Alfi Rahman, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer at Universitas Syiah Kuala (USK) in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, where he serves as Director of the Research Center for Social and Cultural Studies (PRISB). He is also affiliated as a researcher with the Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center (TDMRC). His academic work bridges disaster studies, communication, sociology, and anthropology, with a particular emphasis on communities affected by disasters and prolonged conflict.

His research explores how communities understand, remember, communicate, and respond to disasters and conflict. A central theme of his work is the intergenerational transmission of memories associated with the Aceh conflict and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Through this research, he examines how collective memory, cultural practices, indigenous knowledge, and local forms of communication shape disaster preparedness, community resilience, and post-conflict recovery.

Drawing on qualitative, sociological, and anthropological approaches, he works closely with communities, local institutions, and interdisciplinary research networks. His research is grounded primarily in Aceh, a region whose experiences of conflict, disaster, peacebuilding, and recovery provide an important setting for understanding the complex relationships between social memory, vulnerability, and resilience. He has also contributed to international research collaborations supported by institutions including the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), particularly in the areas of disaster risk reduction, resilient school communities, and community-based preparedness.

At USK, he teaches in the Master’s Program in Peace and Conflict Resolution as well as the Master’s and Doctoral Programs in Disaster Science. His teaching and supervision reflect his interdisciplinary research interests and emphasize the integration of theoretical knowledge, local experience, and community-engaged research in addressing contemporary disaster and human-security challenges.

He earned his Ph.D. in Human Security and Society from Tohoku University, Japan, in 2018, following a Master’s degree in Disaster Science from Universitas Syiah Kuala in 2014 and a Bachelor’s degree in Communication. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Disaster Management (IJDM) , an international academic journal dedicated to advancing research and scholarly dialogue in disaster studies, disaster risk reduction, resilience, and related fields.