Shamsul Alam

Shamsul joined the University as a Lecturer in Social Policy and Community Development in 2011, after having taught social policy part-time at the London School of Economics and the University of East London. Shamsul comes from a hybrid educational background, having studied economics in Bangladesh and development studies and social policy at postgraduate level in the United Kingdom.

Photo of male Lecturer in Community Development Shamsul Alam

Shamsul Alam

Shamsul spent most of his career in voluntary sector organisations. Through his involvement in communities working with disabled people for over 12 years in the United Kingdom, he has developed an interest in the field of disability, ethnicity and social policy. He has worked both at a grassroots level, as well as in an academic context. His grassroots work includes action research and community development work for organisations including Social Action for HealthMIND and SeeAbility

From 2002 to 2006, Shamsul worked as a researcher at the London School of Economics where he investigated policy issues relating to social inclusion of visually impaired people from minority ethnic communities. Shamsul has also worked for a local authority as a Strategy and Commissioning Officer – developing and commissioning services for people with sensory impairments.

Shamsul teaches on both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. His responsibilities include being the module leader for Human Rights, Social Justice and Diversity, Current Issues in Disability, Perspectives of Ageing, Social Structures and Policies and the Placement module for the Community Development and Leadership BSc (Hons) course.

 

Authored

  • Alam, S and Garrett, M (1996) "Just keep taking the pills…" in Health Matters, Issue 26, 1996
  • Alam, S and Garrett, M (1996) "Ignorance equals Waste" in Prescribing in Practice, July 1996
  • Alam, S, Fagan, T and Sainsbury, S (2005) "Not Just a Technical Fix": rethinking rehabilitation for visually impaired people from minority ethnic communities. International Congress Series, Volume 1282, Sept, 2005
  • Elsevier, Alam S and Sainsbury, S (2006) Promoting Social Inclusion for Visually Impaired People from Minority Ethnic Communities. SeeAbility and LSE
  • Alam, S and Collard, A (2008) Development of a Tool to Record Community Intelligence – a research report produced for the WHFS (Women’s Health and Family Services)

Conference papers

  • 20th World Congress of Rehabilitation International, Oslo, Norway, 21 to 24 July 2004. Title: "Exploring the meanings of visual impairment and ‘culturally appropriate’ in the development of services for minority ethnic communities"
  • Vision 2005, international conference held in London in April 2005
  • Co-presenter (with Sally Sainsbury) of "Not Just a Technical Fix: rethinking rehabilitation for visually impaired people from minority ethnic communities"
  • Cash and Care: Understanding the evidence base for policy and practice conference. April 2005, University of York. Title: "Visual Impairment, Ethnicity and Social Care Policy: perspectives of British Bangladeshi people with visual impairment in east London"
  • Inclusion and Exclusion 2005 – The REU (Race Equality Unit) conference, London. 9 November 2005. "Visual Impairment, Ethnicity and Social Care Policy: Perspectives of British-Bangladeshis with visual impairment"

Shamsul also contributes to various community media outlets on issues of social policy and ethnicity.

Shamsul Alam
Senior Lecturer in Community Development
E: shamsul.alam@londonmet.ac.uk