Dr. Kamran Ali

Biography

Kamran Ali has conducted extensive fieldwork in Egypt and Pakistan, contributing to media related to recent Pakistani politics. As a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin, he has taken on multiple roles, including being the Director of the South Asia Institute and holding positions in various departments such as Asian Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, and at the Population Research Center. Ali is the current President of the American Institute of Pakistan Studies, a position he held from 2014 to 2017. His scholarly publications include notable works such as 'Planning Family Egypt: New Bodies, New Selves' (UT Press, 2002) and co-edited volumes like 'Gendering Urban Space: Middle East, South Asia, Africa' (Palgrave, 2008) and 'Comparing Cities: Middle East South Asia' (Oxford, 2009). He has published numerous articles exploring themes of health, gender, ethnicity, and politics, particularly in the context of Egypt and Pakistan. His most recent book, 'Communism in Pakistan: Politics, Class, and Activism, 1947-1972' (I.B. Tauris, 2015), further demonstrates his commitment to understanding social dynamics in these regions. Ali has also previously taught at the University of Rochester and has been involved with prestigious institutions such as the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin.

Research Interests