معرفی
Dr. Shezan Muhammedi serves as an adjunct research professor in the Department of History at Carleton University while working full-time as an Assistant Director with Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada. His academic and professional work centers on refugee resettlement, migration history, and ethnic relations, with a specific focus on the Ugandan Asian refugee experience in Canada that has personal significance as his mother's family arrived in Ottawa as Ugandan Asian refugees in October 1972.
Dr. Muhammedi earned his B.A. from Queen's University, followed by his M.A. and Ph.D. in History and Migration and Ethnic Relations from the University of Western Ontario, completing his doctorate in April 2017. His academic journey directly informs his professional work, having spent four years (2017-2022) with Focus Humanitarian Assistance under the Aga Khan Development Network where he led a team of 15 case workers supporting refugees across six European countries.
His research interests span migration history, refugee studies, oral history methodologies, and Canadian immigration policy, with particular expertise in how displaced peoples maintain multiple regional, ethnic, and religious identities while negotiating new citizenship. His work demonstrates how refugees actively navigate bureaucratic processes rather than being passive recipients of aid, reshaping immigration policies through their experiences and resilience.
Dr. Muhammedi's scholarly output includes his 2022 book 'Gifts from Amin: Ugandan Asian Refugees in Canada,' which represents the first major oral history project dedicated to this community. In November 2022, he co-organized the 'Beyond Resettlement' conference at Carleton University commemorating the 50th anniversary of the expulsion of Asians from Uganda, which explored historical context, Canada's response, and lived experiences of the community over five decades.
He has made significant contributions to Carleton University's Uganda Collection in the MacOdrum Library, featuring archival material, newspapers, and oral histories of Ugandan Asian refugees. His academic work bridges historical research with contemporary policy development, informed by his direct experience working with refugee communities in both Europe and Canada.
