• History of constitutional ideas
• Federal imaginaries in the princely states
• Comparative political theory
• Politics of climate change in the western Himalayas

Rouf attained his graduate and doctoral degrees from the Department of Political Science, University of Kashmir. His PhD studied the diverse federal imaginaries in the princely states and used textual methods to interpret the political thinking that went into constitutionalising an asymmetrically federal system in India post-independence. His research seeks to produce an alternative history of constitutional ideas in the marginal regions and thereby, problematise the triumphant narratives of postcolonial constitution-making.

Before joining Azim Premji University, Rouf taught courses on political theory and Western political thought at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, GITAM University, Bengaluru. He has also prepared textual and visual content for the course ​“Classical Political Philosophy” under the UGC-HRDC’s MOOC programme.

During his PhD, he was awarded the Inlaks-King’s India Institute Studentship, a three-month visiting fellowship at King’s College London. His current research focuses on the ecological changes in the peripheral regions of Western Himalayas.

Apart from academics, he loves trekking, plays cricket, and watches football.