, the health and well-being and integration of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and pluralistic approaches to help-seeking. His research foregrounds the experiences of marginalised and disenfranchised groups, specifically refugees, people living in deprived urban communities and people with stigmatised health conditions, such as mental illness, and advocates for social and policy change to protect their rights and promote social inclusion.

During his fellowship Dr Siddiqi will undertake two visits to the UK to work with interdisciplinary colleagues at Warwick. During these visits Dr Siddiqi will deliver seminars on Work Package 1 findings and on his research with the Rohingya and work with the TRANSFORM team and Warwick colleagues to develop publications based on analysis of TRANSFORM Work Package 1 data and funding proposals for ethnographic and participatory research on the mental health and wellbeing of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and on mental health among urban youth in Bangladesh and Nigeria. With Dr Ursula Read and colleagues from WMS he will also co-facilitate a workshop on using ethnographic methods in global health research and a public film screening and discussion on spirituality and religion in mental health.

Through the fellowship Dr Siddiqi will share his expertise in working with marginalised communities in low-income settings, specifically his use of qualitative and ethnographic methods to understand complex socio-cultural, religious and political contexts. Dr Siddiqi’s visit will support the development of publications and funding applications with Warwick academics, contribute to methods training and mentoring for doctoral and early career researchers and promote interdisciplinary and public dialogue with research findings.