MEET THE TEAM
The NeSA co-conveners oversee the management of the network. The co-conveners are committed to facilitating a safe space for NeSA members that is non-judgemental, supportive, stimulating and underpinned by the principles of compassionate sisterhood and mutual respect.
Founder & Co-convener
Dr Lubaaba Al-Azami
Dr Lubaaba Al-Azami is co-convener and founder of Network of Sisters in Academia (NeSA). She completed her PhD in English Literature at the University of Liverpool where her AHRC-funded research considered early modern English encounters with and dramatic representations of Mughal Indian imperial women. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at King's College London. She completed her BA in English at King’s College London, an MA in Islamic Studies at SOAS, University of London and an MA in English from The George Washington University, Washington DC. During 2020/21 she was a visiting doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford. Her research interests include early Anglo-European encounters with the Islamic Worlds, early modern English theatrical negotiations of transnational politics, trade and religion, intersectionality, critical race studies and decolonialism. Lubaaba is also Founding Editor of Medieval and Early Modern Orients (MEMOs), a decolonial digital project on premodern English encounters with the Islamic Worlds. Her book, First Encounters: How England and Mughal India Shaped the World, is forthcoming from John Murray Press. She is represented by Northbank Talent Management and tweets @Lubaabanama.
Co-convener
Dr Khadijah Elshayyal
Dr Khadijah Elshayyal is co-convener of Network of Sisters in Academia (NeSA). She is a Research Fellow for the Digital British Islam project, based at the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, University of Edinburgh. Khadijah earned her PhD from Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research interests lie in the political and cultural expressions of activism, advocacy, representation and identity among Muslims and other minoritised groups in the UK. Accordingly, she maintains a keen engagement with grassroots initiatives and organisers, including performing several advisory roles. Khadijah is currently General Secretary of the Muslims in Britain Research Network (MBRN). Her publications include Muslim Identity Politics: Islam, activism and equality in Britain (IB Tauris, 2020).