Dr. Shamika Shabnam received her Ph.D. in June 2023 from the Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University, Canada. Her doctoral dissertation, Fragmented Memories: Muktijoddha Masculinity, the Freedom Fighter, and the Birangona-Ma in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, examines wartime trauma, nationalist discourse, and gender narratives on the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
Central to her work is the figure of the muktijoddha ("Freedom Fighter"), who engaged in armed resistance, and the birangona ("War Heroine") women who survived multiple forms of militarized violation during the Liberation War and whose stories have been suppressed from collective nationalist memory.
She also holds a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in English from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom. She is currently in the final stages of her first scholarly monograph, Remembering the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War: History, Memory and Gender (forthcoming in September 2026), to be published by Routledge in the South Asian Literature in Focus series (Series Editors: Goutam Karmakar, Puspa Damai, Payel Pal, and Deimantas Valančiūnas).
She is also contributing a journal article, "Muktijouddha and Motherhood: The Patriotic Mother and Memories of the Birangona-Ma," to Bad Reputations? Feminist Pedagogy and the (Non)Frivolity of Popular Genres, a special issue of The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, edited by Sarah Brophy and S. Trimble.
Core Areas
- Postcolonial Studies
- Cultural Studies
- South Asian Literatures
- South Asian Masculinity Studies
- Trauma & Memory Studies
- Gender & Nationalist Studies
- Partition Studies
- Feminist Studies
Themes
- Women's Narratives
- Motherhood
- Gender
- Religion & Partition
- Language & Culture
- Diasporic Writing
- Feminist Criticism
Institutions
- Capilano University
- McMaster University
- University of Leeds
- University of Leicester
Remembering to Forget
Co-authored with Dr. Chandrima Chakraborty. Examines how wartime mothers in Tahmima Anam's A Golden Age are simultaneously valorized and erased within nationalist discourse surrounding the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Modernist Transitions
Traces cultural encounters between British and Bangla modernist fiction from the 1910s through the 1950s, mapping how literary modernism traveled across colonial and postcolonial boundaries.
Speaking in Fragments
Shamika has produced Chapter 12 in this edited Routledge volume. The chapter examines the birangona-mother's traumatic memories of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War how survivors speak, how they are heard, and how official memory has fragmented their testimony.
Review of Place and Postcolonial Ecofeminism
A review of Shazia Rahman's book Place and Postcolonial Ecofeminism: Pakistani Women's Literary and Cinematic Fictions, exploring the intersections of place-based identity, ecology, and feminism in Pakistani narratives.
Stitches From The Past
An original poem exploring memory, history, and the intergenerational threads of the past.
Stuck to the Tongue
An original poem dissecting the "tongue" that conjoins the Bangladeshi palate to the Canadian, exploring the right to speak in a mother tongue and the stigma of alienation.
The Shifting Sītā in Pinjar
Analyzes the political representation of the Hindu woman during the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition in Chandra Prakash Dwivedi's 2003 film Pinjar, tracing how the mythological figure of Sita from the Rāmāyaṇa is mobilized and destabilized in the film's feminist reimagining.
Fragmented Memories
Doctoral dissertation housed in McMaster's open-access MacSphere repository. The central work from which her published articles on birangona narratives and wartime memory have grown.
- Instructor, English (2024 – Current) Capilano University
- Instructor, Historical Studies | South Asian Studies (2024) University of Toronto
- Instructor, English & Cultural Studies | Gender & Social Justice (2020 – 2024) McMaster University
Full Episodes & Videos
Shorts
Curriculum Vitae
You can view my Curriculum Vitae below or download the PDF version here.
SHAMIKA SHABNAM (SHE/HER) PH.D.
shamikashabnam@capilanou.ca | shamikashabnam@gmail.com
Website: shamikashabnam.com | ResearchGate | Academia.Edu
ORCID: 0000-0001-6696-4425
ACADEMIC HISTORY
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) | McMaster University, Canada | 2015 – 2023
English & Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities
Dissertation: “Fragmented Memories: Muktijoddha Masculinity, the Freedom Fighter, and the Birangona-Ma in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War”
Date of Conferral of Degree: 12 June 2023
Defense Performance Report: Excellent
Supervisor: Dr. Chandrima Chakraborty
MONOGRAPH PUBLICATION IN PRODUCTION
Shabnam, Shamika (Release Date: September 2026) Remembering the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War: History, Memory, and Gender. Routledge – South Asian Literature in Focus | Series Editors: Goutam Karmakar, Puspa Damai, Payel Pal, and Deimantas Valančiūnas.
Monograph Available for Pre-Order: August 2026
Link to Forthcoming Monograph: www.routledge.com
Master of Arts (M.A) | University of Leeds, England | 2013 – 2014
Postcolonial Literary & Cultural Studies, School of English
Thesis: “Examining and Analyzing the Complex, Shifting Identities of South Asian Women in Urban Society”
Supervisor: Dr. Sam Durrant
Bachelor of Arts (B.A) | University of Leicester, England | 2011 – 2013
English, School of Arts
Thesis: “The Ambiguous Representations of Subaltern Hindu Widows in Ancient Sanskrit Scriptures and Twentieth-Century Indian Novels”
Supervisor: Dr. Corrine Fowler
Bachelor of Arts (B.A) | University of Pretoria, South Africa | 2010 – 2011
English Studies, Faculty of Humanities
SCHOLARLY WORKS
IN PROGRESS: Peer-Reviewed Journal Article
Shabnam, Shamika (2027) “Towards Unsilencing the Wartime Woman in Nasiruddin Yousuff’s Guerilla.” Bad Reputations? Feminist Pedagogy and the (Non)Frivolity of Popular Genres. The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies. Themed Issue, edited by Sarah Brophy and S. Trimble. [In Preparation; Abstract Accepted with an Anticipated Publication Year of 2027]
IN PRODUCTION: Monograph
Shabnam, Shamika (Release Date: September 2026) Remembering the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War: History, Memory and Gender. Routledge • South Asian Literature in Focus | Series Editors: Goutam Karmakar, Puspa Damai, Payel Pal, and Deimantas Valančiūnas. Link: www.routledge.com
PUBLICATIONS
Shabnam, Shamika, and Chandrima Chakraborty (2025) Remembering to Forget: Wartime Mothers in Tahmima Anam’s A Golden Age. South Asian Review, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 454 – 468. [Peer-Reviewed Journal Article]
Link: DOI: 10.1080/02759527.2025.2511421
Shabnam, Shamika (2024) Modernist Traditions: Cultural Encounters between British and Bangla Modernist Fiction from 1910s to 1950s. Critical Humanities, vol. 3, no.1. [Book Review] Link: mds.marshall.edu
Shabnam, Shamika (2023) Speaking in Fragments: The Birangona-Mother’s Traumatic Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War Narratives of Trauma in South Asian Literature. Routledge, edited by Goutam Karmakar and Zeenat Khan. pp. 108 – 118. [Peer-Reviewed Book Chapter] Link: routledge.com
Shabnam, Shamika (2020) Place and Postcolonial Ecofeminism: Pakistani Women’s Literary and Cinematic Fictions – Shazia Rahman. Postcolonial Text, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 1 – 4. [Book Review] Link: postcolonial.org
Shabnam, Shamika (2018) Gender, Religion and Partition: The Shifting Sītā in Chandra Prakash Dwivedi’s Pinjar. Journal of Religion & Film, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 1 – 37. [Peer-Reviewed Journal Article]
Link: DOI:10.32873/uno.dc.jrf.22.02.04
CREATIVE WORKS
Shabnam, Shamika (2020) “Stuck to the Tongue.” The Lamp: Creative Journal. Vol. X. │[Poem]
Shabnam, Shamika (2019) “Stitches from the Past.” TRANSverse Journal. Iss. 18. │[Poem]
HONOURS & AWARDS
The Faculty Professional Development and Scholarly Activity Fund | Capilano University. 2025
The Don Goellnicht PhD Memorial Award – Inaugural Recipient │McMaster University. 2021
Tuition Bursary │McMaster University. 2016 – 2019
Graduate Scholarship │McMaster University. 2015 – 2019
Tuition Bursary │ McMaster University. 2015 – 2016
School of Graduate Studies Excellence Award │McMaster University. 2015 – 2016
Open Scholarship Award for International Students │University of Leicester. 2011 – 2013
Recognition of Merit – Golden Key Honour Society │ University of Pretoria. 2011
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Instructor
Capilano University (2024 – Present)
Department of English, Faculty of Humanities
University of Toronto (July 2024 – August 2024)
Department of Historical Studies
McMaster University (2020 – 2024)
Gender & Social Justice Program | English & Cultural Studies Department | Linguistics & Languages Department, Faculty of Humanities
Courses Taught
ENGL 109: Literature and Contemporary Culture (2025 – 2026) | English Department. Capilano University
ENGL 103: Introduction to Literature (2025) | English Department. Capilano University
ENGL 100: University Writing Strategies (2024 – 2025) | English Department. Capilano University
SAH200: Being Human in South Asia (2024) | Historical Studies Department. University of Toronto
LINGUIST 4G03/GENDRST 6G03: Language, Sex, and Gender (2024) | Gender & Social Justice Program; Linguistics & Languages Department [Graduate Level and Fourth Year Undergraduate Course]. McMaster University
GENDRST 1A03: Gender, Race, Culture, Power (2023) | Gender & Social Justice Program. McMaster University
ENGLISH 3A03: Critical Race Studies (2021) | English & Cultural Studies Department. McMaster University
ENGLISH 3V03: Global Anglophone Literature and Film (2020) | English & Cultural Studies Department. McMaster University
Teaching Assistant | McMaster University | 2015 – 2019
Faculty of Humanities; Faculty of Social Sciences
Courses Taught
IBH 3AA3: Relationship Management (2023) | Integrated Business and Humanities Program
LABRST 2W03/PEACJUST 2B03: Human Rights and Social Justice (2021) | Labour Studies Department; Global Peace & Social Justice Department
ENGLISH 3V03: Global Anglophone Literature and Film (2019) | English & Cultural Studies Department
ENGLISH 3A03: Critical Race Studies (2018) | English & Cultural Studies Department
ENGLISH 2RW6: Reading and Writing Criticism (2016 –2017) | English & Cultural Studies Department
ENGLISH 1AA3: Longer Genre (2016) | English & Cultural Studies Department
CMST 2H03: Gender and Performance (2015) | Communication & Media Studies Department; Gender & Social Justice Program
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Executive Board Member & Conference Coordinator | 2017 – 2019
Canadian Association for Postcolonial Studies
• Managed the end-to-end organization, coordination, and execution of roundtable and panel events to facilitate the exchange of dialogue and discussion among scholars and subject matter experts
• Established interactive learning spaces for both Canadian and international researchers, historians, economists, policy analysts, and key stakeholders, connecting with eachother through collaborative partnerships
• Facilitated public consultations and executive panel events, raising awareness on issues relevant to socioeconomics, public policy, public administration, and sociology within the Canadian context
• Applied equity, diversity, and inclusion while working with contributors from various intersectional backgrounds and lived experiences, promoting decolonial ideals of collaborative research work
• Initiated decision-making on conference proposals, budgets, briefing materials and process improvement measures to ensure events run smoothly
Conference Coordinator | 2017
McMaster University-Gandhi Peace Festival (GPF) Conference
• Communicated and connected with a range of activist societies, youth associations, and community organizations and coordinated their recruitment as speakers and guests at the GPF Conference
• Coordinated conference and speaking logistics, through steady communication and prioritized accessibility requirements in order to ensure streamlined operation
• Facilitated the “Re-thinking Dominant History & Institutional Learning” panel to stimulate critical discussions
• Delivered adept organization through recording attendance of presenters, distributing lanyards and programs to speakers, and setting-up lunch items according to dietary needs
Founding Member | 2016 – 2017
Anti-Racism Working Group, McMaster University
• Engaged graduate peers and faculty in conversations and knowledge exchange on intersectional belonging and the politics of spatial mobility to raise critical social awareness among members
• Exhibited an understanding of the complex ways in which BIPOC (Black Indigenous and People of Colour) students navigate social spaces through the sharing and exchanging of lived experiences
• Organized and coordinated a “Lunch & Learn” session for members with the Director of The Global Peace & Social Justice Program, Dr. Chandrima Chakraborty
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
“‘The Bloodied Pond’: Women’s Testimonies of Environmental Risks and Wartime Atrocities During the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.” Canadian Association for Postcolonial Studies, Toronto Metropolitan University. 2025
“The Patriotic Mother and Memories of the Birangona-Ma During the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.” Canadian South Asian Studies Association, Congress, George Brown College. 2025
“Narrating the Self: The Multifaceted Stories of Women Wartime Survivors of Sexual Violence During the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.” Canadian South Asian Studies Association, Congress, McGill University. 2024
“Marginalized Women in Bangladesh Garment & Textile Industries: Their Voices and Testimonies.” Honouring International Women’s Day Conference, University of Guelph. 2022
“The Birangona-Mother’s Embodied Trauma & Fragmented Memories.” Canada India Research Graduate South Asia Conference, University of Guelph. 2022
“Women’s Testimonies, Activism, and Solidarity.” Canadian Association for Postcolonial Studies, Kwantlen Polytechnic University. 2022
“Genocide and the Woman in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.” Women’s and Gender Studies et Recherches Féministes, Congress, University of Alberta. 2021
“Music Nationalism in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.” Canadian University Music Society, Congress, University of Alberta. 2021
“Rewriting Gender through Visual Culture: The Liberation War Woman in Guerilla.” Film Studies Association of Canada, Congress, University of British Columbia. 2019
“Unspeaking Nationalism Through the Body.” Canadian Association for Postcolonial Studies, Congress, University of British Columbia. 2019
“Diasporic Bodies, Queer Memories.” Canadian Association for Postcolonial Studies, Congress, Toronto Metropolitan University. 2017
“Mapping the Ineffaceable: Flesh and Paper as Inscriptive Sites of Pain.” IABA – Americas Conference, York University. 2017
“Polysemic Motherhood and the Inedible Stain: Partition and the Shifting of Female Identity.” Symposium on Gender Issues in India, York University and Guelph University. 2016
“Food, Palatability and Socio-Political Discourses around the 1985 Air India Tragedy.” History, Memory, Grief: A 30th Air India Anniversary Conference, McMaster University. 2016
“The Ambiguous Representations of Subaltern Hindu Widows.” Annual Master of Arts Conference, University of Leeds. 2014
VOX POPULI PRESENTATIONS
“Discourse Analysis and Archival Research Methods: Postcolonial South Asian Theory and Culture” | English & Cultural Studies Vox Populi 2022 Speaking Series │ McMaster University, 2022
“Motherhood and the Indelible Stain: Partition and the Shifting of Female Identity in Chandra Prakash Dwivedi’s Pinjar” | English & Cultural Studies Vox Populi │ McMaster University, 2017
“The Politics of Aesthetics: The Jyoti Sigh Rape Case" | English & Cultural Studies Vox Populi │ McMaster University, 2016
“Rape, Renaming, and Identity in Post-Colonial Indo-Bengal and Bollywood” | English & Cultural Studies Vox Populi │ McMaster University, 2015
GUEST LECTURES
Doors, Borders, and Displacement in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West (McMaster University. 2019)
Past and Present: Fragmented Memories in Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? (McMaster University. 2018)
Stories, Journeys, Identities: The Community & Diaspora (McMaster University. 2017)
Bangladesh and the Partition Memories of 1971 (University of Nottingham. 2017)
Multiple Narratives and the Diaspora: A Reading of Shani Mootoo’s “Out on Main Street” (McMaster University. 2017)
Bollywood/Hollywood: Queer Cinematic Representation and the Perils of Translation (McMaster University. 2015)
JOURNAL PEER REVIEW
Journals
Critical Humanities: 1 academic paper reviewed. 2026
Global South Literary Studies: 1 academic paper reviewed. 2026
Journal of International Women’s Studies: 3 academic papers reviewed. 2022
South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies: 1 academic paper reviewed. 2021
Journal of Religion & Film: 2 academic papers reviewed. 2017 | 2018
Activities
• Engaging in careful reading of papers submitted for potential publication in the above journals
• Offering objective and academic critiquing and commentary on papers
• Contributing to a journal committee’s decision concerning a particular paper and its appeal to a specific journal
FIELD RESEARCH & TRAVEL
PhD Project Field Research Sites:
Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, Bangladesh – 2017
Dhaka University Central Library, Bangladesh – 2017
Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh – 2017
National Martyr’s Monument, Bangladesh – 2017
CREATIVE OUTPUTS
Career Cats (YouTube Channel) | 2026 – Present
Link: youtube.com
• Producing and Co-hosting digital content which focuses on academic and non-academic career trajectories and navigating the current job market
• Using storytelling and personal narratives and anecdotes to establish an affective connection with viewers
• Managing end-to-end production, including scriptwriting, branding, editing, and promoting
Poetry Performances
Rare Birds of Mac 2 Virtual Poetry Performance. Department of English & Cultural Studies, McMaster University. 2021
Spoken Poetry Performance. Night of Poetry at Grain & Grit, Hamilton, ON. 2020
Spoken Poetry Performance. International Student Coffee House, Student Success Centre, McMaster University. 2019
LANGUAGES
Fluent in English and Bangla; learning French