We are delighted to announce that Khadija Tahir (2018, History) has been awarded the Alan Coulson Prize for the best dissertation on a topic in the field of British imperial expansion.
The dissertation, titled “An Urban and Social History of Bhatti, c. 1930-1939”, uses literature to draft a history of the neighbourhood, Bhatti, located in the city of Lahore. The space was considered the cultural hub in the colonial period. Khadija's thesis explores this cultural hub as a dynamic and vibrant site which molded itself to accommodate the varied perceptions residents’ and colonial outsiders had of the space. The literature, therefore, becomes an insight into its residents and the ideas which circulated the space, and defined its urban and social history.
Khadija comments:
The entire process of writing a dissertation was daunting, especially when the topic I had chosen had little historiography to help me. But mostly, it was exhilarating. I loved forming my own views, leading my own research and contributing to the history of Lahore, a city I grew up in. For both the freedom and the guidance, I have my supervisor Dr Sujit Sivasundaram to thank.
Many congratulations Khadija!