Amira Mohamed, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of International Development, Community, and Environment
Clark University
Worcester, MA 01610-1477
Phone: (508) 421-3839
Email: aahmedmohamed@clarku.edu
At IDCE, Amira Ahmed Mohamed currently teaches exciting courses; “Gender and Health”, “Monitoring and Evaluation” and “Conflict and Displacement in the Horn of Africa”. Both her Masters and PhD degrees focus on the nexus between gender, migration and globalization while her PhD dissertation had researched the vulnerabilities of female domestic workers in Egypt. Her work with several international development and humanitarian organizations has enabled her to acquire first hand the necessary insights into such challenges as well as to lead efforts which try to address these issues in several countries Africa, Middle East and Europe. Her work involved advocating for the rights of migrants, formulating response strategies, conducting operations research and evaluation, leading sizable international programs, nurturing results-focused partnerships and building institutional capacity through training. These roles were in large multi-cultural development agencies, including the United Nations, the Red Cross Movement and others.
Amira has held academic positions at The American University in Cairo/Egypt, the University of Roehampton, and the University of East London in the UK. She received an Academic Excellence Award in 2005 while earning her Ph.D. in Social Sciences and Cultural Studies from University of East London (United Kingdom), an M.A. in Anthropology from the American University in Cairo (Egypt) while working as a Postgraduate African Fellow and a B.Sc. in Biology from Ain Shams University (Egypt). She has also worked in senior positions and senior consultancy roles at leading funding agencies and international organizations in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. This includes the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), the International Organization of Migration (IOM), the International Federation for the Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), the Institute for International Education (IIE), the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Catholic Relief for Overseas Development (CAFOD).
Research Interests/Specializations
Gender Equality, Migrant Rights, Trafficking in Human Beings, Human Rights, Domestic Labor, Social Justice in International Development, Project Design, Project Management, Africa & Middle Eastern Studies.
Current Research and Teaching
Amira's current research focuses on examining gender, sexuality and human rights challenges among female migrants, particularly those who are vulnerable to trafficking and domestic abuse. While a Visiting Assistant Professor at Clark, Amira teaches several courses. Through an interdisciplinary approach, these courses provide the theoretical frameworks for the intersection between gender, class, ethnicities, and health in the contexts of both the study and practice of development. This clarifies development disparities and examines complexities of challenges in policies and practices in the national and international contexts.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
“Towards A Better Season of Migration to the North: More Effective Options to Address Irregular Sudanese and South Sudanese Migration to Europe”. Chapter author in upcoming book entitled Escaping the Escape, published by Bertelsmann Stiftung www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de | www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/europaszukunft; expected publication date February 2017.
“Gender in the Contemporary Middle East and Sexualities in the Contemporary Middle East”, contributing author. Published by Lynne Rienner Publishers https://www.rienner.com expected publication date March 2017.
‘I need work!’: The Multiple Roles of the Church, Ranking and Religious Piety Among Domestic Workers in Egypt’. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology. Vol. 11, Nos. 3_4, September-December 2010, pp. 361-377.
“The State of Gender and Women Studies in the Sudan”, paper presented in the workshop “Middle East Gender and Women's Studies: A Critical Dialogue”, Cairo, Egypt, March 11-12, 2005. Published in http://www12.georgetown.edu/sfs/ccas/ccas/www/files/OccPaper_AbulMagd_2006.pdf
Conference and Workshop Presentations
“Irregular Migration in the South: Case Study of the Ethiopian ‘Transit’ Migrants in Egypt and Sudan”. Paper presented at the Conference: Irregular Migration in the Mediterranean Basin. Egypt: Partners in Development (PID), Cairo- Marriott Hotel, 9-10 May 2009.
“Maids without Borders: Oshin is now in Egypt”. Paper presented at the conference: “Waged Domestic Work and the Making of the Modern World”. UK: The University of Warwick, 9th – 11th May 2008.
“Hierarchal Positions: Domestic Workers in Cairo”. Paper presented at the conference: “An Unsettled Future? Forced Migration and Refugee Studies in the 21st Century”. Refugee Studies Centre (25th Anniversary), University of Oxford. 7-8 December, 2007.
“Women on the Move: Domestic Workers & Globalized Gendered Migration”, Lecture organized by The Center for African Studies, Middle East Studies Center & Women In Development at the Ohio State University – December 2005.
“Doing Feminist Research in an Urban Setting: Some Methodological and Ethical Considerations”. Paper presented in a workshop entitled “Research Methodologies: Refugees in the Urban Settings”, Forced Migration and Refugee Studies, (AUC), Cairo, Egypt, April 2003.
“Socio-Economic Conditions of Settled Sudanese Community in Egypt, A Case Study of Ain Shams”, Paper presented at the Conference of Sudanese Studies, “Reconstructing Sudan: In Whose Image”, Cairo, American University in Cairo, Egypt, June 1996.
Consultancy Research and Evaluation Reports
“Sudan in the Post-CPA Era: Political Violence and the Challenges and Prospective of a Sustainable Peace”. A Report: Under Publication. The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) – IGAD Capacity Building Program against Terrorism (ICPAT). September 2009 – Ethiopia: Addis Ababa.
“Ethiopians without Borders: A Situational Analysis on the Ethiopian Outmigration Patterns and Key Issues”. September 2008. Study commissioned by CAFOD-Trochaire joint Office in Ethiopia.
“The Blue Nile State in Sudan”, UNDP, 2005. With Dr. Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed.
“Social Mobility among Egyptian Nubians in Cairo”, An ethnographic study undertaken to fulfill a course requirement within the MA program, (AUC), Cairo, Egypt, 2002.
“Egyptian Perceptions of Forced Migrants in Cairo: National Identity and Hosting the Other" Research undertaken under the auspices of The Forced Migration and Refugee Studies (FMRS), American University in Cairo, with Dr. Anita Fabos. Contribution included archival research on 50 years of school curricula and educational documents in the National Ministry of Education, Cairo, Egypt, 2000.
“Domestic Violence Among Sudanese Refugee Women in Cairo” A study commissioned by the Sudanese Organization Against Torture (SOAT), Cairo, Egypt, 1999.
Research Report on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), With Dr. Anita Fabos, presented to the Population Council, Cairo, Egypt, 1997.
“Evaluation of SCIC (Sudanese Center for Information and Culture Activities)”, A Report Prepared for the Ford Foundation, with Dr. Anita Fabos, Cairo, Egypt, August 1997.
Citizen Journalism
Author or contributing author of several articles, reports and columns on Arab, Sudanese and regional political and socio-cultural events; articles appeared in newspapers such as Al-Itihadi Al-Dawlia & Al Sharq El Awsat London, 2004-6.
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=19&issue=9686&article=303669
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=45&issue=9691&article=304634
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=31&issue=9714&article=309504
Founding Author, “Darfur Now”, editions 1-3, a fortnightly analytical Arabic web-based journal issued by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Cairo, 2006. www.cihr.org