Irfan Ahmed Nazir is a social scientist and qualitative researcher with five years of experience designing and conducting interdisciplinary research on politics, education, migration, international relations, and the Middle East. He has submitted his PhD thesis to the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, where his research examines debates on national identity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and their implications for school education. His doctoral fieldwork in the UAE was supported by the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research in Ras Al Khaimah and the Humanities Research Fellowships for the Study of the Arab World at New York University Abu Dhabi.
His broader research interests include state-society relations in the Middle East and South Asia, India’s engagement with the Middle East, migration and diaspora dynamics along the South Asia-Gulf corridor, and education policy and expatriate schooling in the Arab Gulf states. His work has been published by leading academic publishers, including Wiley, Sage, Routledge, and Bloomsbury. He is also curating the India-Gulf Digest, a monthly digest on India-Gulf relations, published on LinkedIn and his website (www.irfanahmednazir.com).
Born and raised in Dubai as a second-generation Indian expatriate, Irfan completed his school education in the UAE. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history, economics, and political science from Christ University, Bangalore, and a master’s degree in politics and international relations from JNU. His family hails from the Thrissur district of Kerala, India, and he is bilingual in English and Malayalam. In his free time, he enjoys exploring urban landscapes, local cuisines, and heritage sites.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4150-6118
Irfan Ahmed Nazir 