Dr. Farzana Akhter

Professor
Department of English

& Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Faculty

Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Address

A/2, Jahurul Islam Avenue
Jahurul Islam City, Aftabnagar
Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh

Office

Ext: 335/134 || Room No# 120/233
farzana@ewubd.edu

Academic Background

Ph.D.in English with a secondary emphasis in Rhetoric and Composition

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, U.S.A.

Dissertation Title: The Net of Nostalgia: Class, Culture, and Political Alienation and Nostalgia in Contemporary Latino and South Asian American Literature

M Phil. in English
University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Research Title: “Brecht in Bangladesh: The Application of His Themes and Techniques on Our Stage”

M.A. in English Literature
University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

B.A. in English
University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Higher Secondary Certificate Examination (H.S.C.)
Viqarunnisa Noon School, Dhaka

Secondary School Certificate Examination (S.S.C.)
Viqarunnisa Noon School, Dhaka

Short Biography

Farzana Akhter is a Professor of English and the Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at East West University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Previously, she served as the Chairperson of the Department of English. Since joining East-West University in 2000, she has taught various courses and contributed to the development of the department in multifarious ways. She is the Chief Editor of the Annual Report of EWU and VC Newsletter.

After completing her BA and MA in English from the University of Dhaka, Dr. Akhter earned an MPhil from the same university. Later, she obtained her Ph.D. in English, with a secondary emphasis on Rhetoric and Composition, from the University of Arkansas in the United States. Her areas of interest include contemporary American Ethnic and Immigrant literatures, immigrant nostalgia, diaspora and belongingness, and the representation of women in the war narratives of Bangladesh.

Dr. Akhter is a prolific academic writer whose work has been published in various forms such as academic papers, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, and translations. She has presented her research findings at academic conferences both nationally and internationally, in Bangladesh, the US, and Australia. Moreover, she has been invited to serve as a chair and respondent at various international conferences. Dr. Akhter has also contributed significantly in organizing a number of national and international conferences at East West University. She serves on the editorial board of the World Journal of English Language and actively participates as a reviewer for a range of national and international journals that employ a blind peer review process. Additionally, she supervises MA thesis students and has acted as an external examiner for MA thesis both in Bangladesh and abroad.

Professional Experience

Teaching Experience:

Professor, Department of English, East West University
July 29 2024 to pres.
Associate Professor, Department of English, East West University
September 5, 2018 to present.
Assistant Professor, Department of English, East West University
2009 to September 4, 2018.
Instructor of Record, Department of English, University of Arkansas
August 2012 to May 2017.
Senior Lecturer, Department of English, East West University
2003 to June 2009.
Lecturer, Department of English, East West University
September 2000 to January 2003
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Dhaka
2002 to July 2010.

Administrative Experience:

Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, December 2022 to present.
Chairperson, Department of English, East West University, July 2018 to November 2022.
Member, Faculty Recruitment Committee, East West University, July 2018 to present.
Member, Academic Council, East West University, July 2018 to present.
Member, Admission Test Committee, East West University, July 2018 to present.
Chair (one of the three), Organizing Committee, 1^st Multidisciplinary International Conference on the Social and Life Sciences: Gender, Health, Information and Environment, February 27-29, 2020.
Conference Chair, 5^th International Conference titled Transgressing/ Transcending Borders through Translation, Department of English, East West University, January 2019.
Member, Committee for Student-Teacher Ratio, East West University, Spring 2020, to February 2020.
Member, Sub-Committee for Printing and Publication: 17^th, 18^th, 19^th Convocation, East West University Summer 2017, 2018, 2019.
Member, Committee for publication of Undergraduate Bulletin (14^th Edition), East West University, Summer 2018.
Member, Online Student Registration Implementation Committee, East West University, Summer 2018 to Spring 2019 (April 17, 2018).
Member-Secretary, Review Committee to Improve Faculty Evaluation and Course Advising, East West University, Fall 2017.
Member, Departmental Development Committee, East West University, Fall 2017 to present.
Member/Grader, Assessment Grading Committee, Department of English, University of Arkansas, U.S.A., Summer 2016.
Graduate Student Representative, English as a Second language Committee (EASL), University of Arkansas, U.S.A., Spring 2015-Fall 2015.
Instructor and Advisor, Committee for Piloting New Course, ENGL 2003 Advanced Composition, Department of English, University of Arkansas, U.S.A., Fall 2014.
Member, Committee for Designing Course Material and Syllabus, East West University, 2003 to 2006, January 2008 to 2011, 2018 to 2022.
Department Representative, Newsletter, East West University, June 2005 to December 2006.
Moderator, East West Cultural Club, September 2003 to January 2006.
Moderator, East West English Poetry and Drama Club, January 2005 to December 2005.

Research Interest

Rhetoric and Composition
Contemporary American Ethnic and Immigrant literatures
Immigrant nostalgia
Diaspora and belongingness
Representation of women in the war narratives of Bangladesh

Selected Publications

International Conferences:

Akhter, Farzana. (2023). “Resisting the Politics of Representation: Women, War, and Bangladeshi War Movies,” January 7. 138^th Modern Language Association Annual Convention (MLA). San Francisco, January 5-8, 2023.

Akhter, Farzana. (2022). “Bangladeshi War Movies and the Reclamation of Female Agency in Hangor Nodi Grenade and Guerrilla,” January 7. 137^th Modern Language Association Annual Convention (MLA). Washington, January 6-9, 2022. Virtual presentation.

Akhter, Farzana. (2022). “Panacea for Nostalgia: The Paradox of Returning Home in Dreaming in Cuban and An American Brat,” January 9. 137^th Modern Language Association Annual Convention (MLA). Washington, January 6-9, 2022. Virtual presentation.

Akhter, Farzana. (2022). “Representation of Birangonas in Bangladeshi Movies,” January 14. Association of Teachers of Literatures in English, Bangladesh (ATLEB), In Retrospect: 50 Years of Bangladesh in Literature and Culture, First International Conference, January 14-15, 2022. Virtual presentation.

Akhter, Farzana. (2022). “Immigrant Literature: A Mere Commodity for the Consumption of Cultural Fetishists or a Discourse of Resistance and Reformation?” 34th Annual MELUS conference. New Orleans, USA, April 2-5, 2020. Postponed to March 23-28, 2022.

Akhter, Farzana. (2020). “Writing Center in Bangladesh: Politics, Pitfalls, and Possibilities.” 2020 Conference on College Composition and Communication Annual Convention, Milwaukee, WI, USA, 25-28 March, 2020. Conference Cancelled.

Akhter, Farzana. (2019). "Toward a Sociopolitical Consciousness: Brecht’s Galileo and Mother Courage and their Role in Raising Resistance in Bangladesh.” 117^th Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA) Annual Conference. San Diego, CA , U.S.A., November 14-17, 2019.

Akhter, Farzana. (2019). “‘Unhoused’: Trans-Atlantic Journey and its Impact on Identity Formation in Meena Alexander’s Manhattan Music.” Recalibrating Diasporas: Asia Pacific and the Spaces Beyond Conference, organized by School of Arts, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, June 27-28, 2019.

Akhter, Farzana. (2016). “The Spectacular City: The Golden Cage Where Subjects Are Created and Power Is Negotiated.” South Central Modern Language Association. Dallas, TX. 3-5 Nov. 2016.

Akhter, Farzana. (2014). “Perceptions of Literacy: Teaching Composition as an International Teaching Assistant.” 2014 Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Gaylord National Resort, Washington, DC. November 20-25 2014.

Akhter, Farzana. (2014). “Negotiating the Politics of Power: Tahmima Anam’s The Good Muslim and Women’s Role in Nation Building.” 14th South Asian Literary Association Conference (SALA). Chicago, IL. January 8-9, 2014.

Akhter, Farzana. (2013). “Quest for Home in Amitav Ghosh’s the Glass Palace.” 22nd Annual British Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference (BCPS). Savannah, GA. February 15-16, 2013.

Akhter, Farzana. (2012). “Reversal of Gender Identities in Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss.” 33rd Annual Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations conference (SWTX PCA/ACA). Albuquerque, NM. February 8–11, 2012

Akhter, Farzana. (2010). “Performing Brecht in Bangladesh: Making the Unfamiliar Familiar.” 13^th Symposium of the International Brecht Society on ‘Brecht in/and Asia”. Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, U.S.A. May 19-23, 2010.

Papers Presented at National Conference:

Akhter, Farzana. (2008). “Shattering the Shackles: Brecht’s Plays and the Language of Political Protest in Bangladesh” 2^nd International Conference on ‘Democracy, the “New World Order” and English Studies’. East West University, Dhaka. December 2008.

Papers Presented at Seminar:

Akhter, Farzana. (2007). “Mr. Puntila and his Man Matti.” Seminar on Brecht. Goethe Institute, Dhaka. March 2007.

Akhter, Farzana. (2006). “Brecht’s Threepenny Opera and Janatar Rangashala.” Seminar. East West University, Dhaka. 2006.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Akhter, Farzana. (2023). “Forever Displaced: Religion, Nationalism and Problematized Belonging of Biharis in Ruby Zaman’s Invisible Lines.” SARE: Southeast Asian Review of English, vol. 60, no. 1, July 16, 2023, pp. 128-150. ISSN 0127-046X. (Elsevier’s Scopus indexed, Q 1 Journal)

Akhter, Farzana. (2023). “Embracing Otherness: The Role of Nostalgia in Bicultural Identity Formation in How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, Dreaming in Cuban, and An American Brat.” English Studies: A Journal of English Language and Literatures, vol.104, no. 5 May 22, 2023, pp.- 750-765. DOI: 10.1080/0013838X.2023.2217745. (Scopus indexed, Q1 Journal)

Akhter, Farzana. (2023). “Revisiting Manhattan Music in the Time of COVID-19: Body Politics, Anti-Asian Racism and Negotiation of Ethnic Identity.” Reprint in Performing Identity in the Era of COVID-19, edited by Lauren O’Mahony et al, July 31, 2023, pp. 17-34, Oxon/NY: Routledge/Taylor and Francis. ISBN 9781032514512. (Routledge/Taylor and Francis)

Akhter, Farzana. (2023). “American Ethnic and Immigrant Novels: A Mere Commodity or a Discourse of Resistance and Reformation?” South Central Review, vol 40, no. 1, Spring 2023, pp. 1-23, Johns Hopkins UP. Project Muse, DOI:10.1353/scr.2023.0000. (Johns Hopkins University Press; Scopus indexed, Q 2 Journal)

Akhter, Farzana. (2022). “Revisiting Manhattan Music in the Time of COVID-19: Body Politics, Anti-Asian Racism and Negotiation of Ethnic Identity.” Journal of Intercultural Studies, vol. 43, issue 6, 2022, pp. 704-721. DOI: 10.1080/07256868.2022.2128082. (Scopus Indexed, Q1 Journal)

Akhter, Farzana. (2022). “Moving Beyond Victimhood: Female Agency in Bangladeshi War Movies.” In the Cross Fire of History: Women’s War Resistance Discourse in the Global South, edited by Lava Asaad and Fayeza Hasanat, 2022, pp. 40-52, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9781978830226. (Rutgers University Press)

Akhter, Farzana. (2022). “Looking Backward to a Distant Land: South Asian Diaspora and Function of Nostalgia in ‘Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs,’ ‘Mrs. Sen’s’ and The Inheritance of Loss.” Reprint in Global South Asia: South Asian Literatures and the World, edited by Madhurima Chakraborty, December 31, 2021, pp. 156-169, London: Routledge/Taylor and Francis. ISBN 9781032160207. (Routledge/Taylor and Francis)

Akhter, Farzana. (2021). “Negotiating the Politics of Power: Tahmima Anam’s The Good Muslim and Women’s Role in War and Nation Building.” Reprint in Bangladeshi Literature in English: A Critical Anthology edited by Mohammad A. Quayum and Md. Mahmudul Hasan, 2021, pp. 241-257, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh Press.

Akhter, Farzana. (2020). “Looking Backward to a Distant Land: South Asian Diaspora and Function of Nostalgia in ‘Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs,’ ‘Mrs. Sen’s’ and The Inheritance of Loss.” South Asian Literature in the World, special issue of South Asian Review, edited by Nalini Iyer and Madhurima Chakraborty, vol. 41, issue 3-4, Nov. 2020, pp. 373–86. DOI: 10.1080/02759527.2020.1840204. (Scopus Indexed, Q1 Journal)

Akhter, Farzana. (2018). “Negotiating the Politics of Power: Tahmima Anam’s The Good Muslim and Women’s Role in War and Nation Building.” Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, vol. 12, no. 1, June 2018, pp. 93-107, http://journals.iium.edu.my/asiatic/index.php/AJELL/article/view/1211. (Scopus Indexed, Q2 Journal)

Akhter, Farzana. (2011). “Performing Brecht in Bangladesh: Making the Unfamiliar Familiar.” Brecht in/and Asia /Brecht in/und Asien: The Brecht Yearbook / Brecht-Jahrbuch no. 36, edited by Markus Wessendorf and Friedemann Weidauer, 2011, pp. 201-210, Boydell & Brewer. ISBN-13. 978-0971896390. (Boydell & Brewer press)

Akhter, Farzana. (2010). “Shattering the Shackles: Brecht’s Plays and the Language of Political Protest in Bangladesh.” Literary Paritantra, vol. 2, no. 1, Spring 2010, pp. 65-71.

Akhter, Farzana. (2007). “Quest for Home in Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace.” Spectrum Journal of the Department of English, University of Dhaka vol. 5, December 2007, pp. 81-90. ISSN 1562-7195. (Dhaka University)

Akhter, Farzana. (2006). “Reculturizing Brecht.” Spectrum Journal of the Department of English, University of Dhaka, vol. 4, June 2006, pp. 27-40. ISSN 1562-7195. (Dhaka University).

Other Publications

Feature writing

Akhter, Farzana. (2016). South Asian American Literature,” The Arkansas International, 2016. https://www.arkint.org/online-only/farzana-akhter-on-south-asian-american-lit?rq=farzana%20akhter

Encyclopedic Reference

Akhter, Farzana. (2014) “Archie.” Comics through Time: A Historical Encyclopedia. Edited by M. Keith Booker, ABC CLIO: Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A., 2014.

Akhter, Farzana. (2003). Translated articles for Banglapedia, National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh 2003.

Participated in online training workshop on "Conferencing and Peer-Review in Online Teaching" organized by the Office of Rhetoric and Composition, University of Arkansas, USA, April 15^th, 2016.
Participated in online training workshop on “Learning Blackboard's Collaborate and Kaltura Features" organized by the Program in Rhetoric and Composition, University of Arkansas, USA, March 19, 2016
Participated in workshop on “Introduction to Online Teaching,” organized by the Office of Rhetoric and Composition, University of Arkansas, USA, October 3, 2014.
Participated in online training workshop on "Conferencing and Peer-Review in Online Teaching" organized by the Office of Rhetoric and Composition, University of Arkansas, USA, April 15^th, 2016.
Participated in online training workshop on “Learning Blackboard's Collaborate and Kaltura Features" organized by the Program in Rhetoric and Composition, University of Arkansas, USA, March 19, 2016
Participated in workshop on “Introduction to Online Teaching,” organized by the Office of Rhetoric and Composition, University of Arkansas, USA, October 3, 2014.
Participated in workshop on “What Writing Teachers Want: crafting Effective Assignments” conducted by Jennifer Mallette, organized by the Office of Rhetoric and Composition, University of Arkansas, USA, October 31, 2014.
Participated in workshop on "Generating Rubrics", conducted by Jocelyn Bailey, organized by the Office of Rhetoric and Composition, University of Arkansas, USA, November 9. 2012.
Participated in workshop on “What Writing Teachers Want: crafting Effective Assignments” conducted by Jennifer Mallette, organized by the Office of Rhetoric and Composition, University of Arkansas, USA, October 31, 2014.
Participated in workshop on "Generating Rubrics", conducted by Jocelyn Bailey, organized by the Office of Rhetoric and Composition, University of Arkansas, USA, November 9. 2012.
Participated in “Post Colonial Literatures, Theory and Pedagogy” conducted by Dr. Sharmila Sen, Assistant Professor, Harvard University, Organized by BRAC University, February 2002.
Participated in symposium on “Classroom Research”, Organized by ELTIP, sponsored by the British Council, Dhaka, November 2000.

Editor (Dec. 2023 to pres.) VC Newsletter

Chief Editor (2019-pres.) Annual Report of EWU.

Assistant Editor (2019 to August 2024), East West Journal of Humanities (EWJH)

Member, Editorial Board, International Conference on “Teaching English Literature and Interdisciplinarity” organized by EWU and the Association of Teachers of Literature in English, Bangladesh (ATLEB), July 2023

Editor, (2022, 2018), Research Project for East West University Center for Research and Training (EWUCRT)

Member, Editorial Board, (2020). Conference Proceeding of 1^st Multidisciplinary International Conference on the Social and Life Sciences Gender, Health, Information and Environment, February 27-29, 2020.

Member, Editorial Board (2003),Muse, East West Magazine

Reviewer, (Sep. 2024). World Journal of English Language, Sciedu Press. (Scopus Indexed Q1 Journal)

Reviewed research paper (2023) for Journal for Cultural Research, Routledge, Taylor &Francis. (Scopus Indexed, Q2 Journal)

Reviewed research paper (2023) for Society and Culture in South Asia. Sage Journals. (Scopus Indexed Q2 Journal)

Reviewed research paper (2023) for Spectrum Journal of the Department of English, University of Dhaka, Vol. 17.

Reviewed article for (2022) Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature. (Scopus Indexed Q2 Journal)

Reviewed article (2021) for Journal of the Centre for English Teaching and Research (CETR) Dhaka University, 2021.

Reviewed article (2020) for Clio: A Journal of Literature, History, and the Philosophy of History, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Sep 2020.

Reviewed article (2019-20) for East West Journal of Humanities (EWJH), 2019-2020.

Reviewed abstracts (2019) for the 5th International Conference titled Transgressing/Transcending Borders through Translation, Department of English, East West University.

MA Thesis Supervisor

Department of English, East West University

2022 Sumaiya Jannat Fariha. Title: Assessing Honour Killing Through The Novels Maps For Lost Lovers, Bliss and The Cry of the Dove,” 2022.
2021 Sakiba Ahmed. Title: “Totalizing Metanarrative of Bangladesh in the Light of Tahmima Anam’s Bengal Trilogy,” Summer 2020-Summer 2021.
2020 Afsana Bintey Helal. Title: “The Politics of Refugee Labelling: Reimagining Refugees’ Struggles in Host Lands,” 2019-2020.
2019 Touhida Khan Khusbu. Title: “9/11 Counter Narratives: Challenging Islamophobia and Defying the Notion of Singular American Tragedy,” 2018-2019.
2018 Tanzina Afrin. Title: “Super Sad True Love Story, Noughts and Crosses, Uglies and ‘Sultana’s Dream’ as Cautionary Dystopian Tales against Socio-political and Moral Degradation,” 2018.

MA Thesis External Reviewer and Examiner

2022 External Reviewer and Examiner, University of Liberal Arts, Dhaka
2022 External Reviewer and Examiner, University of Liberal Arts, Dhaka
2021 External Examiner, The University of the West Indies, St, Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. January 2021.
2019 External Reviewer and Examiner, University of Liberal Arts, Dhaka
2018 External Reviewer and Examiner, University of Liberal Arts, Dhaka

Invited Panel Discussant. (2023). “Revisiting History in Literary Narratives.” July 29. International Conference on Teaching English Literature and Interdisciplinarity organized by East West University and Association of Teachers of Literatures in English Bangladesh (ATLEB), 28 -29 July 2023.

Invited Session Chair. (2021). Trauma and Representation, Bangladeshi English Novels: From Emergence to Efflorescence, the University of Salerno, Italy, 24-25 June 2021.

Invited Session Chair. (2021). History, Identity and Adaptation, Bangladeshi English Novels: From Emergence to Efflorescence, the University of Salerno, Italy, 24-25 June 2021.

Conference Co-chair of Organizing Committee. (2020). 1^st Multidisciplinary International Conference on the Social and Life Sciences Gender, Health, Information and Environment, February 27-29, 2020.

Conference Chair. (2019). Transgressing/ Transcending Borders through Translation, 5^th International Conference Department of English, East West University, Dhaka. January 2019.

Session Chair. (2019). Keynote Speech. “The Sociology of Poetry Translation.” Transgressing/ Transcending Borders through Translation. 5^th International Conference Department of English, East West University, Dhaka. January 2019.

Moderator. (2019). Panel Discussion. Transgressing/ Transcending Borders through Translation, 5^th International Conference Department of English, East West University, Dhaka. January 2019.

Respondent. (2014). Representations of the Veil: Between Vulnerability and Resilience. 129th MLA Convention. Chicago, IL., U.S.A., January 9-12, 2014.

Invited Session Chair. (2012). Literature 7: African and African American. 33rd Annual Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations conference (SWTX PCA/ACA). Albuquerque, NM. U.S.A., February 8–11, 2012.

Awards & Achievements

Publication Reward, East West University, 2023
Vance and Mary Celestia Parler Randolph Fellowship in English (for leadership and academic achievement in language, literature, and/or folklore)English Department, University of Arkansas, U.S.A. 2017
Summer Research GA Award, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, U.S.A. Summer 2016
University of Arkansas Graduate School Conference Travel Grant, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016
Graduate Teaching Assistantship, University of Arkansas, U.S.A., 2012-2017
Government Scholarship in Higher Secondary Certificate Examination, 1993
Government Scholarship in Secondary School Certificate Examination, 1991-92

Teaching Materials

no content

Affiliation Professional Membership

Modern Language Association of America (MLA)
Pacific Ancient Modern Language Association (PAMLA)
The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS)
South Asian Literature Association (SALA)
South Central Modern Language Association (SCMLA)