Dina Kiwan: Tumultuous relationship between academia and policy

Dina Kiwan is a British-Egyptian Professor in Comparative Education at Birmingham, having joined this university in 2017, she is the College of Social Sciences (CoSS) Deputy Director for Research and Knowledge Transfer. Her interests center around sociological and politico-philosophical examinations of inclusive citizenship through the lens of education policy, naturalization policy and migration policy, in particular in the context of pluralist / multicultural societies, and also societies in conflict. These interests in critical policy analysis are complemented by an interest in how those deemed to be marginalized' and vulnerable' (disability, gender / sexuality, asylum/refugee status, race / religion / ethnicity) constitute themselves as political actors. In addition, her work addresses broader themes of the political sociology of global knowledge production. I had the honor to endorse her last book Academic Freedom and The Transnational Production of Knowledge. She has extensive and long-standing academic and policy experience and networks in the UK and internationally, in the field of citizenship. She is also a member of the UK government's Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) appointed by the Home Secretary (2021-2027), and co-Academic Director of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) flagship £25M Research Commissioning Centre (2023-2028). She will talk about her intellectual and professional trajectory and particularly how she bridges between research and policy.