Dr. Md Saidul Islam's teaching philosophy centers on encouraging students to become critical readers, thinkers, and writers. His goal is not only to promote deep intellectual engagement with a diverse range of texts but also to help students become more discerning readers and persuasive writers in understanding and analyzing the world around them. To achieve this, he applies the following 5 core pedagogical tools for teaching:

Over the past 15 years, Dr. Md Saidul Islam has taught both Sociology and interdisciplinary courses at four globally recognized universities: York University in Canada, home to one of the country's largest Sociology programs; the College of William and Mary in the United States, ranked among the top six public universities and the second oldest after Harvard; Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, ranked 13th globally by QS; and Nankai University in China, one of the nation's top ten public universities.

Dr. Islam has independently developed all the courses he teaches. When he joined NTU in 2009, the Division of Sociology was in its formative stage. He played a pivotal role in its growth by designing and introducing key undergraduate courses such as Environmental Sociology, Economy and Society, and Development and Social Change, helping transform the division into a more mature and comprehensive program. As NTU increasingly prioritized sustainability, he responded by creating a general education requirement (GER) course titled Environmental Sustainability, as well as a new seminar course, Cultural Politics of Development and the Environment. At the graduate level, he also developed and taught courses such as Global Sociology and Globalization and Sustainability.

Dr. Md Saidul Islam's teaching history is as follows:

Divisional Courses: At NTU, Dr. Md Saidul Islam developed several key courses for the Division of Sociology, including HS2003: Economy and Society, HS2023: Environmental Sociology, HS3015: Development and Social Change, and HS4027: Cultural Politics of Development and the Environment.

Minor Program: Within the School of Social Sciences, he played a pivotal role in establishing the Minor in Environmental and Urban Studies. As part of this initiative, he co-developed and co-teaches the interdisciplinary course HU9001: Introduction to Environmental and Urban Studies.

Graduate Course: Dr. Islam earlier designed the graduate course HS7205: Global Sociology, which examines the intersection of development, environment, neoliberalism, and sustainability. The course has become widely cited within the American and Canadian Sociological Associations. He later developed CC6309: Globalization and Sustainability, which he currently teaches.

GER [General Education Requirement] Course: In alignment with NTU’s strategic focus on “Sustainable Earth,” he created the interdisciplinary GER course HS0301: Environmental Sustainability. It is now one of the most popular university-wide courses, regularly enrolling over a hundred students from across disciplines.

Post-doc Fellow: 2 (Dr. Adha Shaleh, under ACE grant, 2022-23; Dr. Alicia Gutting Wallenberg-NTU Postdoctoral Fellow (2025-2026))

Visiting Scholar: 2 (Assoc Prof Faryaz Ocakli, Skidmore College (2024), NY; Hafijur Rahman, Tokat Gazimustafapasha University, Turkey (2025))

• Muhammad Adib Amali Bin Rohaizat, "A study of how Singaporean Muslims negotiate their resource worldviews and practices in the context of a neoliberal society and Islamic environmental ethic" [Supervisor]

(This is a description line for this section) 3-5 students every year since 2010; examples from the last 5 years:

• Wong Zhenyu Isaac, Chong Min-E, Ng Shi Lin, "When Success Breeds Envy: Crab Mentality in Different Communities"
• Hani Nadirah, Lau Yee Hey, Yip Lai Yee, "Music and the City: Street performances and their impacts on Singaporean society"
• Wong Yew Xuan, Tan Tze Sheng Clarence, "Examining activism movements in Singapore: what determines a movement's success in Singapore?"
• Tan Yan Xin Jolene, "Sustainable Waste Management: A Comparative Analysis of Household Recycling Practices in Singapore and Sweden"
• Elijah Tay, "War on drugs or war on the people? How Singapore's drug control regime affects drug users"
• Muhammad Syahmi Bin Rohaizan, "Organisational Control and Worker's Productivity: How much control is too much?"
• Akash Shahi, "Sustainability Reporting Frameworks as a Form of Corporate-Initiated Ecological Modernization: How Corporations Can Optimize Sustainability Reporting Frameworks For Urban Carbon Mitigation?" (co-supervising with Asian School of the Environment)
• Nurul Alexandria Tan, "To all the spaces I've loved: Urban Redevelopment in Singapore"
• Gavin Yang, "Fishing in the Dark: Filling in Knowledge Gaps Within Singapore's Fishery Sector– An Interview-Based Approach" (co-supervising with Asian School of the Environment)
• Goh Ling Xuan Charlene and Nadia Tan Xin Wei, "Can Our Dollar Bills be Green?: A Study on the Formation and Negotiation of Identities around Green Consumerism in Singapore"
• Nurul Hannah Binte Norhisham and Nur Aishah Binte Mohamed Zulkifli, "Green Governmentality: Planting the Seeds of an Environmentally Conscious Population through Green Initiatives"
• Darryl Chin Wei Chie, "The Gamble of the Gig Economy: The Accentuated Precarity of Platform Workers from Low-income Backgrounds in Singapore"
• Manfred Tham Meng Kit, "The Second R of Singapore's Environmental Narrative: Discourses Surrounding 'Reuse' for Electrical and Electronic Equipment"
• Ng Xin Hui and Kuan Shu Wen, "Out of sight, out of the mind: The Invisible Society of Waste"
• Shalyn Chia Ai Jia, "Do parks enhance our city landscape and lifestyle: A tale of two parks"
• Lee Zhi Ling Melisa, "Cost of convenience: Is environmental behavior affected in relations to the convenience factor of online food delivery services?"
• Tan Gee Kit, "A Sociology of Comfort Food in Singapore"

• Dr. Hafijur Rahman, Tokat Gazimustafapasha University, Turkey (2025-2026)
• Dr. Feryaz Ocakli, Skidmore College, New York, Fullbright Scholar, Jan-June, 2024
• Aaron Guo, University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2017, Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, The Wharton School, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Fulbright Fellowship in Singapore, 2017-2018
• Nur Zahidah Bte Haji Sulaiman, Student, School of Applied Science, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore; Sep 2011 to Feb 2012.
• Ong Hui Yun, Student, School of Applied Science, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore; Sep 2011 to Feb 2012.
• Yang Shan Fanny Chan and Christine Ng Huixian, Raffles Girls' School (Secondary), “Perceptions of the Public Towards Food Security in Relation to the Labelling of GM Food Products in Singapore”, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Programme 2017 (Ministry of Education Singapore).

• Md. Ripul Kabir, "Psychosocial Health of Waterlogged Farmers in Bangladesh" (PhD Thesis, Institute of Bangladesh Studies, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh), December 2024.
• Eugene Mark Min Hui, "Enhancing Sustainable Palm Oil Production: A Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Jurisdictional Approach in Sabah and Central Kalimantan" (PhD Thesis, RSIS, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), September 2024.
• Vanessa Swinn Yap Xi Wen, "Theorizing Neoliberal Anti-Work Politics through Career Negotiations in Singapore" (MA Thesis, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), February 2024.
• Naren Deepan Selvaratnam, "Exploring Minority Students' Leadership Self-Efficacy in Sri Lankan Public Universities" (PhD Thesis, Management and Science University, Malaysia), February 2024.
• Md Zillur Rahman, "The Role of Islamic Political Parties in Establishing Democracy in Bangladesh (1971–2018)" (PhD Thesis, International Islamic University Malaysia), 2023.
• Md Amdadul Haque, "Role of Social Capital in Climate Change Adaptation: A Study on Vulnerable People of the Haor Area in Bangladesh" (PhD Thesis, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh), October 2023.
• Chen Xingyan, "China’s Rural Land Transfer in an Era of Precarity: Land Institutions, Translocal Livelihoods and Agrarian Capital" (PhD Oral Defense, Sociology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), 2022.
• Mahmudur Rahman, "The Rise of Indian Hegemony and the Security of Small States in South Asia: A Post-1947 Study" (International Islamic University Malaysia), 2022.
• Nazrul I. Pramanik, "Leadership Dissertation for the Doctor of Business Leadership" (DBL, Torrens University Australia), 2021.
• Chen Shiwei, "Nation in Action: Making Chinese in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture" (PhD Oral Defense, Sociology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), 2019.
• Jeannette Goh Hui En, "Enviro-toons: What Do Parents Think about Them?" (MA Thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), 2017.
• Madiha Naz, "Socio-Economic Determinants and Women’s Role in Household Food Security in the Rural Areas of Punjab, Pakistan" (PhD Dissertation, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan), 2017.
• Yuling Wu, "Rural–Urban Migrants’ Social Mobility in China’s Reform Era" (PhD Dissertation, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), 2016.
• Nur Nafhatun, "The Role of Community-Based Organizations in Communicating Sustainability through Sustainable Agriculture: Selected Case Studies" (PhD Dissertation, University of Malaya, Malaysia), 2012.
• Izzah Binte Mohd Mokhti, "Ethnicity in Everyday Life: A Case Study of Bajau in Sabah, Malaysia" (MA Thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), 2011.