Mariam Chughtai has a Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) from Harvard University specializing in Education Policy, Leadership and Instructional Practice. Dr. Chughtai has two masters degrees from Harvard University, in International Education Policy and Education Policy and Management, and a Bachelors in Political Science from Rice University. As a teaching fellow, she taught Negotiations at Harvard Law School, Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, along with several courses at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
As a student, she founded the Harvard Pakistan Student Group (HPSG) with a community of less than 20 students in 2009. Three years later, she handed over an organization with over 600 members having established HPSG as the first university-wide student organization recognized by Harvard University. These efforts trail-blazed the path for 30 other university-wise student groups to emerge in HPSG’s footsteps. Mariam was a recipient of Graduate Scholarship Program Award, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation for 6 years from 2006 to 2013. She was awarded the Graduate Student Associate Fellowship at Harvard University Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute from 2012 to 2014, and recently received the Georg-Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research Fellowship, Germany, in 2017.
She is now working as Director Pakistan Programs for Harvard University Lakshmi Mittal South Institute. She holds a dual position of Assistant Professor and Associate Director at the LUMS School of Education. She has been a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at LUMS and is working on her forth-coming book on the politics of making and breaking identity through the teaching of history in Pakistan.
Her research interests include:
- Leadership - Politics of Education - Identity and Violence
In her leisure time, Mariam enjoys learning new languages and travel.
Detailed Educational and Experience Biography: Education:
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Cambridge MA, USA, Ed.D. 05/2015
Concentration:Education Policy, Leadership and Instructional Practice
Qualifying Paper: Passed with distinction’ by doctoral committee and advisor Prof. Amartya Sen
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Cambridge MA, USA, Ed.M. Education Policy and Management, 06/2011
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Cambridge MA, USA, Ed.M. International Education Policy, 06/2007
Harvard South Asia Institute Graduate Student Associate (2012-13, 2013-14, and 2014-15) recipient of fellowship award of $3,000 in support of original and independent research on South Asia. Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholar (2006-2012) recipient of maximum award of up to $50,000/year for 6 years to complete Masters and doctorate in education.
RICE UNIVERSITY, Houston TX, USA, B.A. Political Science, 2005, GPA 3.61
Baker Institute Student Forum, Journal of Public Policy, selection for research publication, 05/05
UNIVERSITY OF GRANADA/RICE UNIVERSITY, Granada, Spain, Summer Abroad 06/2004, GPA 4.0
LAHORE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, Lahore, Pakistan, B.B.A. Finance & Marketing, 1999, GPA 3.56
Dean’s Honor List scholarship and silver medal award for academic achievement.
LANGUAGE SKILLS
English (fluency); Urdu (fluency); Punjabi (basic); Spanish (basic); Arabic (basic)
EXPERIENCE
Harvard University South Asia Institute, Cambridge MA, USA (07/15 – present) Country Director Pakistan
Strategy design and implementation towards developing a large portfolio of Harvard projects in Pakistan, with a focus on multi-disciplinary research, partnership and knowledge generation across South Asia.
(05/13 – 06/15) Faculty Research Coordinator
Lead planner for a regional conference on urbanization ‘The Contemporary South Asian City’ and lead coordinator in setting up a regional, multi-site research project on the 1947 Partition of British India.
Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
(10/15 – present) Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Working on a book manuscript on the politics of education in the context of history textbooks in Pakistan.
(10/15 – present) Associate Director, School of Education Project
Developing a comprehensive proposal for a potential school of education in Pakistan with a network of partnerships across the South Asian region and collaborations with international faculty and institutions.
Sesame Workshop, New York NY, USA Content Specialist
(06/10 – 11/10) Supervised topical papers for production of USAID-funded, Sesame Street Pakistan project.
Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA Teaching Fellow
(01/14 – 01/14) Course: Negotiation Workshop, Harvard Law School
(09/11 – 12/11) Course: Exercising Leadership – The Politics of Change, Harvard Kennedy School
(01/11 – 05/11) Course: Monitoring & Evaluation for Improving Education Systems, School of Education
(09/10 – 12/10) Course: Education Planning in International Comparative Perspectives, School of Education
(01/10 – 05/10) Course: Intermediate Statistics-Applied Regression & Data Analysis, School of Education
(09/09 – 12/09) Course: Politics, Policy Making and Political Action in Education, School of Education
(09/08 – 12/08) Course: Exercising Leadership – Mobilizing Group Resources, Harvard Kennedy School
(09/07 – 01/08) Course: Education Policy and Research in Developing Countries, School of Education
ACTIVITIES
Harvard Pakistan Student Group, Founder and President (11/08 – 05/12), Harvard University
Pakistan Conferences at Harvard, Co-Chairperson (04/09); Chairperson (04/12), Harvard University
Student Research Conference, Poster Presentations (01/07); (03/10), Harvard Grad. School of Education
Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) Conference, Paper Presentation (03/08)
History Educators Int’l Research Network (HEIRNET) Conference, Paper Presentation (09/15)
History Educators Int’l Research Network (HEIRNET) Conference, Paper Accepted (09/16)