Dr Shilan Fuad

Dr. Shilan Fuad Hussain

Cultural Analyst with a focus on Gender, Culture & Society

Marie Sklodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Law and Politics and the Social Policy Research Centre - Middlesex University.

Dr. Shilan Fuad Hussain is dedicated to advancing gender equality and advocating for women's rights. She is an Associate Editor for Brill and Routledge and a Senior Consultant for gender-related societal issues. She is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She was previously a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow in Gender Studies and Cultural Analysis (UKRI), a Visiting Fellow at the Washington Kurdish Institute (U.S.), and a Doctoral Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (Switzerland), where she has published several papers and received tailored training. She holds a Master’s Degree in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Bologna and a PhD in Cultural Analysis from the University of Urbino (Italy). She has developed a track record in Cultural Analysis, alongside Middle Eastern and Kurdish Studies.

She is an interdisciplinary academic and works on a variety of topics, among them: cultural representation, production, and practices; gender-based violence and women’s human rights; state policies enhancing female equality; Female Genital Mutilations, and arranged/forced marriages; the social impacts of masculinity; and multi-identity in the diaspora – which are topics that mirror her published papers. Her current work sits at the intersection of sociology and cultural analysis, and its symbiotic relevance to modern society. She has engaged in comparative cultural research in the Middle East and Europe, with a focus on women and society, hence her research is multi-sited and multi-method.

She has published 20 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, 3 special issues, 4 book chapters, one co-edited book, 12 open-access articles online, and 10 op-eds. One single-authored book, an edited book and volume, and 3 peer-reviewed articles in academic journals are forthcoming (2025). She has been an invited speaker to 50 international conferences in Europe, US, and the Middle East. She has worked for over eleven years with international NGOs, liaising with a diverse range of local, International, and non-governmental officials, policymakers, bureaucrats, and civil society members – conducting interviews, and research on issues affecting the most vulnerable members of society. As a Kurdish woman who grew up in Iraq amidst war before transitioning to the diaspora, her personal experiences have shaped her worldview and unique perspectives on current cultural and political debates.