Dr. Darvaish Afridi

Designation and Administrative Responsibilities

Lecturer

Professional Summary

Dervaish Khan is a teacher at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Peshawar, Pakistan, since November 2008. Currently, he is teaching at the Department of Political Science. Notwithstanding his incessant quest for improving his own understanding of the various aspects of human condition and collectivities, he believes that teaching is one of the best tools to train our youth (and society at large) in scientific attitude and critical thinking as well as to help them explore, and deliberate about, new and more efficient alternatives to (re)organize human collectivities. In addition to teaching and research, he has been regularly contributing, as a consultant, to the efforts being made by various organizations in development sector, such as the Peshawar Child Protect Committee (establish and funded by Muslim Charity – UK), Atlas Network, and USAID, Pakistan, which focuses particularly, but not exclusively, on the tribal Pakhtun belt of Pakistan. 

Education

PhD: Political Science, Western Michigan University, Michigan, United States – June 2018.

 (Dissertation: The Struggle for Counterhegemony: Pashtun and Baloch Nationalism in Pakistan)

MPhil: Area Study Centre for Africa, North and South America, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan – 2008.

(Thesis: Promoting the US Ideals in the Middle East in the 21st Century)

Master’s Degree: Political Science, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan – 2004

Bachelor’s Degree: Law and Political Science, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan – 2002

Teaching and Academic/Administrative Services

  • Lecturer, Department of Gender Studies, University of Peshawar – November 2008 – 2024.
  • Lecturer, Department of Gender Studies, University of Peshawar – November 2024 – till

date.

  • Served as an elected member on the Syndicate of the University of Peshawar – June 2016 – June 2019.
  • Elected for three years as a member of the Academic Council, University of Peshawar – December 2021.
  • Coordinator MPhil Program, Department of Gender Studies University of Peshawar – September 2018 – 2024.
  • Member of the Graduate Studies Committee, Department of Gender Studies University of Peshawar – September 2017 – 2024.

Academic Proficiency and Research Interests

  • Comparative Politics (Democratization and Regime Change; Institutionalism; and, Civil Society and Social Movements; Social Change and Political Development)
  • Political Theory (Ancient and Contemporary, with focus on Postmodern Liberal Theory) 
  • Ethno-Nationalist Dynamics of the government and politics in Pakistan
  • Methods: (Primarily) Qualitative.

Supervising and Mentoring Experience

I have recently supervised two MPhil theses at the Department of Gender Studies: 1) “A Structural Analysis of Gender-based Violence in district Bajaur”, by Mr. Zahid Ullah; and, 2), “The Impacts of Non-traditional Family Planning Methods on the Health of Women in District Charsadda”, by research scholar, Ms. Lala Rukh. Currently, I am supervising four MPhil theses.

Currently, I am supervising four MPhil thesis, focusing on various aspects of gender.

Fellowships and Grants

  • Fulbright Fellowship (August, 2010 – 2015)

Awards and Honors

  • John R. Borsos Memorial Endowed Scholarship, April, 2014: Awarded for my scholastic achievements during my Ph.D., awarded by the Department of Political Science, Western Michigan University,

Current Research Projects

“Institutional Transformation and Reconfiguration of Expectations in the Newly-Merged Districts of Khyber Pakhtynkhwa, Pakistan”. The project funded by a US-based organization, the Atlas Network ( https://www.atlasnetwork.org/). The project will be completed and published by the end of April, 2024.

Professional Societies and Social Services

  • Elected president of the Peshawar Child Protection Committee (PCPC). The committee is a regional organ of the Muslim Charity-UK, sponsors various social action projects intended to address issues faced by the marginalized and vulnerable children of Peshawar city.
  • Member of the Board of Governors of the Democratic Commission for Human Development (a non-profit organization) – Since August 2021.
  • Member of the Advisory Board of a Peshawar-based non-government organization, Mafkoora Research and Development Center. (https://pk.linkedin.com/in/mafkoora-research-and-development-centre-458142240?trk=public_profile_browsemap).
  • I am frequently hired as a consultant by various CSOs and donor agencies on various social and political issues: for instance, in July 2023, I worked with a local NGO, the Natives, as a consultant on ‘land settlement and registration in the newly-merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa”, and on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Alternate Dispute Resolution Act, 2020. The project was funded the USAID.
  • Social activism from various civil society platforms since 2006.
  • Frequently commenting on various sociopolitical issues in mainstream print and electronic media.

International Visits

United States of America (2010-2015), United Arab Emirates (2010, 2012, and 2018), and Afghanistan (2013).

Languages Pashto; Urdu; and, English.