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Maria Khwaja

Dr. Maria Khwaja's work spans many years conducting research in urban Pakistan across ethnic and political lines with a focus on the violence faced by children who inherit conflict political spaces. She is currently an assistant professor at Salem State University and holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Khwaja's areas of expertise include children's rights and children's agency, political violence by state and non-state actors, terrorism, stateless peoples and internally displaced refugees, schooling and education of children, gender, ethnic and religious discrimination, and military and political governance and violence. Dr. Khwaja is a published academic author with a chapter on her ethnographic work with adolescents published in 2013, a forthcoming article on research methodology in the Global South pending revisions, and several articles forthcoming.

Name
Maria Khwaja
Occupation
Assistant Professor
Expertise

Caste discrimination or persecution, Child soldiers, Climate-related issues, Disability, Ethnic discrimination or persecution, Forced marriage, Gang-related violence/non-state actors, Gender-based violence/domestic violence, LGBTQ, Likelihood of destitution or homelessness, Political persecution, Religious discrimination or persecution, Government/state actor persecution, Risk of retaliation, Safe internal relocation, Trafficking, Tribal discrimination or persecution, Violence against children/child abuse, Stateless peoples (refugees without passports or legal documentation)

Publications

Khwaja, Maria. (2013). The Lost Boys: A Case Study in Pakistan, in Maherukh Ahmed (ed) Education in West Central Asia, London, Continuum Books. 

Khwaja, Maria. (2016). “Teaching teachers: a first step to improving education in Sub-Sahar Africa.” Private Sector and Development Blog: Groupe Agence Francaise de Developpment. 

Benjamin A., Bhattacharjea S., Jha A., Khwaja M., et al. (accepted pending revisions). 

Reflexive approaches to survey design and implementation: lessons from rural Indi The International Journal of Research & Method in Education. 

Khwaja, Maria. (in preparation for 2024). Re-imagining the Subaltern Classroom and its effect on “Poor” Children: a theoretical perspective. Compare.

Languages
Urdu (spoken fluency), Punjabi (moderate spoken fluency)
Ethnic groups expertise
within Pakistan: mohaajir, Pathan/Pushto speaking, Baloch, Sirayki-speaking Shia ethnic group,
Sindhi, Punjabi
Political groups expertise
within Pakistan: MQM, PPP, PLM-N, Awami National Party (PNP), and other affiliated state
non-state actors
Religious groups expertise
Sunni, Shi'a (several subgroups), Ahmadi, Aga Khani (Qadiyaani)
Other social groups expertise
stateless peoples in Pakistan, orphans
Contact email
Phone
[Private to EIN members]
Address
[Private to EIN members]