Dr Ali Reza Din

Ali completed their undergraduate degree in Arabic Language and English Literature at the University of Westminster, London, where they developed a strong interest in the social and political history of race, migration, and identity in modern Britain. They went on to complete a Master’s degree in History at ARU in Cambridge, which further shaped their focus on British Asian histories and anti-racist movements through interdisciplinary and archival research.

Ali is currently a Postgraduate Researcher at ARU, researching the history of British Asians’ collective and everyday struggles against racism. Their PhD thesis draws on archival sources, oral histories, and community-based materials to examine grassroots activism, state power, and experiences of belonging in postwar Britain.

• Arabic
• Punjabi
• Urdu

• British Asian history
• Anti-racist movements in postwar Britain
• Migration, diaspora, and identity
• Grassroots activism and community self-organisation
• Race, racism, and the state
• Policing and minority communities
• Oral history and archival research

• BA (Hons) Arabic Language and English Literature 
• MA History
• CELTA

• Fellow of Social History Society

'The right to wear the turban', Durham University History Conference, July 2025.

'Virginity testing scandal', online presentation, ARU, April 2025.

'From silence to struggle: British Asians fighting racism 1960–2001', Bloomsbury Literary Studies and Creative Writing Blog, 24 April 2025.