Doctoral Researcher Muhammad Usman
Muhammad Usman holds a B.A in Philosophy (University of Punjab), M.A in Philosophy with Gold Medal (University of Punjab) and Second M.A in Islamic Thought and Civilization on Merit Scholarship (University of Management and Technology, Lahore). Additionally, he earned two-year postgraduate Diploma in ‘Advancing Scientific And Theological Literacy’ from the University of Norte Dame, Indiana, USA (2019-2021) and worked with them as Student Coordinator and Teacher. He has experience of five years in teaching (Philosophy, Religious Studies and Social Studies) and served as a lecturer at the University of Central Punjab (2016-2021). He enrolled as PhD candidate in the University of Erfurt (2021) and worked as Research Assistant in the department of Philosophy (2021). He was awarded a prestigious scholarship DAAD (September 2021-2022) for his PhD. He also worked as Research Assistant and Translator in Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt (Feb-July 2023). Since October of 2023, he joined the RTG (Ambivalent Enmity) as PhD candidate.
In his project, Muhammad Usman will explore the indigenous masculine formations, religious aspiration and national cosmology in the retreat ceremony at Wagah border situated between Lahore from Pakistani side and Amritsar from Indian side. The respective project focuses on the construction of enmity by certain actors and how it is perpetuated and staged through the choreography performed by Pakistan Rangers and their Indian counterparts. The discursive dance of reason and indigenous choreography of emotions collaborate with each other in the space of Wagah. The conceptualization of Wagah as an ambivalent space translates that it has very oxymoronic nature of inclusivity and exclusivity. This project will contribute to establish that Wagah is both Bazm and Razm in local dictum simultaneously. This project will provide a means to test the hypothesis that enmity must be understood as a processual, relational, and deeply ambivalent category.
