Sheila Pereira Khan

Sheila Pereira Khan is a sociologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Communication and Society Studies at the University of Minho. Holding a PhD in Ethnic and Cultural Studies from the University of Warwick, her academic work focuses on postcolonial studies, specifically examining Mozambican-Portuguese relations, immigrant experiences, and intersections of memory, identity, and citizenship.

• Education:
  • Doutoramento em Ethnic and Cultural Studies (University of Warwick)
  • Post-Doutoramento em Post-Colonial Studies (Portugal and Mozambique)
  • Mestrado em Psicologia Social
  • Licenciatura em Sociologia das Organizações

Her research explores how transnational DNA data sharing and forensic genetic technologies influence citizenship, democracy, and security paradigms, particularly concerning postcolonial immigrants. She also investigates how collective memory in former colonial nations like Portugal shapes debates on racial surveillance and human rights.

Key article trends include interdisciplinary analyses of postcolonial literature (e.g., João Paulo Borges Coelho, Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida), ethnographic studies of social housing communities in Portugal, and critiques of colonial memory in museums and cultural institutions. Her work bridges sociology, literary criticism, and science studies.

She has authored/co-edited books such as Racism and Racial Surveillance. Modernity Matters (Routledge, 2021) and Mozambique on the Move (Brill, 2018). Currently, she contributes to the EXCHANGE project funded by the European Research Council.

Notable collaborations include co-editing volumes on African diaspora narratives with Ana Mafalda Leite, Jessica Falconi, Kamila Krakowska, and Carmen Tindó Secco. Her methodological approach integrates life narratives, critical discourse analysis, and postcolonial theory.