Academic Biography
Dr Radzuwan Ab Rashid is an Associate Professor of Education and Discourse Studies at the Faculty of Languages and Communication, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Terengganu, Malaysia. His academic formation brings together British and Southeast Asian traditions in education, applied linguistics, discourse studies, and qualitative social science methodologies. His work connects micro-level interaction with wider questions of policy, identity, social inequality, digital communication and institutional power.
He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Education from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, where his doctoral thesis, Exploring Teachers’ Co-construction of Social Support on a Social Networking Site, examined professional interaction and support in digitally mediated teacher communities. He also holds an MEd (TESL by Research) from Universiti Teknologi MARA and a BEd TESL with First Class Honours from Universiti Putra Malaysia. Following his doctoral studies, he undertook postdoctoral research at the University of Leeds, strengthening his work in applied linguistics and discourse-oriented inquiry.
“Scholarship should never be an insular exercise. Whether we are unravelling the interpersonal subtleties between an educator and an anxious student or decoding algorithmic polarization across millions of digital posts, language remains the primary vehicle through which human dignity, institutional power, and societal cohesion are either reinforced or dismantled.”
Diplomatic Service & International Higher-Education Leadership
Beyond campus-based pedagogy and research, Dr Radzuwan served as the Minister Counsellor of Education at the Embassy of Malaysia in Amman, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Education Malaysia Jordan, Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia). In this diplomatic capacity, he directed bilateral academic relations, facilitated university credit transfers, managed Malaysian higher-education engagement and student affairs, and spearheaded government and university collaborations. His portfolio covered Jordan and wider regional responsibilities that included Türkiye, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Saudi Arabia.
This international diplomatic experience informed his comparative research across Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian educational contexts, including conflict-sensitive pedagogy, Syrian refugee education, teacher interpersonal behaviour, educational mobility, translation of political discourse, and the social dimensions of language policy.
Pedagogical Recognition & Editorial Stewardship
Dr Radzuwan is recognized as a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (SFHEA), United Kingdom, in recognition of sustained leadership and impact in higher education. In 2025 he received the Malaysia Research Star Award (MRSA), a national recognition associated with Clarivate and the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. His earlier institutional recognitions include the Most Promising Academic Award, Best Researcher Award, publication awards and multiple innovation medals.
He is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Nusantara Studies (JONUS), an internationally indexed peer-reviewed journal (ESCI / Scopus) committed to advancing interdisciplinary scholarship in language, culture, and society across the Nusantara realm and beyond. Additionally, he serves as President of the Malaysian Association of Applied Discourse and Educational Studies (MAADES), coordinates UniSZA journals with responsibility for strengthening eight journals toward Web of Science and Scopus readiness, and contributes internationally as an Honorary Fellow at the Applied Science Research Centre, Applied Science Private University, Jordan.
