Dr. Umer Jan

Areas of Research

  • Intersection of Politics and Technology, particularly emerging technologies

  • Social and Political Theory

  • Development Studies

  • Critical Theory

  • South Asia

  • Media Studies

Methods

  • Qualitative methods

  • Ethnography

  • Surveys and Focus Group Discussions

  • Participatory approaches

  • Decolonial Methodology

Biography 

Dr. Umer Jan, PhD. worked as a postdoctoral fellow for the Digital Technology, Policy and Governance research Group, Hasso-Plattner Institute of Digital Engineering, University of Potsdam. He contributed as a co-author to the group’s policy reports on multiple elections worldwide, as well as to journal publications, donor and multimedia engagement, and the organisation of conferences. He also set up and hosted Civics and Cynics, the group's podcast series focusing on how technology affects our political sphere.

His interests lie in studying how emerging technology affects politics and societies in the Global South/ Global Majority. The other fields of his research include critical social theory, popular politics, and development studies. As a lecturer, Dr. Jan has taught undergraduate and postgraduate students of Politics, International Relations and Media Studies in the UK and India.

Moreover, Dr. Jan's peer-reviewed articles and book chapters have appeared within top-tier journals and publication houses such as Theoria, Current Sociology, Routledge, and the University of Westminster Press. He has also written articles for prestigious media publications such as Aeon, Al Jazeera, The New Arab, LA Review of Books, The Independent, ABC Australia, South China Morning Post, Pulitzer Center, Jacobin and elsewhere. 

Education

  • Ph.D. in Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster (Fully funded by the UK Research and Innovation agency's Global Challenges Research Fund) — 2023

  • M.A. in International Relations and Conflict Studies, Islamic University of Science and Technology, Kashmir — 2017

  • B.A. (Hons.) in Political Science, Aligarh Muslim University — 2015

Experience 

  • University of Westminster, London, Visiting Lecturer (Politics and International Relations). Jun 2021 – Sep 2023

  • University of Westminster, London, Visiting Lecturer (School of Media and Communication). Sep 2022 – Sep 2023

  • Quintin-Hogg Trust, London, Research Associate. Apr 2022 – Feb 2024

  • Freelance Journalist and Analyst. Jul 2015 – Present

Conference

  • Democracy in the Age of Disruption Conference, Hasso Plattner Institute, Potsdam, Germany — 2025

  • European Consortium for Political Research General Conference, Innsbruck, Austria — 2022

  • 15th European Sociological Association Conference, Barcelona, Spain — 2021

  • Oxford Conference in Political Theory, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom — 2021

  • Alternative Futures & Popular Protest Conference, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom — 2021

  • Sixteenth South Asia Graduate Student Conference, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States — 2019