Background
Previous positions at the University
- 1988 – 2003 Principal Lecturer and Co-Ordinator for Multicultural Studies (Full Time)
- 1990 – 1997 Course Leader, Islamic Studies
- 1993 – 1998 Course Leader, Race and Culture Studies
- 1993 – present Visiting Lecturer in Indian History
- 2004 – 2011 Part Time Associate Lecturer (Post-retirement)
Previous posts outside the University
- 1962 – 1964 Head of History Department, Duke of Gloucester High School,
Nairobi, Kenya
- 1964 – 1966 Head of History Department, Shimo La Tewa African Boys
Boarding School, Mombasa, Kenya
- 1966 – 1967 Assistant History Teacher, Southchurch Hall High School,
Southend on Sea, Essex
- 1967 – 1974 Assistant History Teacher, Central High School for Boys,
Manchester
- 1974 – 1982 Head of History Department, Central High School for Boys,
Manchester
- 1982 – 1984 Head of Humanities Faculty, Brookway High School, Manchester
- 1984 – 1987 Head of Multicultural Education Support Service, Tameside
Education Department; Secretary to the Director of Education's
Multicultural Education Development Group, Tameside.
Experience in organising extra-curricular evening courses
- 1962 – 1964 Teacher of English, Kenya Polytechnic
- 1969 – 1975 Teacher of General Studies and Current Affairs, Stockport College
of Technology
- 1980 – 1983 Lecturing with a colleague on "Race Relations and the Black
Communities", Department of Extra Mural Studies, University of
Manchester
- 1982 Organiser of an inter-faith multicultural conference, Manchester Cathedral and the College of Adult Education, Manchester
- 1982 – 1989 Lecturing with a colleague on "Community Understanding and the
Police", Greater Manchester Police Training School, Sedgeley Park,
Manchester
- 1985 – 1986 Lecturing with a colleague on "New Issues and Concerns in our
Multicultural Society", Faculty of Humanities, Law and Social
Science, Manchester Polytechnic
- 1985 – 1989 Annual lecture on Zoroastrianism at the University of London,
under the auspices of the Faculty of Extra Mural Studies
- 1989 Organised three short evening courses at the Manchester Polytechnic
: "Life and Labour in Modern Britain – An Ethnic Perspective"; "A
Hundred Flowers Bloom : Civilisations, Cultures and Communities"
and "Understanding India"
- 1990 – 2011 Organised, over more than twenty years, a number of non-
vocational, non-award bearing courses and lectures in multicultural
fields as diverse as African Studies, Islamic Studies, Indian studies,
Jewish Studies, Eastern Christian Studies, Black Studies, History of
Economics and History of Mathematics and Science. Planned and
chaired upwards of 2000 evening sessions at the University over a
period of 20 years.
- 1990 – 1993 Lecturing to Police probationers on Race Relations at the Greater
Manchester Police Training School, Manchester
- 1991 – 1995 External Examiner on the BEd Degree for Overseas Graduates at the
University of Hertfordshire
- 1993 – 1997 Tutor for the course "Race, Education and Society", the Open
University
- 2003 – 2011 Weekly Multicultural Studies evening sessions organised
Working Parties
- 1981 Chairman of the Manchester Education Department's Secondary Schools Re-
organisation Working Party on Multicultural Education. The report contained
recommendations for curriculum changes in the secondary sector, relating to
Multicultural Education
- 1985 – 1987 Member of the joint consortium of the University of Manchester and the
Greater Manchester LEAS concerning the training of ethnic minority teachers;
the consortium's aim was to help design a new version of Primary PGCE at
Manchester University for overseas graduates.
- 1989 Chairman of the Curriculum Sub-group of the joint University of Manchester
and Manchester Polytechnic Working Party set up at the Centre for Ethnic
Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Manchester. The report "Coming
to terms with multiculturalism in Higher Education" is a document setting out
the agenda for discussing a multicultural permeation of academic contents in
higher education
- 1993 – 2004 Member of the Greater Manchester Police Advisory Council on
Race Relations
Links With Manchester's Communities
An extensive network of links with a variety of ethnic groups and communities in the Greater Manchester area, including African, Afro-Caribbean, Chinese, Hindu, Muslim, Eastern Christians, Jewish etc. It was through these links that extra mural evening lectures in Continuing Education for Multicultural Studies at the Manchester Metropolitan University were organised between 1990 and 2011.
International Links
1994-1996 Links made with 3 universities in India : SNDT Women's University in Bombay, University of Baroda and the University of Delhi. Facilitated fellowships and lecture tours by representatives from these universities at the Manchester Metropolitan University.
Awards
- 1955 Award of a bursary from the Kenya Government for pursuing higher
education in Britain
- 1957 Award of a Teachers' Scholarship from the Kenya Government
- 1988 Award of an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) from her
Majesty the Queen, in January 1988, for services to Multicultural
Education
- 1995 Multicultural work awarded by a grant to the University from the Higher
Education Funding Council
Publications
Chapters or articles
- The Kenyan Asian problem, in "Manchester Independent", March 12, 1968
- Ethnocentrism in History : A study in entrenched attitudes (joint authorship), in "Yagl Ambu", University of Papua New Guinea Journal of Social Science and Humanities, Vol. 10, No. 4, December 1983
- No Gags please (joint authorship), in "Times Educational Supplement", June 28, 1985
- Knowledge in search of Mammon (joint authorhip), in "Economic and political Weekly", Bombay, India, August 24, 1985
- Education for All (joint authorship), in "Polestar", the Journal of the Moral Re-Armament Movement, 1985
- Building in the Bias, in "Si Yu", Journal of the Manchester Chinese Community, Issue No. 11, April 1986
- William Henry Chaloner, Friend and Teacher, in "Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society", Vol. 85, 1988
- Race Relations Training : The state of the art (joint authorship), in B. Verma and P. Pumphrey : "Urban Education and Race Relations", Falmer Press, 1989
- Chinese History for All : An issue of Multicultural Education, in "Multicultural teaching", Vol. 8, No. 1, Autumn 1989
- Becoming British, Remaining Indian : A point of view about Indians in Britain, in K N Malik and Peter Robb : "India and Britain – Recent Past and Present Challenges" (Allied Publishers, New Delhi, 1994)
- Multicultural education for adults : Rationale, Curriculum and Process, a published conference paper delivered at the Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research in the Education of Adults, University of Southampton, July 1995
- Recollections of Ali Mazrui as an Undergraduate, in Omari Kokole (Ed) : "The
Global African : A portrait of Ali Mazrui" (Africa World Press, New Jersey,
1995)
- Best books on Indian History, in Oxfam : "Best Books, experts choose their
favourites" (Helicon, 1996)
- Race and Ethnicity in Adult Education : Issues of Power and Diversity, in the
Proceedings of the 27th Annual Scutrea Conference on Research in the education
of Adults, 1997 (joint authorship)
- Struggle for Liberation: A brief review of the events leading to the end of the
British Raj, Indian Independence Diamond Jubilee Celebration, The Indian Association, Manchester, August, 2007.
- Understanding the Aryans, a web article, July 2012: http://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/
Published reviews
- An ethnocentric history of the world : the case of Paul Johnson (joint authorship),
a review of the the History of the Modern world since 1917, by Paul Johnson, in
"History Workshop", issue no. 23, Spring 1987
- West's unacknowledged Debt, a review of The Crest of the Peacock : Non-
Western Roots of Mathematics, by George Joseph, in "Economic and Political
Weekly", Bombay, India, June 29, 1991
- Muslims and the British Education System (joint authorship), a review of the
Iqra Trust Handbooks in "New Era in Education", Vol. 73, no. 1, April 1992
- Review of Not Easy being British : Colour, Culture and Citizenship by Tariq
Modood, (Runnymede Trust and Trentham Books), in "New Era in Education",
August 1994
- Review of Ashoka by Charles Allen, in "Reviews in History", Institute of
Historical Research, university of London, July 2012.
Published books
- British Soil, Chinese Roots : Chinese Life in Britain, joint authorhip with Yung
Yung Wah and Simon Buckley (Countywise, 1996)
- India: The Ancient Past – The History of the Indian subcontinent from 7000 BC to
AD 1200 (Routledge, 2007)
- Challenges and Opportunities for Service Delivery in a Culturally Diverse Society:
lessons from the Muslim community, joint editorship with Dr. Liz Marr and Akhtar
Hussain (Manchester Metropolitan University Publication, 2008)
- Knowledge and Cultures: Crossing Boundaries in History, joint editorship with
Dr. George Gheverghese Joseph (Manchester Metropolitan University Publication,
2009)
- Equality, Diversity, Community: Four Themes, joint editorship with Dr. Liz Marr,
(Manchester Metropolitan University Publication, 2009)
- In Praise of Multiculturalism: Defending Diversity, joint editorship with Dr.
George Gheverghese Joseph (Manchester Metropolitan University Publication,
2012).
- Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A History of Muslim Power and Presence in
the Indian subcontinent (Routledge, forthcoming November 2012).
Conference presentations
- Equal Opportunities in Higher Education, at the annual general meeting of the
Tameside Council for Racial Equality, June 24, 1988
- Zoroastrian Identity in Multi-racial Britain, at the World Zoroastrian Organisation Seminar, July 31, 1988
- Multicultural Education in Britain : Opportunities and Constraints – A view from the classroom, at the Social values research Conference, University of Hull, October 29, 1988
- Indians in Britain, at a seminar of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, September 22, 1992
- Multicultural Education for Adults, a paper presented at the Standing Conference
on University Teaching and Research in the Education of Adults, University of
Southampton, July 1995
- The Prison of Eurocentrism, presented jointly, at the University of Manchester
Centre for the study of Eurocentrism, December 1, 1995
- The Prison of Eurocentrism, a seminar presented jointly, at the Fifth conference of
the International society for the study of European ideas, University of Utrecht,
August, 1996
- The Aryabhatiya and the changing perceptions in the West towards non-Western
Knowledge, a paper presented at the seminar to commemorate the 1500th anniversary of the famous mathematical treatise of Aryabhatta, the Aryabhatiya, at the Kerala Mathematics Centre, Trivandrum, Kerala, India, January, 2000
- Anglo-Parsi relations and the Iranian Zoroastrians : Ameliorating the Zoroastrian
Condition in 19th Century Iran, a paper summarised at a conference of historians
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tehran, Iran, June 2001.
- From Multifaith to Interfaith, a paper read at the Birmingham Council of Faiths,
October 2009.
- Religious Symbolism in Zoroastrianism, at the seminar on Religious Symbolism
in a Multicultural Society, Department of Philosophy, University of Liverpool,
May 2012.
- British Multicultural Society, at the University of Third Age seminar, Bolton, May
2012.
- Ibn Khaldun: The Man and the Historian. at a conference on Intellectual Life in
the Islamic World: Past and Present, Department of History, Manchester
Metropolitan University, June 2012.
Newspaper articles
24 scholarly articles, published between 2000-2002, on the History of India and South Asia, for community education.
- Pre-history of South Asia
- The Harappan Civilisation
- The Vedic Age
- Jainism, Buddhism and post-Vedic Dissent
- Early Indian kingship and the rise of Magadha
- Early intruders at the gates of India : Persians and Macedonians
- Kautilya and Megasthenes : Advising and Observing at the Court of Chandragupta Maurya
- The Dhamma of Ashoka
- The World of the Mauryas
- Confusion and Creativity after the Mauryas
- The Kushans and their noblest king, Kanishka
- Prosperity and Piety of the Satavahanas
- The Deep South and Sri Lanka : Their Early History
- Two great Guptas
- Guptas under pressure, and North India fractured
- Sri Harsha and his admirers
- Classical India : Treasures of Mind and Spirit
- Chalukyas and Pallavas : Culture and Conflict in South India
- Sind under the Arabs : Rhetoric and Reality of Power in Islamic Empire
- From Rajasthan to Madhyadeha : Status-seeking by the Gurjara-Pratihara
- The majesty and wealth of the Rashtrakuta
- Pala suzerainty in Bengal
- Pre-Islamic Kashmir