Dr. Muhammad Mughal is an Assistant Professor of Global Studies. He holds a PhD in Anthropology from Durham University, UK. His research focuses on the social organization of time and space, globalization, energy, environment, climate change, sustainability, sociotechnical systems (including AI, IoT, and mass media), rural–urban transformation, education, cultural heritage, tourism, leadership, institutional development, and visual and digital research methods. His work bridges social research and contemporary technological, environmental, and development challenges. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Mughal worked at the World Bank and with a public–private partnership organization, contributing to socioeconomic and institutional development initiatives.

Dr. Mughal serves as Associate Editor of Time & Society (SAGE) and Senior Editor for Cogent Arts & Humanities (Routledge). He has also provided editorial service to various other journals and publishers, including serving as Associate Editor for the multi-volume Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability. During his academic career, he has received several awards and scholarships, including the Excellence in Teaching Award (KFUPM), the Durham Doctoral Fellowship, the Sutasoma Award (Royal Anthropological Institute, UK), the Pro-Vice-Chancellor’s Outstanding Performance Award as a Postgraduate Student (Durham), and the Best Poster Award by Study Design (Durham Anthropology Postgraduate Conference).

He has co-organized several academic events, including the First Postgraduate Conference of the Royal Anthropological Institute (2011) and a Panel on South Asia at the World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES), University of Manchester, UK (2013). At KFUPM, he has served on various university-, college-, and department-level committees related to curriculum development, accreditation and quality assurance, and research.

PhD in Anthropology, Durham University, UK, 2014

MSc in Anthropology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan

BA in Journalism and Languages, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Pakistan

Cultural Anthropology

Social Organization of Time and Space

Globalization

Cultural Heritage and Tourism

Sociotechnical Systems (AI, IoT, Mass Media)

Environment and Sustainability

Leadership

Institutional Development

Digital and Visual Research Methods

Mughal, Muhammad A. Z. (2025). Photos and Children: Using Photo-Elicitation Interviews While Researching Children. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 26(3): Article 4. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-26.3.4311

Mughal, Muhammad A. Z. (2023). Landscape, Space, and Time: Navigating the Cultural Landscape through Socio‑spatial and Socio‑temporal Organization in Rural Pakistan. GeoJournal, 88(6): 6175-6187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10963-x

Mughal, Muhammad A. Z. (2023). The Western and Non-Western Dichotomization of Time in Anthropology. International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, 7(1): Article 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41257-023-00086-z

Mughal, Muhammad A. Z. (2023). Narratives of Social Change: Cultural Perceptions and Responses to Globalization and Rural Urbanization in Pakistan. SN Social Sciences 3(3): Article 55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-023-00643-5

Mughal, Muhammad A. Z. (2021). Children’s Perception of Social Boundaries: The Intersectionality of Age and Social Group Affiliation in Rural Pakistan. Children & Society, 35(2): 213-228. https://doi.org/10.1111/CHSO.12417

Mughal, Muhammad A. Z. (2021). New Media and the Narratives of National Identity and Nationalism: A Pakistani Case Study. In: Nationalism in a Transnational. pp. 157-174. F. Jacob and C. Schapkow (eds). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Oldenbourg. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110729290-008