Saleena Begum Saleem
Visiting Lecturer of Social Research and Public Policy
Affiliation: Visiting
Education: BA, Boston University; MS, Boston University; SM, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; PhD, University of Liverpool
Research Areas: Social Cohesion; Religion and Politics; Race and Ethnicity; Public Policy and Social Inclusion
Saleena Saleem is a political sociologist with a regional focus on Southeast Asia. Her research focuses on topics at the intersection of race, religion, gender, politics, and society. Her recent work examines some of the pressing challenges facing contemporary societies, such as declining social trust, political polarization, identity-based divisions, and the governance of diversity in multiracial and multireligious contexts. Through her research, she aims to contribute insights that inform policies and institutional practices to strengthen social cohesion, support inclusive citizenship, and encourage constructive engagement across social, religious, and political differences. She is currently working on a monograph tentatively titled Unity in Diversity: Navigating Faith and Secularism in Southeast Asia, which looks at how secular and religious civil society women’s groups in multiethnic societies build trust and cooperate on social problems in contexts of political polarization and religious nationalism.
Saleem’s research has been published in various academic journals including Religion, State and Society, Sociology of Islam, Asia Maior, and Global Policy. She has published policy-relevant commentaries in the Foreign Policy Centre (UK) and the Asia and the Pacific Policy Society (Australian National University). She co-edited a Special Issue on "Sectarianisation in Southeast Asia and Beyond" that was published in Religion, State and Society. She provides expert commentary to international media outlets including Channel News Asia, South China Morning Post, The Straits Times, and Berita Harian.
Saleem was previously a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Boston University, and a Research Affiliate at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs at Boston University. She has held research positions at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, and at the Centre for Asia and Globalisation, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, where she worked on strategic and public policy issues, including energy governance, sustainability transitions, and Southeast Asian regional affairs.
She earned her PhD from the University of Liverpool’s Department of Sociology, Social Policy, and Criminology. She also earned a Master’s in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master’s in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University, and a Bachelor’s in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Boston University. Drawing on her interdisciplinary expertise, Saleem has taught a range of undergraduate courses including social theory, religion, race and ethnicity, gender, and criminology.