Dr. Golam Rabbani is a transnational educator and researcher whose extensive university-level teaching experiences span over sixteen years across multiple institutions in Canada and Bangladesh. He currently teaches in the School of Creative Industries at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), where he focuses on cultural and creative industries, project management, organizational behaviour, equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), and cross-cultural innovation. Prior to joining TMU, he held academic appointments at the Dan School of Drama and Music at Queen’s University, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the School for Studies in Arts and Culture at Carleton University, and the Department of English at Jahangirnagar University. Across these roles, Dr. Rabbani has developed and delivered courses on musicology, film and media, EDI frameworks, decolonial and postcolonial literature, and interdisciplinary research methodologies.
His research lies at the intersection of cultural and creative industries, ethnomusicology, and inclusive education. Driven by an interdisciplinary approach, Dr. Rabbani’s research integrates Western and non-Western creative practices, focusing on economic ethnomusicology and how cultural production can function as a means of social, economic, and political empowerment for marginalized communities. His doctoral research—completed in the Cultural Studies Interdisciplinary Graduate Program at Queen’s University and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship—examined the Baul minstrels of Bangladesh. This investigation traced the impact of commodification and consumer capitalism on Baul literature, music industries, and spiritual beliefs, while highlighting the group’s unique capacity for resistance and adaptation within both urban and rural contexts.
Dr. Rabbani foregrounds equity, diversity, and inclusion in course design and pedagogy as an educator. Beyond his teaching and research responsibilities, he also works as a casual Inclusion Coach, helping academic and non-academic organizations implement EDI strategies. His ongoing research initiatives center on creative economies, especially those shaped by South Asian newcomers and refugee communities, as well as children’s cultural practices. Through these projects—supported by multiple research grants—he explores how folk music, creative industries, literary texts, and performative traditions enable wellbeing, intercultural exchange, and inclusion.
Dr. Rabbani’s commitment to scholarship is enriched by his background as an amateur writer and performer trained in Baul and Bengali folk traditions and Indian classical music. This unique blend of academic expertise and hands-on creative experience informs his work, offering insights into the intersections among performance, spirituality, and cultural commerce. He is currently developing two book projects on South Asian/Bangladeshi cultural texts and industries. Through these and other creative endeavours in both Canada and Bangladesh, Dr. Rabbani continues to chart new pathways for inclusive and community-based research, championing the power of global cultural practices to address today’s economic and social challenges.
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