a circuitous path to arrive at where I am today. I grew up in Pakistan, a place that challenged me in myriad ways. Most of all, the impossibility of receiving a good education propelled me to seek opportunities beyond its borders. That pursuit took me across countries and disciplines, from history and philosophy to social theory and design thinking. Along the way, I developed a deep curiosity about how ideas shape the world—and how people, in turn, shape ideas.
My journey in the liberal arts began as both student and teacher at the University of Chicago, where I earned a PhD in History exploring the contradictions of 20th-century democracy, with a focus on its failure in Pakistan. As a young adult, I was perplexed by the question: Why is Pakistan in perpetual crisis? Despite engaging with intellectual circles, I didn’t find a satisfactory answer until I immersed myself in history, philosophy, social theory, literature, and languages (Persian, Arabic, French) at Chicago. There, in the long process of researching and writing, I began to make sense of the question’s complexity, and was able to solve it.
I also taught in the undergraduate liberal arts core, foundational texts in political economy, psychoanalysis, social theory, and decolonization. The experience of being in the classroom wrestling with big ideas with the young minds taught me that teaching is the most powerful form of learning. This belief deepened through my work with the great books curriculum at Chicago’s Graham School, where I taught ancient philosophy, political theory, and Shakespeare. Teaching big ideas revealed their power to expand the mind and sharpen the intellect through contradictions and complexity.
Alas, this love of learning didn’t transpire in an academic job and I settled for a variety of admin roles in higher education. The monotony of those roles pushed me to learn other things and that’s when I discovered Designing Your Life by Burnett and Evans, a book that introduced me to the idea of “trying stuff.” I didn’t fully grasp it until I trained as a DYL facilitator at Stanford in 2018. That was a transformative experience: I embraced a mindset of curiosity and experimentation.
Minerva Lab brings together my intersecting passions: coaching individuals through life and career challenges, teaching those curious about the world, its history and its future, and supporting teams and organizational leaders in solving complex problems.