Interpreting heritage beyond materiality- where memories, identities, and technologies converge in dialogue, reconciliation, and creation!
Research Interests
Critical Heritage Studies in the Global South; Inclusive and Polyphonic Approaches to Heritage Interpretation
Community-Engaged and Socially Informed Conservation; Politics of Heritage in Rapidly Changing Urban Contexts
Cultural Memory, Identity, and Dissonance in the Built Environment; Megacity Heritage Negotiations
Digital Heritage Documentation and Interpretation; Photogrammetry, AR/VR, and Community-Controlled Mapping
Anticipatory and Climate-Responsive Heritage Practices; Values-Based Frameworks for Heritage Futures
Current Roles
Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Sonargaon University (SU).
Coordinator, International Centre for Development and Environmental Studies, ICDES.
Coordinator, Early Career Researchers Network, Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS).
Profile
My work converges at the nexus of architecture, cultural heritage studies and heritage interpretation. My research focuses specifically on cultural aspects of architectural environments of Bangladesh as well as the broader Global South, as I aim to reframe them as evolving multi-layered narratives. My scholarship attempts to reveal the embedded histories, polysemous meanings, and collective memories embedded within the built environment.
My views on heritage interpretation have been primarily formed by a professional Bachelor in Architecture degree coupled with a Master's in Heritage and Interpretation with a Commonwealth Scholarship. My exploration on identity, negotiation, and memory has shifted my focus to transcend conventional material-centric biases that bypass linear interpretive models. This has also enabled me to uncover the frequently disregarded aspects of communities, including their deeply embedded (and sometime alternate) histories, social structures and even instances of dissonance. as an applied outcome of my research, to create immersive, interactive experiences that encourage conversation between the past, present, and future, I use advanced digital techniques like 3D mapping, photogrammetry, and augmented reality. Through coordinating research initiatives that bring together diverse scholars, I've seen how critical heritage studies must grapple with fundamentally different ways of understanding time, authenticity, and cultural transmission. My current research investigates these alternative epistemologies, how they might reshape both theoretical frameworks and practical approaches to architectural preservation in contexts where conventional models prove inadequate. I am a believer in the power of collaboration, and I look forward to collaborating with the global community to draw attention to the often-overlooked aspects of broader cultural discourse in the Global South and beyond.
Research Activities on Heritage and Culture
Heritage Interpretation Research
Leading Research on Evolving Cultural Dynamics
Community Engagement
Academic and Social Explorations
Blogs/Fieldnotes