Debotri Dhar

Areas: Cultural and feminist theory; gender and education; women's leadership; postcolonial, South Asian studies; women and literature; law, society, rights; economic inclusion and empowerment; global communications; women and religion

Affiliation(s): Women's and Gender Studies Core Faculty; International Institute; Center for South Asian Studies Faculty; Donia Human Rights Center; Center on Finance, Law and Policy; Center for the Education of Women; IRWG Faculty Affiliate

Debotri Dhar's interdisciplinary teaching and research focuses on the gendered intersections of society and polity, law and literature, economy and the arts in global contexts, and their implications for advancing gender equity, diversity, and inclusive excellence across multiple sectors. Dr. Dhar has edited and introduced three volumes including Education and Gender (Bloomsbury Academic: London, New York, New Delhi) and Love is Not a Word: The Culture and Politics of Desire (New Delhi), and co-edited Education in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Islands (Bloomsbury: London, New York, New Delhi, Sydney.) Her monograph on sexual violence and the postcolonial state is forthcoming from Routledge (London, New York, New Delhi), and she is completing another book on diversity, growth, and belonging. She has published numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed articles, in journals such as Feminist Formations, Postcolonial Text, and Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy. A public speaker in several languages, she has delivered conference papers, lectures, and invited presentations at universities such as Yale, Harvard, Princeton, U Penn, Boston, Michigan, Delhi, Oxford, and elsewhere, while also giving public talks such as at the British Council and non-university settings accessible to a wider public.

Dr. Dhar has been the recipient of an Excellence Doctoral Fellowship, U-M Center for the Education of Women Jean Campbell Visiting Scholarship, Linda Rothman Teaching Award in Women's Studies, South Asian Studies Research Award, and Institute for Research on Women Fellowship. She has served as an expert panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships, a reviewer for the National Women's Studies Association, and an evaluator for the Indian Institute for Advanced Study Fellowship, among others. She has also lent her expertise to international organizations and non-profits.

Courses: Dr. Dhar teaches Feminist Thought; Sexual Violence and the State: Global Perspectives; and Women and Well-Being in Literature (cross-listed with English Literature and Culture). She has also taught Knowledge and Power: Issues in Women's Leadership; Gender and Representation; Transnational Feminisms (cross-listed with Religious Studies); Women, Culture, Society; Gender and Bollywood; The Gendered Body; Introduction to Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and Doing Feminist Research: Theory and Practice.

Additional notes: Debotri also writes novels, short stories, essays, magazine articles, and newspaper columns, on themes that shape and are shaped by her scholarly interests. Her fiction includes Postcards from Oxford: Stories of Women and Travel (London, Kolkata), her novel The Courtesans of Karim Street (New Delhi) which was shortlisted for a young writers' award, and others. A Flute Called Radha has been published by Penguin Random House, and her short stories, flash pieces, and articles have appeared in print and online publications worldwide. She has served as a judge for the Barbara Deming Fund for women writers (New York), and for The Best Asian Short Stories (Singapore), a contest for creative writers in Asia and the global Asian diaspora. Dr. Dhar is the founder of the Hummingbird Global Writers’ Circle, a transnational “travelling” literary initiative to foster a love of books and ideas, cultural exchange, and global understanding. Her other interests include Indian classical music, cinema, painting, and the culinary arts.