Feminist Scholar · Bangladesh

Dr. Rezwana KarimSnigdha

Professor of Anthropology, Jahangirnagar University · PhD, Auckland University of Technology, Newzealand

World Bank / UGC HEAT Grant — USD 80,000 · 2025 · Top 10.2% nationally
Gender & SexualityFeminist AnthropologyBody & Identity PoliticsMasculinity StudiesMedical AnthropologyUrban AnthropologyClimate and GenderHealth Sociology
Dr. Rezwana Karim Snigdha, feminist anthropologist
15+ yrs fieldwork
নারীসত্তার অন্বেষণে In Search of Women's Self · 2023
Ethnographic explorations at the threshold of gender, body, and sexuality.
Dr. Rezwana Karim Snigdha
About

Dr. Rezwana Karim Snigdha is a feminist scholar, gender expert, and public intellectual whose work has shaped critical conversations on gender, sexuality, embodiment, and social justice in Bangladesh and beyond. With over fifteen years of experience in teaching, ethnographic research, training, and advocacy, she is currently a Professor of Anthropology at Jahangirnagar University. She earned her PhD in Social Sciences from Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand, in 2021. Her doctoral research, Beyond Binaries: An Ethnographic Study of Hijra in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has been internationally recognised for its nuanced and grounded exploration of gender diversity, identity, and belonging in South Asia.

While widely known for her pioneering work on gender and sexuality, her scholarship extends across gender justice, body politics, reproductive health, medical anthropology, health sociology, climate vulnerability, and the everyday experiences of marginalized populations.

Dr. Snigdha is an active member of several national and international academic and policy networks, including the Sex Tech Lab at The New School, New York; the World Anthropology Union (WAU); the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES); the Canada–Bangladesh Social Justice & Research Alliance; the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Foundation; and the Kapaeeng Foundation. She also serves on the Trustee Board of the National Child Welfare Trust and the Research Committee of the National Youth Development Institute, reflecting her commitment to linking scholarship with public service and social transformation. A respected scholar within the global academic community, she serves as an international reviewer for leading journals, including the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI), Asian Women (SSCI and Scopus indexed), Journal of Homosexuality (Taylor & Francis), and Contemporary South Asia (Routledge).

Beyond academia, Dr. Snigdha is a prominent public voice on issues of gender, democracy, culture, and social change. As a frequent television commentator, keynote speaker, and public intellectual, she brings anthropological insight to wider audiences, bridging rigorous scholarship with public debate, policy engagement, and advocacy for a more inclusive and equitable society.

Current roles & affiliations

  • Professor of AnthropologyJahangirnagar University
  • Associate Professor of AnthropologyJahangirnagar University
  • Associate Professor (Part-time)North South University
  • Hall ProvostBegum Sufia Kamal Hall, JU
  • Member, Sex Tech LabThe New School, New York
  • Trustee Board MemberNational Child Welfare Trust
  • International CoordinatorIMRF Bangladesh
Research

Where my questions live

A decade and a half of fieldwork across the entanglements of gender, health, media, and the body in Bangladesh and beyond.

Hijra & Transgender Studies

Situated ethnography of gender-diverse communities and the politics of recognition.

Feminist Anthropology

Reading power, labour, and selfhood through the lives of women in urban Bangladesh.

Body & Identity Politics

How bodies perform, resist, and remember — from everyday life to mass movements.

Medical Anthropology

Health discourse, care, and the governance of bodies in South Asian contexts.

Climate & Coastal Lives

Reproductive health and resilience among women in salinity-stressed coastal Bangladesh.

Post-Truth Media

Truth, rumour, and broadcast across the border in a fractured media landscape.

Urban Anthropology

City life, class, and the making of the middle-class self in Dhaka.

Sexual & Reproductive Health

Rights, access, and silence around SRH for women and gender-diverse people.

Teaching

In the classroom

Across fifteen years at Jahangirnagar University — and as part-time faculty at North South University — Dr. Snigdha teaches at both undergraduate and graduate level, supervising MSS and MPhil theses in gender, sexuality, and medical anthropology.

Anthropology of Gender & Sexuality

Graduate & Undergraduate

Foundational theory and ethnography of gender, sexuality, and the politics of difference.

Medical Anthropology

Graduate

Health, the body, care, and the governance of populations in South Asian contexts.

Ethnographic Research Methods

Graduate

Fieldwork design, participant observation, reflexivity, and writing ethnography.

Masculinity & Queer Studies

Graduate

Hijra and transgender lives, hegemonic masculinities, and the anthropology of recognition.

Feminist Theory & Anthropology

Undergraduate

Feminist epistemologies and their application to the study of society and the self.

Contemporary Politics, Religion & Society

Undergraduate

Religion, media, and political change in contemporary Bangladesh.

Publications

Selected writing

Books, chapters, and peer-reviewed articles. Filter by type.

2023

নারীসত্তার অন্বেষণে — In Search of Women's Self: An Ethnographic Study of Middle-Class Women in Dhaka

Snigdha, R. K. · Dhaka: Oitijhya · 320+ Google Scholar citations

Book
2025

Fractured Truth Between the Border and Broadcast: The Post-Truth Gaze of Indian Media on Bangladeshi Hindus After the July Uprising

Snigdha, R. K., & Zohra, F. T. · Jahangirnagar University Review: Social Science, 49(1)

Article
2023

Locating Hijra and Transgender in Bangladeshi Health Discourse: A Critical Analysis

Snigdha, R. K. · Jahangirnagar University Review, 47(1)

Article
2023

Exploring the Religious Practices of Hijra in Bangladesh

Snigdha, R. K. · Jahangirnagar University Review, 47(2)

Article
2022

An Analysis of the Gender Representation of Post-War Sculptures at Public Universities in Dhaka

In A. Hussain (Ed.), Contemporary Issues in Social Science (pp. 93–107) · Jahangirnagar University

Chapter
2021

My Entirety

In P. Mandal et al. (Eds.), My City, My Home (pp. 195–198) · Sampad South Asian Arts & Heritage

Chapter
2019

An Obscure Perception of Transgender in Islam: A Case of Hijra in Bangladesh

Snigdha, R. K. · Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research, 19(5), 29–36

Article
Talks & Keynotes

On stage & in conversation

Recent invited lectures, keynotes, and conference presentations across three continents.

April 2026 · University of Iowa

The Future of Democracy in Post-Election Bangladesh

Invited virtual lecture, International Programs

2025 · Canadian University of Bangladesh

Who Owns Female Bodies?

Public keynote on body politics & rights

2025 · WAU Congress

World Anthropology Union Congress

Conference presentation

Oct 2023 · Jawaharlal Nehru University

Invited talk, New Delhi

Gender, body & ethnography in South Asia

Oct 2023 · South Asian University

Invited talk, New Delhi

Feminist anthropology of the region

2023 · IUAES World Congress

Int'l Union of Anthropological & Ethnological Sciences

Conference presentation

Media & Public Engagement

In the public conversation

Interviews, features, keynotes, and broadcast commentary translating ethnographic research into public debate.

University of Iowa · International Programs2026

The Future of Democracy in Post-Election Bangladesh

Invited feature
Prothom Alo2025

On gender, the body, and women's selfhood in Bangladesh

Interview
National televisionOngoing

Talk-show panellist on gender justice, censorship, and social change

Panellist
Canadian University of Bangladesh2025

Who Owns Female Bodies?

Public keynote
Current Projects

Research in motion

2025 – 2028 · Funded research

Salty Waters, Silent Struggles

Sexual & reproductive health of women in the salinity-stressed coastal belt of Bangladesh — a multi-year study at the intersection of climate vulnerability and gendered care.

Sub-Project Manager
2024 – present · Ethnography

The Talking Bodies

Body performativity in the July Movement 2024, Dhaka — how protest, presence, and the body became language during a defining political moment.

Project Director
2025 · World Bank / UGC HEAT

USD 80,000 Research Grant

Awarded a competitive Higher Education Acceleration & Transformation grant — placing among the top 10.2% of proposals nationally.

Principal Investigator
Recognition & Service

Honours, peer review & leadership

Beyond research and teaching — a record of national and international recognition, scholarly gatekeeping, and institutional leadership.

Grants & Awards

  • World Bank / UGC HEAT GrantUSD 80,000 · 2025 · top 10.2% nationally
  • AUT 3-Minute ThesisAudience Choice Award · 2021
  • AUT Social Sciences Research Awards2015 & 2016

Journal Peer Review

  • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
  • Asian WomenSSCI & Scopus indexed
  • Journal of Homosexuality
  • Contemporary South Asia

Leadership & Service

  • Hall ProvostBegum Sufia Kamal Hall · 2025–
  • Trustee Board MemberNational Child Welfare Trust · 2024–
  • ReviewerNational Youth Development Institute · 2024–
  • International CoordinatorIMRF Bangladesh

Memberships

  • World Anthropology Union (WAU)
  • IUAESAnthropological & Ethnological Sciences
  • Sex Tech LabThe New School, New York
  • Canada–Bangladesh Social Justice Alliance
Fieldwork & Engagement

A research life on the map

  • Dhaka, BangladeshHome base · Hijra ethnography & urban fieldwork
  • Satkhira, Bagerhat, Barguna“Salty Waters” SRH & climate study
  • Auckland, New ZealandPhD · Auckland University of Technology
  • New Delhi, IndiaJNU & South Asian University talks
  • New York, USASex Tech Lab, The New School
  • Iowa, USAUniversity of Iowa invited lecture
Contact

Let's start a conversation

For collaborations, supervision, talks, or media on gender, anthropology, and Bangladesh.

rezwana@juniv.edu
  • Department of Anthropology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka-1342, Bangladesh
  • +880 1780 758 064
  • rezwana@juniv.edu