Professor Imran Awan

Professor of Criminology

School of Social Sciences

Email:: Imran.Awan@bcu.ac.uk
Phone:: 0121 331 6846

Professor Imran Awan is one of the country’s leading criminologists and experts on Islamophobia and countering extremism.

Imran is passionate about criminological research and uses his extensive research knowledge to inform practitioners and policy-makers on effective measures in tackling some of the most important issues our society faces. His interdisciplinary research has led to multiple publications in several other areas of the social sciences. His impact goes beyond academia as he works with communities and politicians to raise awareness of Islamophobic hate crimes. Imran has a wealth of teaching experience, and is presently teaching across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Areas of Expertise

Qualifications

Memberships

Teaching

Research

Commission for Extremism project – Professor Imran Awan was commissioned and selected as one of only 29 experts selected by the UK Commission for Extremism (which was set up the British Prime Minister) to produce an academic research report detailing the harms of social media and extremism.

Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust – Desecuritising Higher Education project – Professor Imran Awan, alongside Dr Andrew Whiting and Dr Keith Spiller from Birmingham City University have been successful in securing research funding from the JRCT. The project examines the impact of the Prevent Strategy within Higher Education by using interviews and focus group with both students and academics to explore the role of security in Higher Education.

ESRC project – Syrian Fighters and impacts of returnees in the West Midlands project – Professor Imran Awan was successful in securing research funding from the ESRC and explored the role of communities in the West Midlands and how they could respond to recent terrorist events. The project was part of a larger scale study alongside collaborative work with the head of Birmingham City Council, the police and local community organisations.

Tell MAMA project - The Impacts of online and offline anti-Muslim hostility - Professor Imran Awan was commissioned to lead a team of researchers and produce research evidence for the third party reporting organisation Tell MAMA. The report was received with praise and used by practitioners within hate crime based organisations to better understand the impact of online and offline anti-Muslim hate crimes.

ESRC project – Tackling anti-Muslim Hate Crime in Birmingham – Professor Imran Awan was awarded research funding to examine the impact of hate crimes in Birmingham following the death of Mohammed Saleem who was murdered by a far-right extremist. Professor Imran Awan was successful in bringing communities together and offering them a toolkit to better understand and report hate crimes.

Postgraduate Supervision

Publications

Books

Awan, I and Zempi, I. (2019) (Eds.) Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia,Routledge Handbooks, UK and US Edition. https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-International-Handbook-of-Islamophobia/Zempi-Awan/p/book/9780815353751

Awan, I. and Zempi, I. (2019) Islamophobic Hate Crimes: A Student Textbook, Routledge, UK and US Edition. https://www.routledge.com/Islamophobic-Hate-Crime-A-Student-Textbook/Awan-Zempi/p/book/9781138552708

Awan, I., Spiller, K., and Whiting, A. (2019) Terror in the Classroom: Security, Surveillance and Education, Palgrave Macmillan. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030017095

Awan, I and Zempi, I. (2016) Islamophobia: Lived Experiences of Online and Offline Victimisation. Bristol: Policy Press.https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/islamophobia

Awan, I. (2016) (Ed.) Islamophobia in Cyberspace: Hate Crimes go Viral, Ashgate Publishing: London.

Awan, I and Blakemore, B. (Eds.) (2013) Extremism, Counter-Terrorism and Policing, Ashgate Publishing: London.

Awan. I, and Blakemore. B. (Eds.) (2012) Policing Cyber hate, Cyber threats and Cyber terrorism, Ashgate Publishing: London.

Journal Articles

Awan, I and Zempi, I (2018) ‘You all look the same’: Non-Muslim men who suffer Islamophobic hate crime in the post-Brexit era, European Journal of Criminology, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370818812735

Awan, I., and Islam, I. (2018) ‘Certainly the Muslim is the very devil incarnation’: Islamophobia and The Merchant of Venice, The Muslim World, 108 (3): 367-386.

Awan, I. (2018) “I never did anything wrong! Trojan Horse – A Qualitative Study Uncovering the Impact in Birmingham, British Journal of Sociology of Education 39 (2): 197-211.

Awan, I., Brookes, M., Powell, M., and Stanwell, S. (2017) Understanding the Public Perception of a UK Police Constabulary, Police, Practice and Research: An International journal, DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2018.1428098

Spiller, K., Awan, I. and Whiting, A. (2017) ‘What does terrorism look like?’: university lecturers’ interpretations of their Prevent duties and tackling extremism in UK universities,Critical Studies on Terrorism http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17539153.2017.1396954

Awan, I. (2017) Religion, Identity and Radicalisation: The Experiences of Young British Muslims of the Crises in Syria, Journal of Muslims in Europe, 6 (1): 1-21.

Zempi, I. and Awan, I. (2017) Doing ‘Dangerous’ autoethnography on Islamophobic victimization, Ethnography (Online) 18(3): 367-386.

Awan, I. (2017) Cyber-Extremism: Isis and the Power of Social Media, Society, 54 (2): 138-149.

Awan, I. and Guru, S. (2017) Parents of foreign “terrorist” fighters in Syria – will they report their young? Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40 (1): 1-19.

Awan, I. (2016) Islamophobia on Social Media, A Qualitative Analysis of the Facebook’s Walls of Hate, International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 10 (1): 1-20.

Awan, I. and Rahman, M. (2016) A Content Analysis of British Muslims in UK Newspapers, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 36 (1): 16-31.

Barlow, C. and Awan, I. (2016) ‘You need to be sorted with a knife’: The attempted online silencing of women and people of Muslim faith within academia, Social Media + Society, October-December: 1-11. (Open Access) DOI: 10.1177/2056305116678896

Awan, I and Zempi, I. (2015) Virtual and Physical World Anti-Muslim Hate Crime, The British Journal of Criminology, 57 (2): 362-380.

Awan, I. and Correia, S. (2015) Engaging Muslim Communities with Counter-terrorism Research, Fieldwork in Religion, 10 (1): 43-64.

Abbas, T and Awan, I (2015) Limits of UK Counter-Terrorism Laws, International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 4(3), 1-14.

Awan, I and Zempi, I (2015) Online and Offline Anti-Muslim Hostility, Aggression and Violent Behavior, 27: 1-8. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13591789/27

Awan, I. (2014) Islamophobia on Twitter: A Typology of Online Hate Against Muslims on Social Media, Policy & Internet, 6 (2): 133-150.

Awan, I., Blakemore, B. and Simpson, K. (2013) ‘Muslim Communities Attitudes towards and recruitment into the British Police Service’, International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 41 (4): 421-437.

Awan, I (2013) Policing Pakistani Style in the Theatre of Terror, Asian Journal of Criminology, 8 (3):191-206.

Awan, I. (2013) Debating the Meaning of Cyber Terrorism: Issues and Problems, Internet Journal of Criminology 1-14 ISSN 2045 6743 (Online)

Awan, I. (2012) The Impact of Policing British Muslims: A Qualitative Exploration, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter-terrorism, 7 (1): 22-35.

Awan, I (2012) Encouraging and Glorifying Terrorism: Preserving the Golden Thread of Civil Liberties in Britain, Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, 4 (3): 144-155.

Awan, I. (2011) The Erosion of Civil Liberties: Pre-charge Detention and Counter-Terror laws, The Police Journal, 84 (3): 272-284.

Awan, I. (2012) Muslim Communities, Conflict and Terrorism: A Study of Alum Rock, Safer Communities, 11(4): 195-204.

Awan, I, (2012) “‘I’m a Muslim not an Extremist:’ How the Prevent Strategy has constructed a ‘Suspect’ Community,” Politics & Policy, 40 (6): 1158-1185.

Book Chapters

Awan, I. (2019) Doing Research on Islamophobia, International Handbook of Religion.

Awan, I. (2019) Islamophobia in Europe, Oxford Key Readings in Islam.

Awan, I. (2017) Online Islamophobia, Hate and Extremism, In Muslim Identity in a Turbulent Age, Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Awan, I. (2013) Anti-Terrorism Legislation in the UK: A Review into the Impact Control Orders In The Evolution of Policing: Worldwide Innovations and Insights’ Edited by Melchor C. de Guzman, Dilip K. Das, Aideo Mintie Das.

Awan, I. (2012) Cyber threats and Cyber terrorism: The Internet as a tool for Extremism In ‘Policing Cyber hate, Cyber threats, Cyber terrorism’ Edited by Imran Awan and Brian Blakemore (Ashgate Publishing: London).

Awan, I. (2012) The Global Phenomenon of Cyber terrorism and Extremism In ‘Policing Cyber hate, Cyber threats, cyber terrorism’ Edited by Imran Awan and Brian Blakemore (Ashgate Publishing: London).

Awan, I. and Blakemore, B. (2012) Policing Cyber hate, Cyber threats and Cyber terrorism In ‘Policing Cyber hate, Cyber threats, Cyber terrorism’ Edited by Imran Awan and Brian Blakemore (Ashgate Publishing: London).

Awan, I. (2013) What is Extremism? In ‘Extremism, Counter-Terrorism and Policing’ Edited by Imran Awan and Brian Blakemore (Ashgate Publishing: London).

Awan, I. (2013) Policing within a Counter-Terrorism Context In ‘Extremism, Counter-Terrorism and Policing’ Edited by Imran Awan and Brian Blakemore (Ashgate Publishing: London).

Awan, I. (2013) International Strategies at Preventing Extremism In ‘Extremism, Counter-Terrorism and Policing’ Edited by Imran Awan and Brian Blakemore (Ashgate Publishing: London).

Awan, I. and Blakemore, B. (2013) Extremism, Counter-Terrorism and Policing In ‘Extremism, Counter-Terrorism and Policing’ Edited by Imran Awan and Brian Blakemore (Ashgate Publishing: London).