Professor Imran Awan
Professor of Criminology
- 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
- Islamophobic Hate Crimes
- Countering Extremism and Terrorism
- Social Media and Hate Crimes
- Cultural and Critical Criminology
- Engagement with diverse communities
- Hate crime victimisation, perpetration and policy
Qualifications
- LLB (Hons)
- LLM
- PGCE
- FHEA
- PhD
Memberships
As well as appearing regularly in the media, Professor Imran Awan has submitted both written and oral evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, The All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, and sits as an independent expert advisor to the Cross-Government Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred based in the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Professor Awan is an advisory board member for the organisation Tell MAMA and the International Network for Hate Studies. Professor Imran Awan is also a Senior Fellow for the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right.
Teaching
- Hate Crime (UG/L6 module)
- Policing Cybercrime (UG/L6 module)
- Security Studies (UG/L4 module)
- Terrorism and Political Violence (PG/L7 module)
- Contemporary Security (PG/L7 module)
Courses
- BA Criminology
- BA Security Studies
- MA Criminology
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
- Craig Pinkney 2017. Violence and Hate in the West Midlands.
- Morag Kennedy 2015. Social Media and Domestic Homicide.
- Shona Robinson-Edwards, 2015. Faith after Murder: The Role of Religion.
- Mary-Rose. 2016. Religion and Education in Birmingham.
- Hollie Sutch. 2018. Social Media and Islamophobia on Twitter.
- Sara Correira, 2012. The Impact of UK Counter-Terrorism Legislation.
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).
Media Work
Imran Awan is one of the University’s dedicated team of trained media champions, and can comment on a range of subjects including:
- Extremism
- Islamophobia
- Security
- Counter Terrorism
- Policing
To arrange a media interview, please contact Birmingham City University Press Office on 0121 331 6738, 07967 271532,
email press@bcu.ac.uk or via Twitter @BCUPressOffice
Links and Social Media
Twitter: @ProfImranAwan