Assistant Professor of Mathematics Asadullah Jawid recently had a particularly timely paper published in the Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy. Publication in such prestigious peer-reviewed international journals is one of the hallmarks of AUAF’s commitment to scholarly research. Originally from a remote village in Ghazni province, Professor Jawid first joined AUAF’s STM Department in 2012, and returned to us in 2019. He has a Bachelor degree in Mathematics from Kabul University. He won DAAD scholarships to pursue graduate studies, earning his Masters in Applied Mathematics at Bonn University in Germany, and in 2015 began his PhD at the University of Kiel. His paper addresses a key developmental issue in rural Afghanistan: farmers’ adaptation to climate change and the impact of external interventions. In the classroom, he urges students to understand the value of the opportunity they have at AUAF.

Dr. Victoria Fontan opened the Fall 2019 semester with three important pieces of advice for AUAF incoming students, stemming from her own student experience at the University of Limerick: 1) Take responsibility for your own learning, 2) Make the most of your time at AUAF and 3) Embrace diversity. As Dean of Faculty, Associate Provost and Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at AUAF, Dr. Fontan draws upon a wealth of experience that she is regularly sharing across AUAF and beyond. She is the author of three books, and numerous peer-reviewed publications and commentaries. Her key research areas include Critical Terrorism Studies, Decolonial Peace Studies, and Transformative Education (Co-Creation of knowledge within classrooms). Dr. Fontan’s action research is also being featured in “Zero Impunity” (https://zeroimpunity.com), a trans-media project and documentary aiming to end impunity for sexual violence in conflict and peace. The film is currently featured in the official selection of several key film festivals around the globe. Later in September, she will join with the US Institute of Peace to convene a Peace Summit at AUAF, where students from multiple Afghan universities will shape a victims-centered peace framework for Afghanistan.

This week’s spotlight is on two students, Marzia Azizi (Political Science) and Sughra Azizi Business), and their papers published in the latest volume of the Journal of Women in Public Policy. Their contributions, Turkey's Potential for Facilitating Regional Cooperation and Peace in Afghanistanby Marzia Azizi and Kabul-New Delhi Relations and the Future of Security in Afghanistan by Sughra Azizi, each provide an in-depth review of critical issues for Afghanistan. AUAF has a number of links with the Journal with including Dr. M. Bashir Mobasher, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Dr. Dr. M. Nazif Shahrani, a former AUAF professor, who are peer reviewers for the Journal, and Journal editor, Mariam Safi, Adjunct Professor of Gender Studies. Congratulations to Marzia and Sughra on their scholarly contributions.