Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies

Professor, Department of Social Work, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Rabiul Islam did his PhD in Disaster Management from the Department of Geography & Planning, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Earlier, I accomplished my master's in science from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand. I also did my bachelor's and master’s degree in Social Welfare from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. My research interests are—Social capital and disaster resilience, Community-based disaster risk reduction, Disaster relief and human rights, Climate change adaptation and climate migration, freedom of expression and digital citizenship, violent extremism and community response. I have more than 24 years of teaching experience at the Department of Social Work, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Currently, I have been teaching as a professor there. I am an honorary Fellow of Macquarie School of Social Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia and working as a Global Fellow at the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies (CHRHS), Brown University, Providence, USA. I have taught Environmental and Disaster Management, Rural Development, Environment, ecology and social work, Human Rights, and Social Development at the Department of Social Work. I was also involved with casual teaching at Macquarie University, Australia, where my core teaching focus was Geographies of Development, Legal, Ethical and Policy Directions in Health, Contemporary Health Issues, Environmental Decision Making, and Environmental Management for Changing World. I have been working as the Trustee of the Development Synergy Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh - an independent research organization. I worked on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) projects of India, Philippines, Myanmar and Thailand with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC). I have conducted several research projects with Plan International, Solidarities International, Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, World Bank, Heifer International, Caritas International, Concern Worldwide, Educo Bangladesh, Asia Foundation, BRAC, CARE, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, and World Concern Bangladesh. I have supervised 6 PhD students and MPhil student. I am a marker of national and international doctorate thesis, where I examined more than 10 PhD theses. I am a reviewer of scientific research articles of more than 30 journals around the world. I have published 34 articles in reputed national and international journals and 3 book chapters. I have presented 20 papers at various national, international, and regional conferences.

SELECT PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH

1. Islam, R. Wahab, G. M. Abdul. Households’ indigenous coping practices to face disaster-induced food and water challenges in coastal Bangladesh. Folklore Journal, Vol. 8, 2017. 
2. Islam, R. Walkerden, G. A. Marco. Households’ experience of local government during recovery from cyclones in coastal Bangladesh: resilience, equity and corruption. Natural Hazards, 2016. DOI: 10.1007/s11069-016-2568-6.
3. Islam, R. and Walkerden, G. How do links between households and local NGOs promote disaster resilience and recovery? A case study of linking social networks on the Bangladeshi coast. Natural Hazards, 2015. DOI 10.1007/s11069-015-1797-4.
4. Islam, R. and Walkerden, G. How bonding and bridging networks contribute to disaster resilience and recovery on the Bangladeshi coast. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2014, 10:281-291.