Dr. Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya

Bio

Dr. Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya is a distinguished Political Scientist from Banaras Hindu University (BHU), where she served over four decades in pivotal roles including Senior Professor and Chair of Political Science, Dean of Social Sciences, Director of the Centre for Nepal Studies, Director of the Centre for Integrated Rural Development, and Adjunct Professor at the Malaviya Centre for Peace Research. Her academic journey includes a PhD from BHU (1981), MA from Allahabad University (1974), post-doctoral research at the London School of Economics, Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, Brown University, and an Advanced International Diploma in Conflict Resolution from Uppsala University. She has held prestigious positions such as Research Director at the UN University Institute on Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity (UK), Scholar-in-Residence at Woodrow Wilson Centre (USA), foundational ICCR Chair at Tribhuvan University (Nepal), India Chair by ICSSR New Delhi, and visiting professorships at institutions like Wellesley College, Concordia University, Stanford University, PRIO Oslo, and universities across Sweden, Germany, Australia, Canada, and Poland.

Dr. Upadhyaya, a prolific scholar, has authored groundbreaking publications with leading presses such as Manchester University Press, Cambridge University Press, Routledge, and Macmillan. Her work spans critical themes including ethnic conflicts, peace studies, election reforms in India, women and peace, food security, governance, and digital technologies. She has led funded research projects supported by the German Foundation for Peace Research, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Research Council of Norway, focusing on peaceful coexistence, peacebuilding, diversity, human security, and women's roles in peace.

Currently, she serves as Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at MIT World Peace University (MIT-WPU), a UNESCO Chair institution, and as a Global Fellow at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). She continues to shape global discourse through lectures, policy briefs, edited volumes, and events such as the PRIO-MITWPU workshop on digital designs.