Zaid Al Baset

Zaid Al Baset

Zaid Al Baset teaches sociology at St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata. His research interests are in the studies of gender and sexuality, and the anthropology of Islam.

  • This illustration is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph is of a large blackboard with a light brown wooden frame. At the lower edge of the blackboard, the wooden frame has a ledge on which some chalk and a duster are placed. Text extracted from the accompanying article has been placed on the blackboard image in a typeface to simulate the image of text written with white chalk on a blackboard. The text says: “What can discussions on sexuality in a classroom do? I believe that when we confront sexual difference in the classroom, we learn to understand and respect diversity. Queer perspectives and narratives of pride and suffering open a space not just for acceptance but critical self-understanding. Queer lives are so precarious that even a space bound by a timetable can be liberating. Being acknowledged and validated in a classroom may engender a hope to survive outside it, and sometimes, it is survival that is at stake.” Blackboard image courtesy Cliparts.co via ‘Wikimedia Commons’
    Insight, Vartanama Aug '23

    For that sliver of hope

    By Zaid Al Baset

    Making educational institutions inclusive spaces for everyone is an uphill battle, but Zaid Al Baset is not giving up yet – his forecasts on inclusion as ‘Varta’ completes 10 years

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