Kaberi Gayen is a Bangladeshi academic, author, and social activist known for her outspoken views on the oppression of minorities and gender inequality in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. She is a professor of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

, as well as a visiting lecturer at

Edinburgh Napier University , mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain , established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College , type = Public , academic_staff = 802 , administrative_staff = 562 , chancellor = Will Whitehorn , ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Early life

Gayen was born in Gopalganj, Bangladesh. She did her schooling from

Barisal Government Women's College Barisal Government Women's College is a master's degree college in Barisal, Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, wit ...

, and travelled to Dhaka in 1989 to obtain an honours degree in mass communication and journalism from the

- for which she was awarded the ''Dil Noshin Khanam'' Gold Medal. She then completed her master's from the same university in 1990, thereafter travelling to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

to obtain a PhD from

in 2004. Her thesis was on ''Modelling the Influence of Communications on Fertility Behaviour of Women in Rural Bangladesh''.

Career

Gayen is a full-time professor at the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism of University of Dhaka. She is also visiting lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University,

. She is a member of the

International Network for Social Network Analysis The International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA) is a professional academic association of researchers and practitioners of social network analysis. Members have interests in social networks as a new theoretical paradigm, in methodologi ...

and

Asiatic Society of Bangladesh The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh is a non political and non profit research organisation registered under both Society Act of 1864 and NGO Bureau, Government of Bangladesh. The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh was established as the Asiatic Society ...

, as well as a columnist for various national newspapers, including the Bangladeshi English-language newspapers '' The Daily Star'' and ''

Prothom Alo ''The Daily Prothom Alo'' ( bn, প্রথম আলো) is a daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka in the Bengali language. It is the largest circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. According to National Media Survey 2018, conducte ...

''. She was awarded the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

grant in 2004, to work on the "Social Network of Older Workers". In 2011, she received the prestigious

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

grant, and was subsequently invited to present lectures at

Dundee University , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , t ...

and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

. Johannes Karl Mühl, the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

academic from

Hochschule Furtwangen University Furtwangen University (HFU) is a German University of applied science with its main location in Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and two more branch locations in Villingen-Schwenningen and Tuttlingen. The HFU is part of the ...

, credited her with helping him write his book "Organizational Trust: Measurement, Impact, and the Role of Management Accountants".

Social activism

Gayen is a vocal human rights activist who has spoken for the rights of the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, and

Atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

minorities, such as the atheist blogger

Asif Mohiuddin Asif Mohiuddin (born 24 February 1984) is a Bangladeshi anti-islamic and secular activist, religious critic and feminist. In 2012, he won The Bobs-Best of Online Activism award from Deutsche Welle, who stated that "Asif's blog was one of t ...

. She has campaigned for justice in the Bangladeshi Judiciary, and is vocal against religious extremism and government oppression. She has supported The International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh. She has protested against the arrest of Labour rights activists and spoken against the issues of gender-inequality and sexual assault prevalent in the Bangladeshi society.

Militant threat

She was one of the ten people who received death threats from Islamist terrorists

Ansarullah Bangla Team The Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), also called Ansar Bangla is a terrorist organization in Bangladesh, implicated in crimes including some brutal attacks and murders of atheist bloggers from 2013 to 2015 and a bank heist in April 2015. The gang was ...

. The List included HT Imam - advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Vice-Chancellor of

Dhaka University The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

, and Professor

Muhammed Zafar Iqbal Muhammed Zafar Iqbal ( bn, মুহম্মদ জাফর ইকবাল; ; born 23 December 1952) is a Bangladeshi science fiction author, physicist, academic, activist & former professor of computer science and engineering and former head ...

. The Militant group had also admitted to the murder of blogger

Avijit Roy Avijit Roy ( bn, অভিজিৎ রায়; 12 September 1972 – 26 February 2015) was a Bangladeshi-American engineer, online activist, writer and blogger known for creating and administrating the '' Mukto-Mona'', an Internet community ...

Bibliography

Books

* * * (in the process of printing)

Conference papers

* Gayen, K. and. Raeside. R. 2005.
Kinship Networks and Contraception in Rural Bangladesh
, published in the Proceedings of XXV IUSSP International Population Conference 2005,

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. * Raeside, R. and Gayen. K. 2005. "The Experience of Elderly", published in the Proceedings of XXV IUSSP International Population Conference 2005, Tours, France. Also available
Princeton University

References

External links

Dhaka University Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gayen, Kaberi Living people 1970 births Bengali Hindus Bangladeshi Hindus Bangladeshi women academics Bangladeshi feminists Bangladeshi women journalists Bangladeshi women writers Bangladeshi writers Alumni of Edinburgh Napier University University of Dhaka alumni University of Dhaka faculty Asian social liberals People from Dhaka People from Khulna District