Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellows

Fauzia Erfan Ahmed, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Gerontology

Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Program

Fauzia Erfan Ahmed, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Gerontology in the College of Arts and Science. Ahmed came to the United States many decades ago fleeing from a civil war in her country. As an international student at Harvard, she has first-hand experience of what it means to adjust to a different culture and educational system. Ahmed became a US citizen in 2011. “Miami needs to effectively prepare students to live in a globalized world; this means that we need to explore ways of recruiting and retaining more international faculty, staff, and students.” Ahmed’s research focuses on various aspects of gender empowerment: masculinity and microcredit, gender and Islam, gender governance, globalization, and the sweatshop industry. Her most recent project is gender and empowerment amongst adolescents in the Rohingya refugee camps. She is currently writing a book manuscript, Microcredit and Masculinity, which is under contract with the University of California Press.

Ahmed was inspired to apply for the Fellows program as an opportunity to “improve things for international faculty, and how this relates to Miami's plan of becoming a premier global university.  I also wanted to support Dr. Alcalde. She has created many exciting initiatives and I feel that she's trying to transform the culture and create an inclusive climate. As a Fellow, I plan to explore the DEI concerns of international women faculty at Miami and provide policy and strategy recommendations to the administration.”

Anita Mannur, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of English

Anita Mannur, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of English in the College of Arts and Science. Mannur has been at Miami since 2009, and has always had a strong interest in mentorship. She chose comparative literature for her studies because she was intrigued by its focus on thinking about literature across racial and ethnic traditions. Mannur's book titled Intimate Eating Publics was published in 2022 and is about trying to think about the way food allows certain intimacies to emerge that would not have otherwise: “We often think about eating together as a way to build family, but what if we think about it in a way that is not so heteronormatively imagined? What if sharing food allows strangers who would never talk to one another connect over something?”

Mannur was inspired to apply for the Fellows program, as she saw the program as “a great opportunity to think about what I value as a professor and how I can try and change Miami’s institutional culture.” Mannur was seeking more structure from Miami with more resources and support, and hoped the Fellows program would  provide faculty with these networks. 

Haifei Shi, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Biology

Haifei Shi, Ph.D., is a Professor for the Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Science. Professor Shi has been at Miami for 14 years and her current research focuses on the neural and hormonal control of energy metabolism, and the mechanisms of pathological conditions and related diseases such as obesity and cancer. This is an important issue for understanding and treating obesity and related disorders. The overall research goal is to investigate effects of sex differences in the regulation of energy metabolism. Graduate and undergraduate students in Professor Shi’s laboratory use physiological, biochemical, cellular, and molecular techniques in their projects. Her work includes increased representation of female subjects, and this effort has led to interesting and insightful discoveries.

Shi was inspired to apply for the Fellows program, as she aspires to create and further a sense of faculty belonging on campus. “When I came to Miami, I had senior professors guiding me through different processes and ambiguous requirements. I received a lot of support and mentoring, and I want to provide this support to my colleagues, especially junior, woman and minority faculty members.”