GENDER.ED recently welcomed Dr Hemangini Gupta as Associate Director. Hemangini joins us from Middlebury College, Vermont, where she taught classes in feminist and queer theory and on globalization, technology, and labour. She has a PhD in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. In this post, Hemangini discusses her motivations, research, and hopes for GENDER.ED’s future with its outgoing Communications and Events Intern, Shy Zvouloun.
S: What motivates you in your feminist work?
H: I love building communities, facilitating conversations, and creating connections and I have tried to do this over the last decade of my work and activism. The energy and solidarity in a room of feminists who support each other is amazing and it reminds me why we need feminists everywhere!
S: Tell us a little about your research?
H: My research explores the gendered and raced dimensions of economic transition in the postcolonial world. The book manuscript that I just completed asks how new visions for India’s future as a centre for innovation and entrepreneurship is strongly built on histories of classed, gendered, and caste-based labour even as it fictionalizes a world that moves “beyond difference.”
S: What sparked your interest in GENDER.ED?
H: I have always wanted to start a small feminist centre (I still do!) and when I read the job advert for the position at GENDER.ED I couldn’t believe I was reading something so perfectly aligned with all of my interests and commitments! I’m particularly excited by how we might continue to build connections across the university and strengthen gender and sexuality-related research even as we chart new directions in pedagogy and public-facing feminisms.
S: What do you hope to achieve as an Associate Director at GENDER.ED?
H: My first year will be spent familiarising myself with the existing events and the ongoing calendar but I do have dreams for a Feminist Theory workshop and a politics and gender podcast, so stay tuned!
Read more about Hemangini’s research and work on her personal website, here.
