Jahan Zeb Ahmed is a historian of global South Asia and a Public Humanities Graduate Fellow whose work centers on diaspora, religion, and cultural memory. His research explores Punjabi, Sikh, and Muslim transnational histories, with particular attention to Partition, postcolonial nationalism, the cultural Cold War, and the politics of heritage across South Asia and its diasporas.
Jahan’s public humanities work examines how cultural philanthropy, archives, and artistic interventions circulate across borders, and how they are received, contested, or resisted by different publics. He is especially interested in questions of epistemic justice, community archiving, and the ethical responsibilities of universities and cultural institutions working with diasporic communities. His current projects engage Punjabi diaspora organizations, religious institutions, and heritage foundations to develop participatory, justice-oriented models of public scholarship. He has held instructional and research positions across global history, South Asian studies, and religious studies, and brings a strong commitment to collaborative, dialogical public humanities practice that connects academic research with lived community experience.