Asmer Safi

Biography

Asmer Asrar Safi is a senior at Harvard University, majoring in Social Studies and Ethnicity, Migration and Human Rights, with a focus on the intellectual history of the interactions between Islamic and Marxist political thought in South Asia. His senior Honors thesis investigates the role of Maulana Abdul Rahim Popalzai, a Muslim cleric at the intersections of Islam and Marxism, known for leading peasant and labor movements in the Frontier Province of British India. At Harvard, Asmer serves as the Co-President of the Signet Society for Arts and Letters, and organizes with the Palestine Solidarity Committee. He co-founded the South Asians for Forward-Thinking Advocacy and Research initiative, served as the Director of International Student First-Year Affairs. He is particularly interested in bringing conversations from Pakistan to the global stage, which he did through chairing the 2020 iteration of the Harvard Pakistan Forum.

At Oxford, Asmer is interested in learning how progressive political messaging in South Asia garners mass appeal, with a focus on how local epistemologies, opinion-leaders, and theories of change inform the impact that progressive political agents deliver.

In his free time, Asmer writes about the burgeoning South Asian music scene, watches films from across the world, and illustrates for various publications.