Associate Professor Karima Laachir

A/Professor Karima Laachir took up the position of Director of The ANU Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (CAIS) in January 2020. Prior to her appointment, Karima held a tenured academic position at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, where she was the Director of the SOAS Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies (2012-2016). Karima's broader research interests encompass the interface between Humanities and Social Sciences, exploring culture, arts and activism under authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa. She argues that culture can mobilise social and political change in the region and offers alternative forms of theorising the political. Karima offers to become a member of the Academic Board for various reasons: she brings her rich experience from the UK academic sector, her long engagement with the region of the Middle East and North Africa, and her passion to work collaboratively with colleagues across ANU. Karima perceives the role of CAIS, CASS and ANU as fundamental in informing and influencing the government policy on the Middle East and Central Asia as well as on Muslim communities across Australia. She values the opportunity to promote a better understanding of Islam and Muslim societies and their rich and complex cultures across ANU. Karima is proud to be a Muslim Arab woman academic aspiring to bring more diversity to ANU.

Picture of Karima Laachir
Associate Professor Karima Laachir