Sensory Life of Caste in Indian Universities

Published: Sept. 6, 2021, 3:51 p.m.

The classroom can be a space for us to engage in deep learning, rigorous  debate, collaboration and critical thinking. It\u2019s a space where our  senses can be active and nourished. However, entry into the classroom  has been historically limited to upper-caste cis men. What happens when  these exclusions are challenged?
\nThis is a bonus episode of Research  Radio, where P Thirumal and Carmel Christy join us to discuss their EPW article on higher education in India and their scholarship on media  studies. Dr P Thirumal teaches at the Department of Communication,  University of Hyderabad. He teaches courses related to theory, history  and media Science with reference to modernity and deep time. His  scholarship has focused on the cultural histories of North East India  including embodiment studies focussing on discriminatory practices of  Dalit Bahujans in higher education institutions in India. Dr Carmel  Christy K J is currently an International Fellow of the Urban Studies  Foundation, Glasgow, which is affiliated to the International Institute  for Asian Studies, Leiden. She teaches journalism at Kamala Nehru  College, University of Delhi. Her research on the politics of gender,  sexuality, caste, religion, media and urban space broadly focuses on  spatial production of marginality and responses to it in India.
\nWe will be discussing their co-authored piece \u201cWhy Indian Universities Are Places Where Savarnas Get Affection and Dalit-Bahujans Experience Distance.\u201d We will also discuss Christy\u2019s book \u201cSexuality and Public Space in India: Reading the Visible\u201d and her article \u201cUniversities as Spaces of Disaffection\u201d and Thirumal\u2019s recent article \u201cRegurgitative Violence: The Sacred and the Profane in Higher Education Institutions in India\u201d and \u201cDominant Bodies and Their Ethical Performances: Violence of Caste Embodiment in Higher Educational Institutions.\u201d

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Audio courtesy: Summertime by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 [CC BY 3.0]