Biography
I am a PhD Candidate in the departments of South Asian Performance and Civilizations and Theater and Performance Studies. My dissertation research focuses on the ethics and aesthetics of performance preservation in the modern and contemporary Indian context. I explore these issues primarily with reference to tamasha and lavani, performance forms of Maharashtra in Western India, examining how attempts to preserve these so-called “folk” forms negotiate issues of caste, class and gender. My dissertation project draws from archival and ethnographic sources, and hopes to reflect on the ruptures between collaboration & appropriation, documentation & museumization, recording & memory, performance & archives. Prior to starting graduate school, I worked as an administrator, editor and amateur archivist with Theatre Professionals Pvt Ltd, India Theatre Forum, and Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai.
Workshops
- Coordinator, Theater and Performance Studies Workshop [2017-2018]
- Co-coordinator, SALC Graduate Workshop [Autumn 2018, Winter 2019]
Research interests
Theatre studies, Performance Theory, Modern South Asia, Critical Archival Studies, Gender and Sexuality, Caste, and Urban Studies.
Teaching Experience
- Theater and Performance Studies Colloquium [BA Preceptor, Autumn 2018 and Winter 2019]
- Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Hindi [Language Assistant, Spring 2016, Fall 2018, Autumn 2018]
- First-Year Hindi [Course Assistant, Autumn 2016, Winter 2017, Winter 2018]
- Gender in World Civilizations [Teaching Assistant, Winter 2017, Fall 2017]