Prof. Dr. Hussain Ahmad Khan slass - BNU

Prof. Dr. Hussain Ahmad Khan is an art and cultural historian of South Asia with over two decades of experience in teaching, research, and academic administration. He currently serves as the Founding Director and Professor at the Institute of Global and Historical Studies, Government College University (GCU), Lahore, and as Adjunct Faculty at the Seeta Majeed School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore.

Dr. Khan’s research explores Sufi shrine architecture, craft practices, colonial art institutions, museum studies, and the history of emotions. He earned his PhD in History from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Cambridge, UK. His academic trajectory includes teaching and research engagements at prestigious international institutions such as NUS, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, and the University of Cambridge.

A prolific scholar, Dr. Khan has authored two books, edited one, and published over thirty research papers and book chapters in peer-reviewed scholarly journals and edited collections. He has served as Editor of the Lahore Museum Bulletin and The Historian, and as Associate Editor of the Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies (published by Indiana University Press). Furthermore, he has led and collaborated on funded research initiatives with international institutions, including Aarhus University (Denmark), the British Academy, and Royal Holloway, University of London.

As an academic administrator in Pakistan, Dr. Khan has led transformative initiatives at GCU Lahore, establishing the Institute of Global and Historical Studies—the largest institute dedicated to global and historical studies in South Asia—as well as founding GCU Press, the International Students’ Office, and multiple academic departments. He serves on statutory bodies including the GCU Syndicate, Selection Boards, and Academic Councils, while offering expert consultancy to organizations such as the Walled City of Lahore Authority, the Board of Revenue Punjab, and the Better Cotton Initiative.

• Postdoctoral Fellowship in History, University of Cambridge, UK (2018–2019)
  • Project: Pride and Curiosity: British Encounter with Indian Things (Mentor: Sujit Sivasundaram)
• PhD in History, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore (2008–2012)
  • Dissertation Title: Artisans, Sufis and Colonial Art Institutions in Nineteenth-Century Punjab
• MPhil in History, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan (2006)
  • Thesis Title: Ethnography of Colonial Punjab: Strategy of Exhibitions and Museums
• MA in History, Government College, Lahore, Pakistan (2001)
  • Thesis Title: Struggle for Regional Autonomy: A Case Study of Siraiki Belt

Academic Appointments & Leadership

• Founding Director & Professor, Institute of Global and Historical Studies, Government College University (GCU), Lahore (2022–Present)
  • Overseeing 4 departments (History of Art, Archive Studies, Global Studies, and History), 12 degree programs, and 3 certificate courses.
• Adjunct Faculty, Seeta Majeed School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore
• Founding Director, Institute of History, GCU Lahore (2021–2023)
• Chairperson, Department of History, GCU Lahore (2019–Present)
• Associate Professor of History, GCU Lahore (2016–2022)
• Assistant Professor (TTS), COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore (2014–2016)
  • Acting In-Charge, Department of Humanities (2015–2016)
• Lecturer in History, GCU Lahore (2005–2014)
• Teaching Assistant / Part-Time Graduate Tutor, Nanyang Technological University (2012) & National University of Singapore (2008–2011)
• Managing Editor & Research Coordinator, Research and Publication Centre & Archive, National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore (2001–2005)

Institutional Governance & Administrative Roles

• Member of Syndicate, Government College University, Lahore (2022–2025)
• External Member, Academic Council, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore (2022–Present)
• External Member, Board of Studies, Department of Cultural Studies, National College of Arts, Lahore (2023–Present)
• Founding Director, GCU Press & International Students’ Office, GCU Lahore (2020–2021)
• Member & Convener, Selection Boards, Scrutiny Committees, Affiliation Committees, and Boards of Studies across multiple academic disciplines at GCU Lahore (2020–Present)
• Co-Founding Director, Khaldunia Centre for Historical Research, Lahore (2016–Present)

Books & Edited Volumes

1. Kamran, T., & Khan, H. A. (Eds.). (2021). Perspectives in social history of colonial Punjab. Beaconhouse National University Press & Khaldunia Centre for Historical Research.
2. Khan, H. A. (2015). Artisans, Sufis, shrines: Colonial architecture in nineteenth-century Punjab. I.B. Tauris.
3. Khan, H. A. (2004). Re-thinking Punjab: The construction of Siraiki identity. Research and Publication Centre, National College of Arts.

Refereed Book Chapters

1. Khan, H. A. (2021). Donations for Sufis and Sufi institutions. In Handbook of Sufi Studies, Vol. I: Sufi Institutions. Brill.
2. Khan, H. A. (2021). Abbasis: Bahawalpur (1802-1955). In Islamic History and Civilization, South Asia. Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA).

Selected Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

1. Khan, H. A., & Usmani, H. A. (2022). An Indian experience of Indian and colonial exhibition: TN Mukherji’s A Visit to Europe. Journal of the Punjab University Historical Society, 35(1), 1–10.
2. Khan, H. A., & Ahmad, S. (2022). Barkat and happiness: South Asian Sufi shrines in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Al-Aijaz Research Journal of Islamic Studies and Humanities, 6(2), 1–10.
3. Khan, H. A., & Ijaz, S. A. (2022). Emotional history of religion: Emerging approaches to cultural history. Al Khadim Research Journal of Islamic Culture and Civilization, 3(2), 1–11.
4. Khan, H. A. (2022). Darbar, music and military: British pride and grandeur in nineteenth-century exhibition ceremonies. Journal of Historical Studies, 8(1), 1–37.
5. Khan, H. A., & Afzaal, K. (2022). ‘Official memories’ of the last days: Images of the Muslim rule in the Lahore Museum. Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, 59(2), 162–166.
6. Khan, H. A. (2022). European philosophies and the ideas of Ibn-ul-Arabi in 19th-century Sufi context of Punjab. Al Khadim Research Journal of Islamic Culture and Civilization, 3(1), 110–127.
7. Khan, H. A., & Samad, S. (2022). The social life of Great Mughals’ jewelry and gemstone. Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, 59(1), 255–260.
8. Khan, H. A. (2021). Pride, possession and patronage: Curating exhibitions in nineteenth-century India and Britain. Terra Sebus. Acta Musei Sabesiensis, 13, 399–417.
9. Khan, H. A., & Afzaal, K. (2021). Representing religious identity: Lahore Museum, 1960s-1990s. Pakistan Vision, 22(2), 29–42.
10. Khan, H. A. (2021). Pride and curiosity: British encounter with textile products in the Second Punjab Exhibition, 1881-1882. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 29(2), 37–51.
11. Khan, H. A. (2021). How things enable humans: Objects, curiosity and colonial exhibitions (1880s). Journal of the Punjab University Historical Society, 34(2), 103–119.
12. Khan, H. A. (2015). History of shrine architecture: Studying cultural history of Sufi shrines in colonial Punjab. Pakistan Vision, 16(2), 223–241.
13. Khan, H. A. (2015). Tracing the genealogy of art instruction in colonial Lahore: German philosophy, design pedagogy and nineteenth-century England. Journal of Research Society of Pakistan, 52(2), 43–55.
14. Khan, H. A. (2015). “The people of my generation are best”: Conceptualizing testimony in early Islam (9th and 10th centuries). Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 23(1), 163–180.
15. Khan, H. A. (2015). Nomos and opacities: An approach for studying the Sufi-artisan relationship in pre-partition Punjab. Journal of Research Society of Pakistan, 52(1), 85–102.
16. Khan, H. A. (2009). Rationalizing the mystical relationship of art with artist: Art discourses in England and formative years of Mayo School of Arts, Lahore (1875-1895). The Historian, 7(1), 89–109.
17. Khan, H. A. (2007). Configuring Punjab within Hegelian conception of world history: Colonial exhibitions and museums in the latter half of nineteenth century. The Historian, 5(1), 73–89.
18. Khan, H. A. (2005). Origin of word Siraiki. The Historian, 3(1), 42–53.

Editorial Appointments

• Editor, Lahore Museum Bulletin (2021–Present)
• Editor, The Historian, GCU Press (2018–Present)
• Associate Editor, Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies, Indiana University Press (2016–Present)

Select Keynotes & Presentations

• Presented paper, “Sufi Shrines as a Symbol of Resistance in the 19th-Century,” Al-Shadhili Research Centre, GCU Lahore (2025).
• Speaker, Panel Discussion: “Driving Innovation in Pakistani Higher Education Institutions,” International Conference on Future-Ready Universities, UMT Lahore (2025).
• Workshop Lead, “Practicing Cultural History: Approaches to Studying Pakistani Folktales,” British Academy Project with Royal Holloway, University of London & GCU Lahore (2024).
• Invited Speaker, “Use of Oral Traditions for Writing Cultural History,” National Seminar on Oral History, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad (2022).
• Presented paper, “Muslim Identity and Shrine Architecture in Nineteenth-Century Punjab,” Virtual Conference on Sufis Sacred Material Worlds, GCU Lahore (2021).
• Presented paper, “Domination and Resistance: Nineteenth-Century Lahore Museum,” McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge (2019).
• Co-presented paper, “Globalization, Socio-Cultural Practices among Cotton-Picking Women in Pakistani Punjab,” Global Inequalities Conference, University of Manchester, UK (2018).
• Virtual Lecture, “Colonial Exhibitions and Sufi Mela in 19th-Century Punjab,” University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA (2017).

Project Leadership & Consultancy

• Project Lead, Archival Cataloguing & Digitization Project, Board of Revenue, Punjab (2026).
• Principal Investigator, Digitization of Punjab Police Museum, Lahore (2026).
• Principal Investigator, Establishment of GCU Archives & Upgradation of Art Gallery, IGHS, GCU Lahore (2023–2026).
• Research Consultant, Establishment of Heritage Centre & Akbari Kutabkhana Archives at Lahore Fort, Walled City of Lahore Authority (2023–2024).
• Co-Principal Investigator, British Academy Project: History Writing Workshops for Emerging Historians of Pakistan (with Royal Holloway, University of London) (2023–2024).
• Co-Principal Investigator, Better Cotton Initiative Project on Cotton-Picking Women in Punjab (with Aarhus University, Denmark) (2018).

• Review of Building the Nation: How Pakistan Employs Heritage to Reinforce Its Identity. Herald (January 2017).
• Review of Mona Ozouf, Festivals and the French Revolution (Harvard University Press, 1988). The Historian, Vol. 8, No. 1 (2010).
• Review of Marshall Sahlins, Islands of History (University of Chicago Press, 1985). The Historian, Vol. 6, No. 2 (2008).
• Review of Carlo Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller (Routledge, 1980). The Historian, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2008).

• Punjab Higher Education Foreign Postdoctoral Scholarship (2018–2019): Awarded one-year postdoctoral research fellowship at the Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, UK.
• National University of Singapore Research Scholarship (2008–2012): Four-year full doctoral fellowship including stipend and complete tuition waiver for PhD studies at NUS.

• Email: hussain.ahmed@bnu.edu.pk