Bridging cultures and disciplines: Hassan Afzal’s unique journey from Bangladesh to UTC

Dr. Hassan Afzal laughed when the question was posed.

How did someone who began his college journey as an engineering student in Bangladesh become a political science instructor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga?

Afzal’s path to UTC is anything but typical, with an academic background as varied as it is impressive.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from American International University-Bangladesh, two master’s degrees—in IT and business—from the University of Dhaka, an MBA from Idaho State University and a Ph.D. from Kent State University in Ohio.

“For most South Asian families, it’s always like you have to be a doctor or an engineer or something like that, but I always have had this passion about public policy or policy analysis or the experiences of human beings and how we can improve things collectively,” said Afzal, a visiting assistant professor who first came to UTC in fall 2023.

“I love my parents, and they wanted their firstborn to go into engineering. But as you look at my background, you see I made the gradual shift from engineering to IT to information management to data science.”

His not-quite-straight-line to Chattanooga, he said, gradually pulled him away from the technical world of engineering and into the social sciences.

“Sometimes, I look back on my life, and I feel like, as human beings, we need to have the freedom to make choices—and we don’t have to stick with it,” Afzal said. “We always have a choice. So I kept trying things and finally found my niche—political science, public policy, data analysis.

“At the same time, I also found it inspiring to collaborate with students—mentoring, teaching and researching.”

During Afzal’s first year at UTC, it didn’t take long for him to have an impact.

Two political science majors he was mentoring, Kristina Thompson and Sophia Chrisco, presented their original research at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference in Chicago in April. The MPSA annual conference is one of the most significant political science conferences in the discipline, with over 1,000 panels.

As their mentor, Afzal accompanied them, guiding them through the process of presenting as undergraduates—an opportunity typically reserved for graduate students.

Thompson, now a senior and a Brock Scholar in the Honors College, presented “Asian American Women: Political Prowess and Effective Participation.”

Reflecting on the experience, Thompson talked about the traits that Afzal brought to his role as a mentor.

“Dr. Afzal is really excited about the work that he does and has a wide array of research interests,” Thompson said, “and that made it easier for me to develop my own independent research projects. He’s incredibly supportive and genuinely cares about his students—which I think is really special.

“He felt uplifted from faculty members when he went to graduate school and he shares that with his students. I think he really wants to support students in the same way that he was supported.”

Thompson’s time at UTC has included a study abroad semester at Chiang Mai University in Thailand, participation in Immigrant Day on the Hill, service with the Student Government Association, multiple research fellowships, and her current role as managing editor of UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity.

With all that on her resume, Thompson—a Chattanooga native and graduate of Collegedale Academy—called presenting at the MPSA conference “a defining moment” in her academic journey.

“At MPSA, Dr. Afzal made sure I met a lot of faculty from around the country. It really inspired me to continue my journey in political science and maybe go on to graduate school to continue the research,” she said.

“To be respected as an undergraduate doing research and to have senior faculty from esteemed universities provide constructive feedback was incredibly affirming.”

Her research continues this year as her honors thesis.

Chrisco, who received a bachelor’s degree in political science in May, presented a project titled “How Misinformation Regarding COVID-19 Caused a Decline in Childhood Vaccination Rates in the United States.”

She acknowledged that she hadn’t initially planned to attend the MPSA conference. Through Afzal’s encouragement, she took the opportunity.

“I have wonderful things to say about the (political science) department, but I think that out of everybody I worked with, Dr. Hassan really went above and beyond,” said Chrisco, a graduate of Ivy Academy in Chattanooga. “He invited our whole class to go to MPSA and I wish more people would have been open to it.

“Beyond the obvious—that this was a wonderful thing to say I’ve done—I think it is very fulfilling in that I never would have thought that I would speak at a global conference. I started college as a very reserved individual. Granted, that was several years ago, and there are many things that have built up my academic identity throughout that time, but it felt very fulfilling to finish out my college career on such a high note.”

In her capstone class, Afzal guided students through writing a research paper, breaking it into manageable sections. Chrisco said he also equipped the students with valuable technical skills, including how to use the statistical software Stata.

It’s a huge asset in the workforce, she explained, and it’s something many don’t learn until graduate school.

“A lot of people have been impressed by the fact that I can say I have done data science,” she said. More importantly to her, Afzal emphasized the ethical side of data analysis. “He taught me how to ensure the data is accurate and honest.”

Chrisco, currently a legal assistant at Patrick, Beard, Schulman & Jacoway, PC in Chattanooga, is mulling a career path of pursuing law school or graduate school—saying she’s “kind of preparing for both” since being encouraged to present at the conference.

“It definitely made me think more seriously about that avenue,” she said, “and I think if I do choose to do that, I feel much more prepared to go (to grad school) than I would have if I had not participated in MPSA.

“Dr. Hassan provided so much support.”

Afzal said he was in awe of Thompson and Chrisco.

“These political science students were presenting in front of a wider audience. They’re interacting with professors from Harvard, professors from Yale, professors from Michigan, and they’re standing their ground,” he said. “I was standing there thinking, ‘We’re included here and this is a big thing for us.’

“This summer, I visited my sister in Bloomington, Indiana, and my parents were there. I remember telling my mom, ‘I can’t believe two of my students actually presented their poster at a global conference. These two younger human beings trusted me to mentor them.’”

Afzal’s summer was also filled with professional development.

He twice attended Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) workshops at the University of Michigan—on “Exploring and Analyzing Monitoring the Future Data” and “The Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study”—in addition to a National Institutes of Health-sponsored workshop at the Indiana University School of Public Health titled “The Mathematical Sciences in Obesity Research.”

The experiences allowed him to network with other academics and bring new insights back to his students at UTC.

“I’m grateful to ICPSR and other institutions for these opportunities,” Afzal said. “These trainings are quite helpful and supportive in building a solid foundation for me as a teacher. I hope to share this knowledge with my students, to inspire them to understand the value of data and to analyze social issues objectively.”

He also serves as a year-round mentor for MPSA. One of his mentees, Loyola University Chicago doctoral student Meherun Nesa, recently wrote about Afzal’s mentorship.

“Dr. Afzal’s approachability and genuine concern for assisting rising scholars immediately made me feel at ease,” Nesa wrote. “Our discussions spanned from the nuances of political science research methodology to the problems and opportunities that await early-career academics in our area.”

This fall, Afzal is teaching lower- and upper-division courses at UTC, including “Global Culture and Politics” and “Public Policy in the Age of Big Data: Theory and Practice.” He said his teaching approach emphasizes collaboration and exploration, encouraging students to engage deeply with the material.

“I love having a good, solid discussion with students in the classroom and outside of the classroom,” he said. “As a human being, there’s so much I don’t know, so let’s explore it together and learn together.

“I absolutely love teaching and mentoring and the interaction with students. This is my passion.”

Learn more

Visit UTC

UTC Political Science and Public Service

How to apply