Members of South Asian Forum
Meenakshi Chhabra is assistant professor in the Self Designed Masters Degree Program in the Graduate School of Art and Social Sciences, Lesley University. She is a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Education. Her interest is in the field of Peace Education and Adolescent Development. Meenakshi completed her PhD in Educational Studies from Lesley University. She has been awarded two Fulbright senior scholarships to teach and conduct research in India with a focus on the conflict between India and Pakistan. Meenakshi has published in national and international journals. In addition to teaching at Lesley, she consults with the Seeds of Peace, a non-profit working with youth across conflicting countries. She has taught in Israel and at the United Nations University of Peace in Costa Rica.
Quamrul Hassan received B.Sc. from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and was involved in various student activities and writing columns in newspapers. He then went to University of Delaware in United States to pursue Ph.D. in Bioorganic Chemistry. After completion of Ph.D., Dr. Hassan moved to MIT to pursue postdoctoral research in Biochemistry and studied allosteric regulation of ribonucleotide reductase. His research as an extramurally funded Anna Fuller fellow resulted in novel allosteric models. Dr. Hassan teaches General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry in Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Besides working with chemicals, Dr Hassan is deeply interested in socioeconomic and cultural aspects of Bangladesh as well as South Asia.
Rakhshanda Saleem is a licensed psychologist and a neuropsychologist with expertise in evaluating neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders including learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders and associated behavioral difficulties. Her teaching and scholarship is guided by her belief in education's critical role in transforming and promoting individual and societal change towards creating a just and equitable world. She is a Harvard Medical School clinical instructor where her clinical interests include culture-sensitive assessment and care for patients with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. She is involved with numerous social justice grassroots efforts and was one of the founding members of the South Asian Committee for Human Rights (SACH). Rakhshanda has also been involved in post-9/11 civil and immigrant rights issues and Action for a Progressive Pakistan (APP) and has focused on anti-discrimination work and the rights of the least powerful and dispossessed people.
Shua Khan Arshad is currently pursuing her Graduate study program in Intercultural Relations at Lesley University. She is a Graduate Assistant to the Journal of Pedagogy, Pluralism, & Practice at Lesley University. Ms. Arshad did her Bachelors of Arts in Journalism and Mass Media from Rutgers State University, NJ. She has taught and coached in various capacities and disciplines over a span of 15 years in Saudi Arabia and the United States. She is a member of Groton Interfaith Council that promotes and conducts intercultural and community dialogues for all ages.