Biography
Prior to graduate school, Priyanka worked in the field of domestic violence intervention. She spent several years as a counselor/advocate at a shelter for women and children and has volunteered at domestic violence agencies that specifically serve the immigrant community. She currently volunteers at her local rape crisis center. These experiences have greatly influenced her interest in researching resistance to violence in immigrant and diasporic communities.
Research Interests
Gender and Sexuality, Global South Asia, Race, Empire, Diaspora, Political Blackness
Research Description
I study the experiences of women of South Asian descent in 1970s-1990s Britain. I examine how these women confronted forms of racialized and gendered state violence, issues of immigration, forms of labor exploitation, and experiences of domestic abuse. I explore the alternative community networks and public identities South Asian women forged as they confronted these systems. Additionally, I center the various collaborations amongst South Asian and Black British feminists. In addition to archival materials, I utilize oral interviews, film, and art to explore complex entanglements of gender and race that emerged in South Asian women’s everyday lives, political struggles, and acts of resistance.
Education
B.A., Washington University in St. Louis, 2018
Grants
Runner-up for North American Conference on British Studies Dissertation Fellowship - Fall 2024
Marianne Ferber Award - Fall 2024
Critical Language Scholarship, Bangla, Summer 2021
Pre-dissertation Travel Grant, Summer 2022
Awards and Honors
List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students - Fall 2022, Spring 2023
Courses Taught
HIST 100: Global History (Teaching Assistant) - Fall 2021
HIST 172: US History Since 1877 (Teaching Assistant) - Spring 2022
We CU Community Engaged Scholars Humanities in Action Coordinator (Research Assistant) - Fall 2022-Summer 2024