Parvati Nair

Professor Parvati Nair is a leading scholar in Hispanic, Cultural and Migration Studies at Queen Mary University of London. She has held significant roles including Head of the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film (2019-2022) and Director for Graduate Studies. Her interdisciplinary work bridges cultural theory with migration studies, focusing on visual representations of displacement through photography and film.

• B.A., M.A., Ph.D. (University of London)
• Member, Academia Europea

Her research interrogates the intersections of migration, gender, and visual culture, particularly through Mediterranean displacement. Key projects include Displacement, Environments, and Photo-Politics in the Mediterranean (2024) and A Different Light: The Photography of Sebastião Salgado (2011). She has published 15+ seminal works on migrant photography, urban marginalization, and postcolonial migration frameworks.

Professor Nair's scholarship reveals trends in visual methodologies for analyzing migration crises, border dynamics, and cultural memory. She co-authored the 2014-2016 Model International Mobility Convention and 2021 Migration, Pandemic, and Responses from the Third Sector report.

• Fellow, Royal Society of Arts
• Arts and Humanities Research Council awardee
• British Academy grant recipient

As Principal Editor of Crossings: Journal of Migration and Culture, she mentors emerging scholars. Her United Nations University roles (2012-2019) demonstrate commitment to policy engagement. She leads collaborations with institutions like Columbia University and MERIT, and has partnered with New York Times on migration reporting.