Dr Ayushman Bhagat
Lecturer in Political Geography

Summary

I am a political geographer with a research focus on the spatial politics of anti-slavery and  migration control. My interest in contemporary anti-slavery abolitionist movement emerged from my long-term consultancy work with the United Nations-International Labour Organization (ILO), where I assisted multiple anti-trafficking/slavery programmes in various locations in India. This experience helped me to identify a disconnect between the migration, labour, and anti-trafficking/slavery policies and practices, and the voices of people on the move who are oppressed, exploited, and rendered rightless due to such protectionist policies and practices. To address this gap, I conducted Participatory Action Research at a post-disaster Himalayan site in Nepal and engaged in border ethnography spanning across four countries during my doctoral research in the Department of Geography at Durham University. Subsequently, I pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at TraffLab within the Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel-Aviv University.

I have taught a range of human geography modules at all levels, at both Durham University and Edge Hill University.

Qualifications

PhD, Department of Geography. Durham University (passed with minor corrections).

Durham, United Kingdom; January 2021.

• Title: Departure Avenues: The Politics of (Anti-) Trafficking and Emigration Control in Nepal.
  • Supervised by Dr Siobhán McGrath (Geography), Prof. Lauren Martin (Geography), Prof. Deirdre McCann (Law).
  • Examined by Prof. Julia O’Connell Davidson (Sociology), Prof. Ana Secor (Geography).
• Research Assistant: (a) Globalised Production of Goods Project - demandAT-EU and (b) Impact Acceleration Accounts-ESRC.

MBA-RD (Post-Graduate Diploma in Management – Rural Development), Xavier Institute of Social Service.

Ranchi, Jharkhand, India; March 2012.

• Title: Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of Project Jeevika.
  • Supervised by Prof. D. K Panda (Development Economics).
• Elected Representative of Alumni (more than 5000 Development Professionals).

BCA (Bachelor in Computer Applications), Sikkim Manipal University.

Patna, Bihar, India; September 2009.

Fellow, Advance Higher Education (FHEA)

Edge Hill University, 2023

NON-ACADEMIC POSITIONS

Consultant (ex-coll.), United Nations-International Labour Organisation (UN-ILO).

• Work in Freedom Project (A flagship Modern Slavery Project of DFID/FCDO) (2014-16)
• Reducing Vulnerability to Bondage Project (2013-2014)

Kanpur and New Delhi, India.

Senior Consultant, Thinkthrough Consulting.

New Delhi, India.

Project Officer, Foundation for Ecological Security,

Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. (2012 – 2013).

Responsibility

• Steering Group Member: Decolonising the Curriculum Working Group (2026-)
• Departmental Alumni Careers and Employability Committee Member (2024-)
• Open Access Champion (2024-)
• Assessment officer - Geography (2025-)
• Senior Tutor - Geography (2024-2025)
• Placement Coordinator – Geography (2025-)
• Departmental Ethics Committee member (2025)
• Decolonisation coalition member (2023-24)
• Representative of Geography programmes on most of the open days, applicant visit days, taster sessions and outreach activities.