Ibtesum Afrin

Ibtesum Afrin brings extensive experience in research coordination and facilitation to her role as Research Officer with the Engage! Women’s Empowerment and Active Citizenship team at the Coady Institute, supporting its growing global and national project partnerships in knowledge creation and dissemination. With a strong foundation in ethnographic and qualitative research, Ibtesum has worked across academic, non-profit, and government settings both in Canada and internationally. Her work focuses on stateless populations and displacement, with research interests including, but not limited to, displaced futures, home and homeland, belonging, community relations, health, humanitarian spaces, and the state.

Ibtesum holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Western Ontario. She also obtained an MSc in Medical Anthropology from the University of Durham (UK), funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship (2016-17). Before that, she completed her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology at the University of Dhaka.

Selected Publications:

Published:

• Afrin, I. (2025). Resilience, Resistance, Agency, and Liminality: What Aids in Re-imagining the Rohingya Future. In Reshaping Rohingya Futures: Coping Strategies and Emerging Agencies (pp. 225-250). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.

• Afrin, I. (2025). “Rohingya’s Forced Displacement: Tracing Colonial and Postcolonial Legacies.” In Springer Handbook of Migration, International Relations and Security in Asia. Springer Publications. (In Press)

• Afrin, I. (2024). “Anthropological insights on protest and resistance: The context of the Rohingya refugees.” In Living with the Refugees (pp. 206-216). Bangladesh: University Press Limited. (Language: Bangla)

• Afrin, I. (2022). Rohingya Refugee Future: Narratives from History, Memory, & Relocation. In Rohingya Camp Narratives: Tales From the ‘Lesser Roads’ Traveled (pp. 273-297). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. 

• Pennesi, K.; Afrin, I., Hamam, F.; Maharaj, B.; Masud, R.; Meléndez, L. Parra, N. and Piskor, A. (2020) “Improving Supports for Diverse Women Entering Executive Roles.” Research report for Women’s Executive Network. Department of Anthropology. University of Western Ontario. 

• Afrin, I. (2019). Health, Kinship, and Lay Epidemiology among Bangladeshi Immigrants in Birmingham, UK: A Case for Medical Anthropology. Journal of Knowledge Globalization, 11(1), 1-24. 

Newspaper and Magazine Writing 

• Afrin, I., & Banerjee, D. (2023, March 01). Rohingya refugees are an untapped source for Canada’s workforce. Policy Options, Global Affairs.