Hamdan Azhar is a graduate student in biostatistics at the University of Michigan. His research interests include cognitive and behavioral neuroscience with a focus on functional neuroimaging.

Hamdan is an accomplished writer on international affairs, his works having been published in the Huffington Post, Counterpunch, and the Asia Times. Of Pakistani descent, he is a native of Brooklyn, New York and is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science.

Visit his website at www.umich.edu/~yousufh or send him an email at yousufh@umich.edu.

Blog Entries by Hamdan Azhar

Death of a Detroit Imam Leaves Many Questions Unanswered

17 Comments | Posted November 5, 2009 | 08:01 AM (EST)


DETROIT -- Six days have passed since his father's untimely death, and Omar Regan's eyes betray a hint of moistness. It is a chilly Tuesday morning, and the Detroit diner at which he has agreed to meet - Superior Coney Island on Wyoming St. - is only two miles from...

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In the Name of Hope: Perpetual War and the Nobel Peace Prize

5 Comments | Posted October 19, 2009 | 11:17 AM (EST)


Last Friday, our nation was confronted with the reality that President Barack "Hope" Obama had been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize - and the 1984 references flowed like wine.

"Warmonger Wins Peace Prize" cried a former government official. One antiwar activist wondered if we had "slipped through...

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Hope, Hype, and the Many Faces of Barack Obama

42 Comments | Posted October 2, 2009 | 03:04 PM (EST)


There's something about him -- the way he speaks, the way he carries himself, the inexorable charisma he exudes when addressing a distinguished gathering. You find yourself drawn to Barack Obama, almost reluctantly, as if against your will. And in your state of enthrallment, your heart flutters -- like a...

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White Rivers, Brown Skin, and Black Deeds: Into the Rabbit Hole of Border Detentions and Racial Profiling

11 Comments | Posted September 3, 2009 | 07:08 PM (EST)


My Experience as a Detainee at the Canadian Border

I was returning home on a Sunday evening from a leisurely drive to Canada two weeks ago, and the Customs and Border Protection officer in the booth had a blank look on his face. Biostatistics, I explained, is the application of...

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