I’m a researcher of social inequality, music and media practices, and caste distinctions in urban India. I have published my research findings in a range of academic journals and edited volumes, and I use multimodal practices to engage in public scholarship.
Read more below, or see Research + Writing and Projects for details.
RESEARCH: MUSICAL POLITICS
My ongoing book project uses insights gained from twelve months of fieldwork in Chennai, India involving ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews with members of two musical worlds: Carnatic music, which is seen as the preserve of “upper” caste and Brahmin participants; and Gaana music, which is associated with the participation of Dalit or previously “untouchable” caste communities. In this project, I show that music is a key terrain in which caste distinctions are inscribed and also challenged in urban spaces. This investigation of urban cultural politics reveals extant political cleavages, insidious forms of urban segregation, and the persistence of caste discrimination as well as its resistance through the cultural articulation of an anti-caste project. The book is based on my dissertation, Resounding Caste: Practices of Distinction, Urban Segregation, and Musical Politics in Chennai, India. The dissertation won the 2022 Saller Prize for the most outstanding dissertation in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.
WRITING & PUBLICATIONS
My writing has featured in academic journals and magazines like Social Forces, City & Community, Contexts, Sectors, and Economic & Political Weekly. In my academic writing, I follow the ethnographic standard that favors rich, detailed description and careful sociological analysis. Most importantly, this tradition leads me to center my interlocutors and prioritize treating their stories with respect and dignity. In addition to academic writing, I enjoy writing long-form essays about music, food, and other facets of pop culture that explore questions of power, resistance, and social justice in the U.S., India, and the rest of the world. You can find more about my research and writing here.
MULTIMEDIA SCHOLARSHIP
I use multimodal approaches including audio, photography, and film to disseminate research findings to public audiences. I have worked as a researcher with New York Public Radio’s WQXR for the Every Voice podcast, where I used archival and interview data and secondary materials to research blackface in the opera. I created, scripted, produced, and hosted Seasoned, a podcast that explores the sociopolitical underpinnings of everyday foods. I also co-created and co-curated a monthly playlist exchange series called Notes on Notes, which invited a collaborator to create a playlist and another to respond to it with a non-musical pairing. In addition to these projects, I curate playlists and sets for virtual and real-time DJ sessions and listening parties.
MUSEUMS & ARTS
I am interested in connecting my research experience with public scholarship and engagement through museums and arts spaces. I worked as a facilitator for starlight, a pop-up community arts space on Chicago’s Devon Ave. with a six-member team from the SpaceShift Collective to transform a former jewelry store into an arts space that hosted six artists-in-residence, multiple events (concerts, film screenings, workshops, listening and dance parties), a listening station and a reading nook. Working in collaboration with Northwestern University’s Race, Caste, and Colorism Project, I programmed anti-caste and anti-racist content, workshops, and materials into the 30+ events that took place at starlight. As a public practice intern at Chicago’s Smart Museum, I helped curate virtual events like Take Care, Be Well, and collaborated and worked with artists, researchers, musicians, institutional leaders, and educators to produce events of significance for the museum community.