Meet this season’s team.
Shubham Jain
Podcast Lead
Shubham Jain is a doctoral candidate in law and WM Tapp scholar at the University of Cambridge. He is a Policy & Research Fellow at the Centre for Sport & Human Rights and is the Associate Editor of ‘The Routledge Handbook of Mega-Sporting Events and Human Rights’. He researches, writes, and lectures on the intersection of sports, governance, human rights, public law, and inclusion.
Iman Sami
Host
Iman is an MPhil reading Modern South Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her research is focused on Gendered Violence in Kashmir and other conflict zones. Iman has always been involved in human rights and social justice through captaining her undergraduate debate team at various social justice tournaments to completing her internship in the US Senate. After her postgraduate studies, Iman looks to a career in international law.
Tess Hargarten
Executive Producer
Tess is pursuing an MPhil in Politics & International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her research is focused on the legal efficacy of the International Criminal Court in comparison with United Nations ad hoc tribunals. Tess completed her undergraduate studies at Colgate University in Political Science.
Charlotte Abercrombie
Communications Manager & Panellist
Charlotte is a third-year undergraduate at the University of Cambridge reading Psychological & Behavioural Sciences, focusing her dissertation on the impact of polarization in Scottish politics on support for democratic norms. Passionate about social justice, Charlotte has volunteered with charities advocating for marginalized groups and destigmatizing overlooked issues such as visible differences and period poverty. After graduating, she hopes to make an impact through public policy. She also enjoys singing and songwriting – with her music even debuting on BBC Radio!
Neelima Mundayur
Sound Editor & Panellist
Neelima is pursuing an MPhil at the Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge. Her research is focused on religious pedagogy in the South Indian state of Kerala, gender, caste and politics. Besides this, she is also interested in Cultural Studies, and has a keen interest in making academic work more accessible through multimodal methods. She has always been interested in Human Rights work, and was part of various social justice organisation efforts during her undergraduate years. Presently, she is also volunteering at Amnesty International’s Digital Verification Corps.
Leah Schmidt
Shownotes Writer & Panellist
Leah is a PhD Student under Politics and International Studies, Centre for Gender Studies, University of Cambridge. She previously earned a MPhil in Gender Studies from the University of Cambridge, as the Canadian Chevening Scholar and Rotary Trust Global Grant Recipient. Her research focuses on the intersection of gender, violence, queerness, and technology in security environments.
Dounia Al Jijakli
Panellist
Dounia is completing her MPhil in Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her research looks at the reconceptualization of return through the lens of the Syrian diaspora. Dounia completed her undergraduate studies at McGill University in Political Science. Upon completion of her postgraduate studies, Dounia aspires to join the European civil service and become a European diplomat.
Charlotte Duthie
Panellist
Charlotte recently graduated from Law at Downing College, Cambridge. Her research focused on the use of human rights law within transitional justice. Charlotte now works for the Access to Justice Foundation as a Development Officer, raising awareness for equitable access to justice for the most marginalised communities across the UK.
Jigisha Bhattacharya
Panellist
Jigisha is a second year PhD in the Faculty of English at Cambridge. Her research focuses on literary and cultural expressions of incarceration in modern South Asia. She regularly writes on art, culture and politics for newspapers, magazines and journals, and is interested in public-facing academic work. Prior to the PhD, she completed her MA in English in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and has been involved with human rights and grassroots activism in India.
Maryam Tanwir
Panellist
Maryam has a PhD and post doctorate from the University of Cambridge. She has been teaching gender and development at the Centre of Development studies for the last 5 years. She also works as a gender consultant for the World Bank and United Nations. Maryam since the lockdown has been branching out towards neuroscience courses, theatre acting and podcasts!
Matias Volonterio
Panellist
Matías is a 3rd year PhD student at the Centre of Latin American Studies, Politics and International Studies Department. In 2018, he earned an MPhil in Politics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He works in political theory, and his research interests are radical political thought, decolonial feminism, and critical human rights studies. Aside from his academic work, he has been involved in human rights activism in Mexico with grassroots organisations and NGOs for more than 10 years, working on food justice, migrants’ human rights, housing, and environmental issues.