School of Social and Political Science

Background

Project

My PhD explores how womanhood is understood, performed, and passed on to future generations in the caste context. I conducted a 10-month-long qualitative study among Tamil-speaking Brahmins and their representatives amidst women's recent advances in access to education and employment. My findings show that the dialectic between the idea of womanhood and women's lived experiences informs and shapes contemporary caste practice.

Qualifications

2020-till date: PhD South Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh

2019: MA Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai)

2017: Dip. Conflict Transformation & Peace Building, Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi

2017: BA Political Science (Honours), Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi

Teaching

Qualification

Associate Fellow, United Kingdom Higher Education Academy

National Eligibility Test for Assistant Professorship, Political Science (India)

Guest Lectures

2024 January - Guest Lecturer, "South Asia in the World" (UG year 1, University of Edinburgh)

2023 September - Guest Lecturer, "Contemporary India" (MA Development Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad)

Tutor

2023, 2024 Autumn: Senior Tutor, "Designing and Doing Social Research" (UG year 3)

2023 Spring: Tutor, "Gender, Marginality and Social Change" (UG year 3)

2022 Autumn: Tutor, "Designing and Doing Social Research" (UG year 3)

2021 Spring: Tutor, "South Asia in the World" (UG year 1) 

Conference Papers and Presentations

"Personal/Political: Studying the biographies of Tamil Brahmin women", British Association for South Asian Studies Conference 2021, University of Edinburgh, UK (April 2021 - online).

"Reversing the Gaze: Migrant Housing beyond State Policy", 12th International Forum on Urbanism at the University of Tarumanagara, Jakarta, Indonesia (June 2019).

"New Wave of Social Movements in Tamil Nadu: The Case of Jallikattu Protests, January 2017", St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, India (Feb. 2018). Published in Niti Samvaad e-Journal (vol. III).

Academic Awards

2020-23: Graduate School Studentship, School of Social and Political Science

2020-23: School International Award, School of Social and Political Science

Supervisors

Professor Hugo Gorringe and Dr. Radhika Govinda