Masood Ashraf Raja


Masood Ashraf Raja is an associate professor of postcolonial literature and theory at the University of North Texas. He is also the editor of Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies, an open access journal that he founded in 2009.

Early life and education

Raja moved to the United States in 1996, after ten years of service in the Pakistan Army as an Infantry officer.
Raja graduated with a Masters in literature from Belmont University in 2002, where he was awarded the Graduate Writing Award and at Florida State he was awarded the Davis Award for Best Graduate Student and Davis Award for best dissertation in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
Raja earned his PhD in postcolonial studies from Florida State University in 2006, where he studied with Robin Truth Goodman.

Career

Besides teaching and writing about issues of postcoloniality, globalisation, and political Islam, Raja also actively participates in the public debates through his public writing on his two blogs as well as other popular and scholarly websites.
Raja's monograph, Constructing Pakistan,, is an interesting explanation of the rise of Muslim national political identity during the British Raj and offers an innovative explanation of the genesis of the idea of Pakistan. Raja has published extensively in his area of study and on general academic topics in various academic journals and anthologies. Raja is a member of the Advisory Committee of PMLA, the premier journal of literature and languages and was elected to a five-year term on the Executive Committee of the South Asian Studies Group, Modern Language Association. Besides his academic and popular writings, Raja has actively presented his views at academic conferences as well as through public talks.
Raja has contributed his views on various issues related to the Islamic world and Pakistan to newspapers such as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on a story on Osama bin Laden and to Aljazeera English on a story about the Blasphemy law in Pakistan.
Having won a million dollar grant from the US State Department, Raja is the Director of a partnership program between University of North Texas and the National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad.
Raja continues to contribute his thoughts on issues of social justice, political Islam, and issues of human rights.

Publications

Raja has published extensively on issues related to postcolonial studies, political Islam, and about Pakistan and the region. Besides his academic work, Raja also writes poetry and fiction. Raja's most recent book ISIS: Ideology, Symbolics, and Counter Narratives provides a thorough discussion of the ideological roots of ISIS.