Prof. Ala Uddin, Bangladesh

Prof. Dr. Ala Uddin teaches anthropology in the Department of Anthropology, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. I work across a number of related topics that might be summed up as ways of approaching unity and diversity. I conduct research on issues of the indigenous peoples in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh. My major research dealt with the survival strategies of these indigenous peoples affected by outsiders (i.e., settler Bengalis) encroaching on their land. Among other issues, I worked on: religious pluralism, street vending, health and food, migration and diaspora, the refugee situation, overseas migration of women workers, and the informal economy. I have co-authored a book entitled Theoretical Anthropology (in Bengali), and authored several articles published in peer-reviewed national and international journals of repute. I am currently researching the Rohingya refugee crisis and the Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh. I was a Fulbright scholar in the Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) on “Religious Pluralism and Public Presence,” in 2014.