Sociology

    Faculty Profile

    Sebak Kumar Saha

    Professor

    Contact Information:

    • Phone: 01791141409
    • Email: sebak-soc@sust.edu, sebak.kumar@gmail.com

    Education:

    • PhD, Department of Anthropology, School of Culture, History and Language, The Australian National University, Australia.
    • Master of Environmental Management and Development, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, Australia.
    • Graduate Diploma in Environmental Management and Development, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, Australia.
    • Master of Social Science in Sociology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh.
    • Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) in Sociology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh.

    Research Interests:

    • Social vulnerability and resilience
    • Social capital and post-disaster response and recovery
    • Post-disaster operations of government and NGOs
    • Disaster risk reduction
    • Climate change adaptation
    • Displacement and migration following extreme events
    • Gender and disasters
    • Coastal management
    • Environmental resource management and environmental governance
    • Environmental conflicts
    • Social impact assessment
    • International migration
    • Ethnography

    Active Research Project

    1. Disaster risk reduction interventions in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh: effectiveness and challenges (Grant amount: 520000/- Taka, Funded by the SUST Research Centre, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology)
    2. Impacts of involuntary return migration: a case study of Bangladeshi migrant workers during the Covid-19 pandemic

    Previous Research Project

    1. Social capital and post-disaster response and recovery
    2. Cyclone Aila, livelihood stress, and migration

    External Affiliations:

    • Membership: International Sociological Association (ISA), 2022 to 2025
    • RC24 - Environment and Society, ISA, 2022 to 2025
    • RC39 - Sociology of Disasters, ISA, 2022 to 2025

    Awards & Recognition:

    • Vice-Chancellor’s Award 2022 for research excellence from Shahjalal University of Science & Technology
    • Postgraduate Research Scholarship, The Australian National University, Australia (15/02/2020-15/05/2020)
    • Endeavour Postgraduate Scholarship (PhD), Australia (16/02/2016-14/02/2020)
    • Asian Development Bank Scholarship (2012-2014)
    • Book Prize Award for securing first position in MSS
    • Book Prize Award for securing first position in BSS (Honours)

    Journal Publications

    1. Saha, SK & Ballard, C 2021, ‘Cyclone Aila and post-disaster housing assistance in Bangladesh’, Sustainability, vol. 13, no. 15, p. 8604.
    2. Saha, SK & Pittock, J 2021, ‘Responses to cyclone warnings: the case of Cyclone Mora (2017) in Bangladesh’, Sustainability, vol. 13, no. 19, p. 11012.
    3. Saha, SK 2017, ‘Cyclone, salinity intrusion and adaptation and coping measures in Coastal Bangladesh’. Space and Culture, India, vol.5, no.1, pp.12-24.
    4. Saha, SK 2017, ‘Cyclone Aila, livelihood stress, and migration: empirical evidence from Coastal Bangladesh’. Disasters, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 505-526.
    5. Saha, SK & James, H 2017, ‘Reasons for non-compliance with cyclone evacuation orders in Bangladesh’. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, vol. 21. pp. 196-204.
    6. Saha, SK 2014, ‘Corruption and good governance: the case of Bangladesh’. SUST Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 22, no. 2, pp.45-52.

    Conference Proceedings

    1. I presented a paper titled ‘Household migration as a unit following Cyclone Aila in Bangladesh: financing of migration costs and the role of social networks’ at the 2nd International Symposium on Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development (DRSD-2021), 24 – 25 June, 2021 organized by the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand; The registration fee of the conference was funded by Bangabandhu Chair Professor’s Fund, the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand.
    2. I presented a paper titled ‘Responses to cyclone warnings: the case of Cyclone Mora (2017) in Bangladesh’ at the ANU APRU 14th Multi-Hazards Symposium, 21-24 October 2018, the Australian National University, Australia.
    3. Saha, SK 2014, ‘Causes of non-compliance with cyclone evacuation orders in Bangladesh’, Published in conference proceedings, the Australian & New Zealand Disaster and Emergency Management Conference 2014, Gold Coast, Australia.

    Teaching

    • Introduction to Advanced Research
    • Sociology of Environment
    • Contemporary Sociological Theories
    • Theories of Development and Underdevelopment
    • Discourses of Development
    • Quantitative Analysis of Social Data & Lab
    • Qualitative Analysis of Social Data & Lab
    • Issues and Methods of Social Research & Lab
    • Social Psychology
    • Industrial Sociology
    • Principles of Sociology