SASSpod: Recent Episodes
Center for South Asia
The South Asian Studies at Stanford (SASS) Podcast features conversations between the Center for South Asia at Stanford and guests who have a connection to Stanford as faculty, staff, students, or alumni. The podcasts feature a wide range of topics, ranging from poetry to politics, from manuscript collecting to music, from business to Bollywood. Every podcast consists of an informal and informative conversation about South Asia and its meaning in the world, in our lives, and at Stanford.
Lalita du Perron talks to recently awarded PhD Alexa Russo about collectives, sustainable agriculture, gender, and indigeneity.
Lalita du Perron talks to Isha Bhallamudi about her research on women gig workers in the informal beauty industry in Mumbai. What are the benefits and downfalls of doing gig work for women? What is the role of AI in managing the apps? Bhallamudi has her PhD from the University of California, Irvine, and then she had a postdoc in the Digital Civil Society Lab and Department of Communication at Stanford.
Instagram handle: _ishacore
Isha's website.
Lalita du Perron talks to Sharika Thiranagama about her new book, how she came to this research in Palakkad, Kerala, after her earlier work on war in Sri Lanka, and all matters of caste, class, and identity.
Lalita du Perron talks to Rahul Rao about his book The Psychic Lives of Statues: Reckoning with the Rubble of Empire (Pluto Press, 2025), the challenges of keeping one’s writing up-to date in a rapidly changing world, and his recent talk at the Stanford Center for South Asia. Learn about Dr. Rao and his work here.
Lalita du Perron talks to Muskan Shafat ’21 about the ongoing relevance of the Stanford Global Studies/South Asia track Minor, her experiences since graduating from Stanford, and her new company Frontier Labs.
Learn more about Muskan Shafat's work and how to get in touch here.
Learn about Shafat's research here.
Learn more about the financial clarity programme or Money System here.
Lalita du Perron talks to Joti Singh, founder of Duniya Dance and Drum Company about her own experiences dancing while growing up in a Panjabi community in Georgia, starting Duniya Dance and Drum, and the ongoing importance of the message of her production Ghadar Geet.
NOTE: There is some noise disturbance in the first 5 minutes, which is resolved afterwards.
Lalita du Perron talks to Postdoctoral Fellow Danny Shanahan about his work on literature and emergency law in Northern Ireland and Kashmir, the parallels, differences, and where we find hope. The episode was recorded on January 27th, 2026.
Literature to add to your reading lists:
Seamus Heaney, North
Anna Burns, Milkman
Agha Shahid Ali, The Country without a Post Office
Madhuri Vijay, The Far Field.
Lalita du Perron talks toTrishna Senapaty, Mellon Postdoc and Teaching Fellow in the Crime, Law and Justice Studies Program at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, about her work in open prisons in North India, and how communities are built in and around them.
Lalita du Perron talks to Afghan historian Mejgan Massoumi (PhD, Stanford, now at Carnegie Mellon University) and South Asia bibliographer Ryan Perkins about the incredible Ustad Mahwash archive, recently acquired by Stanford Libraries. They discuss the ongoing relevance of Ustad Mahwash’s legacy, some gems that are in the collection and worth checking out, and the importance of archives in keeping traditions alive.
Episode notes and resources:
Ustad Mahwash's main online exhibit page.
Ustad Sarahang’s letter
Brief biographical sketch of Ustad Mahwash
Notes about the music files in the episode
1) Beshnaw az Nai (Listen to the Reed) The poetry is from Mawlana's (Rumi's) opening lines to his Mastnavi. This is one of Ustad Mahwash's masterpieces from the Kharabati/Classical Afghan Music tradition. (Featured in the podcast Intro- 00:00-01:30 min).
2) Houri, Houri, Houri (Houri/Noori is the name of a girl, and Noori comes from the Arabic Noor meaning Light, as in light of God, light of beauty, etc.) This is a signature Ustad Mahwash "pop" song and many attach it to her repertoire. (Part of this song is featured at 20:52-21:47 min in the podcast).
3) Guleh Seybem (My Apple Blossom, i.e. another way of saying my Beloved or My Sweetheart, etc) This is also a signature Ustad Mahwash "pop" song and it is wildly popular because the more contemporary female Afghan superstar, Aryana Sayeed, made one of her debut concerts in Afghanistan in the early 2000s with this song. Ironically most people associate this song with Aryana Sayeed, because they do not know or realize it's original performance was from Ustad Mahwash. (Part of this song is featured at the outro of the podcast starting at 26:23 mins- end).
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Law student Archit Lohani about his work on digital rights, transparency in technology governance, and the ramifications of Artificial intelligence.
Lalita du Perron talks to Nidhi Mahajan, Associate Professor of Anthropology at UC-Santa Cruz about her new book Moorings: Voyages of Capital across the Indian Ocean, the way her fieldwork interviews shaped her project, and the arduous process of turning a PhD into a monograph.
Lalita du Perron talks to Daniel Praburaj, former pre-doctoral fellow at the Stanford King Center on Global Development about his journey to Stanford (spoiler: it did not involve an IIT) and his plans for the future. Lalita and Daniel are joined at the start of the podcast by the meows of Lalita’s cat Michelle, but after about 10 minutes she gives up trying to be the main character of the episode.
Daniel is the Co-founder & CTO of Mithram.
Lalita du Perron talks to Shanthi Senthe of the University of Windsor Law School about her former life as a corporate lawyer, her current life as a scholar of law and business, and her experiences doing fieldwork in Sri Lanka.
Lalita du Perron welcomes Sumeet Mhaskar to discuss his Fulbright Fellowship in the Department of Anthropology at Stanford and his book project on the changing job landscape in the textile mills of Mumbai.
Lalita du Perron welcomes scholar and dancer Preethi Ramaprasad to talk about their joint work on consent and dance, and Ramaprasad’s upcoming performed and curated art shows.
As You Are - Sept, 12-14, BAMHouse, Oakland, tickets here
When Eyes Speak Oct 11-12, Joe Goode Annex, tickets here
Lalita du Perron talks to Amrit Deol of Fresno State University about her project on the Ghaddar party and Sikh diasporic history, and her future work on life in the borderlands.
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Life Design Fellow Deepak Ramola in this 2-part episode, about what it means to be a wisdom historian, an artist, and a writer, while we try to figure out why grandmothers are always so wise!
Over the last 15 years, Deepak has worked at the intersection of wisdom and lifelong learning through his organization Project FUEL, collecting life lessons from 195 countries.
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Life Design Fellow Deepak Ramola in this 2-part episode, about what it means to be a wisdom historian, an artist, and a writer, while we try to figure out why grandmothers are always so wise!
Over the last 15 years, Deepak has worked at the intersection of wisdom and lifelong learning through his organization Project FUEL, collecting life lessons from 195 countries.
Lalita du Perron talks to Vidyani Suryadevara of the Stanford School of Medicine on her work on healthy aging, the benefits of dance, and the Stanford Heritage Dance Series.
Read the Stanford Report article on the transformative power of dance in health.
Guest host Anuradha Bhasin talks to Halima Kazem about her work on gender apartheid in Afghanistan and her role in the Stanford Program in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Follow Halima on X at @halimakazem.
Lalita du Perron talks to Shandana Waheed, Doctoral Student in the Department of Anthropology and the Archaeology Center at Stanford, about her work in Rawalpindi, the politics of heritage, and the concept of hostile histories.
Lalita du Perron talks to psychiatrist Apurva Bhatt about her Stanford clinic, meeting the needs of adolescents and children with mental health challenges, and attitudes towards mental health in the South Asian community.
Intro and outro: Roslyn by Rishab Rikhiram Sharma, creator of Sitar for Mental Health. Many thanks for allowing us to use the music! Find out more at rishabsharma.com.
Mental Health Resources:
988 - mental health emergency
Child Mind Institute (childmind.org)
Brown Girl Therapy/Sahaj Kaur Kohli (sahajkaurkohli.com)
Rcoz.us
Lalita du Perron talks to Arfa Khanum Sherwani about her JS Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford and her long-standing work with the Indian independent news outlet The Wire (thewire.in).
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Anthropology PhD student Saad Lakhani about his work on the Tehreek-e Labaik Pakistan (TLP), also known as the anti-blasphemy movement.
Lalita du Perron welcomes Kalpana Desai, President of the Society for Arts and Cultural Heritage of India to talk about the history and evolution of SACHI and an upcoming event at Stanford about the novel Wave.
Lalita du Perron talks to CSA-Markaz fellow Zarif Ahsan and Abbasi-Markaz fellow Arwa Faruk, who both identify as Bangladeshi-American, about recent events in Bangladesh.
Lalita du Perron talks to Mayuranki Almaula and Kiran Malhotra about the speakers, artists, scholars, and poets who will be joining us for the South Asian Literature and Arts festival this year. Get your tickets here and check out this year's program @salafestival.org. Hosted by the Center for South Asia at Stanford on September 28-29, 2024.
Questions? Email southasiainfo@stanford.edu
Stanford undergrads and best friends Luv and Aimen describe their vision for the student-led Indo-Pak Dosti Forum.
Get in touch with Luv and Aimen @ aimen@stanford.edu, luvj@stanford.edu , or through the Indo-Pak Dosti Forum email @ indopakdostiforum@stanford.edu.
Lalita du Perron talks to Ambika Sahay of Artforum SF about the origin and importance of the South Asian Literature and Arts Festival (SALA), which will be cohosted by the Stanford Center for South Asia at the end of September 2024.
Social media: @artforumsf
Website
Lalita du Perron talks to Pashtana Durrani, Executive Director of LearnAfghan.org and visiting fellow at the Wellesley Centers for Women about her journey into advocacy and activism and the role of US higher education institutions in addressing the educational needs of Afghan women and girls.
Lalita du Perron talks to Ambika Vishwanath, Co-Founder and Director of the Kubernein Initiative, an independent, female led, geopolitical advisory firm based in India, about her vision, her projects on water security, and her recent visit to Stanford.
Lalita du Perron talks to Ken Kula Pradipa Lee about his multi-faith multi-ethnic background, his journey into Hinduism, and his work as the Faith and Flourish multi-faith and Hindu chaplain at Stanford.
Check out the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life at Stanford here.
Lalita du Perron talks to Nina Buchmann, PhD candidate in Economics, about her journey from Frankfurt (“only known for its airport”) to Stanford, her childhood fascination with South Asia, and her work on gender norms and human trafficking.
Lalita du Perron talks to Suhani Jalota, PhD candidate at Stanford, about her life as a social entrepreneur, her time at Stanford as an economist studying labor, and her work with the Myna Mahila Foundation in Mumbai.
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Anthropology PhD candidate Shantanu Nevrekar about his work on cooperatives in Maharashtra, the role caste plays in cooperative membership, and his recent fieldwork trip to India.
Lalita du Perron talks to Anusha Dwarkanath, Aakriti Lakshmanan, and Josh Singh, about the student groups they run. Find out about the origin, motivations, and activities of these groups in this fun and busy episode!
Follow them on Instagram:
@stanfordnoopur
@stanfordbhangra
@stanfordraagapella
Lalita du Perron talks to Paras Arora, PhD Candidate at the Department of Anthropology at Stanford University, about their work on people with cognitive disabilities in India, what care and kinship look like, and the value and importance of art in their ethnographic work.
Lalita du Perron talks to Wasif Rizvi, President of Habib University, Pakistan about the state of higher education in the US and Pakistan, and the global importance of liberal arts studies.
Because this podcast episode was recorded live, the sound is not our usual high standard. Please bear with us as this is a great conversation – please turn up the volume and enjoy it all the way through!
Shubhangni Gupta talks about her study of heritage and the havelis in Shekhawati, Rajasthan, and her experience of doing fieldwork in a place that is home - and also not home. Follow Shubhangni and her fieldwork notes on Instagram @shubhangnigupta.
Lalita du Perron talks to Eduardo Acosta (Mellon Fellow at Stanford History) about his PhD from the University of Chicago, the colonial preoccupation to control rivers, climate change, and how time is in fact a cultural construct.
Lalita du Perron welcomes Karthick Ram Manoharan to discuss his latest book Periyar: a study in political atheism (Orient Black Swan, 2022) and his new research while a visiting fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center.
Apologies for occasional sound issues.
Lalita du Perron talks to Ana Cristina Lopes about her work on transnational Tibetan Buddhism, her book Tibetan Buddhism in Diaspora, and her new work on the 84,000 project, whose mission is to translate all of the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and provide open and free access to over 230,000 pages. Find out more at 84000.co.
Lalita du Perron welcomes Robert Rakove from International Relations at Stanford to talk about his new book Days of Opportunity: The United States and Afghanistan before the Soviet Invasion.
Book link: http://cup.columbia.edu/book/days-of-opportunity/9780231210454
Lalita du Perron talks to Dr Gowri Shankar of https://www.kalingafoundation.org/ about his work on the King Cobra, how being bitten by a snake sparked his PhD research, and how to keep ourselves and animals safe.
Lalita du Perron talks to Rabia Saeed, current Wallace Stegner Fellow in Creative Writing, about her journey from Kohat, Pakistan, to Stanford and beyond.
Links to her stories:
https://theseventhwave.org/rabia-saeed/
https://www.litromagazine.com/usa/2021/03/jfk-by-rabia-saeed/
Lalita du Perron talks to Isabel Salovaara, Ph.D. student in Anthropology at Stanford University, about her research project on the tuition and coaching industry in India, and her fieldwork in Patna in particular.
Lalita du Perron talks to Aidan Milliff, Postdoctoral Fellow in Contemporary Asia, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), about the choices people make when faced with state or community violence, what it means to be a political scientist, and the excellent community of South Asia scholars at Stanford!
Lalita du Perron talks to Shripad “Tulja” Tuljapurkar, Professor of Biology at Stanford, about his work on demographics, his love of food, and his undergraduate class on the chili pepper.
Lalita du Perron talks to Gulika Reddy, Assistant Professor in the Stanford Law School and Director of the International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic, about her work as a lawyer, teacher, organizer, and activist, and the NGO she started, Schools of Equality.
Lalita du Perron talks to Feyaad Allie about his PhD research on political representation and identity, facial recognition and voting, and post-PhD life.
Lalita du Perron talks to Elspeth Iralu, 2022-23 Mellon Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center, about her work on Indigenous mapping, Indigeneity, surveillance, and her identity as Angami Naga.
Lalita du Perron talks to Nasiruddin Nezaami about August 2021 and being sponsored by Institute for International Education Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF), his work with the American University of Afghanistan and Stanford Law School, and his research on global cyber crime.
Lalita du Perron talks to Gregory Maxwell Bruce (https://sseas.berkeley.edu/people/gregory-maxwell-bruce/), who teaches Urdu at Berkeley and Stanford, about his multiple book projects, love of language, and the Journal of Urdu Studies, published by Brill (https://brill.com/).
Lalita du Perron talks to Halima Kazem (Twitter @halimakazem) about the Afghanistan Oral History Project at Hoover Institution Library & Archives at Stanford University and her work training journalists in Afghanistan.
Lalita du Perron talks to Moogdho Mim Mahzab, postdoctoral scholar at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, about his work on improving brick kilns and lead acid batteries operations in Bangladesh and the challenges of developmental economy.
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford University Press South Asia in Motion series editors Thomas Blom Hansen and Dylan Kyung-lim White about the history of the Press, the motivation behind the series, and what makes a great book proposal.
Links: Stanford University Press and South Asia in Motion
Lalita du Perron talks to Anuradha Bhasin about her role as executive editor of the Kashmir Times, the challenges facing the media in Kashmir, and her time at Stanford as a JSK Journalism Fellow. Follow Anuradha on Twitter @anuradhabhasin_ .
Lalita du Perron talks to Thenmozhi Soundararajan of Equality Labs about her forthcoming book The Trauma of Caste, survivor power, caste in the Silicon Valley, the importance of mentorship, and healing for all.
Link to book: https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/the-trauma-of-caste/
Lalita du Perron talks to the extremely multifaceted Chandra Vadhana Radhakrishnan, a Fulbright Program Fellow in the Gender Innovations Lab at Stanford History, about gender equality, entrepreneurship, self-care, and having/wanting to do it all. Links: https://history.stanford.edu/people/chandra-vadhana (Her Stanford History page) https://prayaana.org/ (Prayaana Labs) https://shesightmag.com/ (Shesite) https://pracol.com/ (E-commerce site) https://youtu.be/hbiflnwVYPU (Identity film)
Lalita du Perron talks to Gayatri Sethi (@desibookaunty on Instragram) about her time at Stanford Graduate School of Education, her book Unbelonging (from which she reads an excerpt), and what is considered home. Apologies for occasional internet issues. Links in episode: 1947 Partition Archive: https://www.1947partitionarchive.org/ (https://www.1947partitionarchive.org/) Unbelonging: https://mangoandmarigoldpress.com/products/unbelonging (https://mangoandmarigoldpress.com/products/unbelonging)
Lalita du Perron talks to Elizabeth Lhost, Digital Librarian at South Asia Open Archives (SAOA), about the work of SAOA, the challenges and the joys of digitization, access, availability, and decolonizing the archive. Visit the SAOA website at saoa.crl.edu. Submit suggestions via email to saoa@crl.edu.
Lalita du Perron talks to Jonathan Peterson of Stanford Religious Studies about his research and teaching on Vedanta, atheism, ritual branding, body modification, and interreligious love.
Lalita du Perron talks to Shaili Chopra about her digital platform SheThePeople, the women’s health bot DoctorDidi (https://bit.ly/3Fv5JWw (Click on this link to open on your WhatsApp)), her time at Stanford, and the ups and downs of a life lived online.
Lalita du Perron talks to Sharika Thiranagama, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Stanford, who explains and helps us understand--as much as we can cram into one podcast--what is happening in Sri Lanka right now. Date of recording April 14, 2022.
Lalita du Perron talks to Radhika Koul, 2021-22 Dissertation Prize Fellow in Stanford Humanities Center and Ph.D. candidate in Department of Comparative Literature within Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, about creating conversations between 10th-century Kashmir and 17th-century France as well as between techies and fuzzies.
Lalita du Perron talks to Rushain Abbasi about his fellowship at Stanford Humanities Center, being a lecturer in Religious Studies at Stanford, and his book projects on secularism, worldliness, and the intellectual history of Islam. And we share our love of footnotes!
Lalita du Perron talks to Roanne Kantor, assistant professor of English (and, by courtesy, of Comparative Literature) at Stanford, about her new book, Macaulay’s shelf, Global Anglophone literature, magical realism, and other matters related to South Asia and Latin America.
Lalita du Perron talks to Zeba Huq, Clinical Supervising Attorney with Stanford Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic, about her South Asian identity, 9/11, the first amendment, and how much faith we should have in the Law.
Lalita du Perron talks to Charu Singh, Lecturer in the Department of History at Stanford, about her recent article on Translation, terminology and lexicography in the Hindi Scientific Glossary (1906), and her upcoming course on science and society. Article Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19472498.2021.2001200
Lalita du Perron talks to Ali Usman Qasmi from Lahore University of Management Sciences and Visiting Fellow at Stanford Humanities Center about his research on the lunar calendar, citizenship, and the state. They chat about how technology mediates/enhances/detracts from the human experience.
Lalita du Perron talks to the Center for South Asia’s new Faculty Director Anna Bigelow about her new book “Islam through Objects”, material religion, and her vision for the Center.
Lalita du Perron welcomes Lakmali Jayasinghe to discuss teaching in the Stanford Civic, Liberal, and Global Education (COLLEGE) program and her research on borders, migration, and translation.
Lalita du Perron welcomes Thomas Blom Hansen, Professor and Chair of the Anthropology Department at Stanford, to discuss his new book The Law of Force, the history of violence and non-violence in India, and the importance of academic freedom. Transcript available on request for a disability-related accommodation (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Former CSA Director Jisha Menon talks to Lalita du Perron about her forthcoming book Brutal Beauty: Aesthetics and Aspiration in Urban India, published by Northwestern University Press, and her new role as Faculty Director of Stanford Global Studies. Transcript available on request for a disability-related accommodation (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Priya Satia, Professor of History at Stanford, talks about her book Time’s Monster: How history makes history, and answers questions such as: Who writes history? Who consumes history? What was the role of historians in building Empire? And what has astrology got to do with any of this? Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available. Photo Credit: Steve Castillo
Have you ever wondered why students choose to pursue the Global Studies South Asia Minor while at Stanford? Lalita du Perron talks to three students, from Computer Science, Political Science, and English, who explain why they chose the Minor and how it impacted their time at Stanford and beyond. Special shoutouts to Usha Iyer, C. Ryan Perkins, and Madihah Akhter, all of whom have also been featured on the SASSpod! Find out more about the South Asian Society here: https://www.facebook.com/stanfordsas https://southasia.stanford.edu/academics/undergraduate-minor (Learn more about the South Asia Studies Minor at Stanford >>) Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron welcomes new faculty in the Stanford Department of History Partha Shil to talk about his work on labor history and police constables in colonial India, asks about the role of empathy in academic research, and encourages students to enroll in his classes. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks to Professor Robert Crews, recent PhD graduate Mejgan Massoumi, and PhD candidate Sabauon Nasseri, all at the History Department at Stanford, about the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. In this two-part podcast, the guests discuss the history of the presence of US troops in Afghanistan, its effect on the lives of the Afghan people, and what life may look like going forward. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks to Professor Robert Crews, recent PhD graduate Mejgan Massoumi, and PhD candidate Sabauon Nasseri, all at the History Department at Stanford, about the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. In this two-part podcast, the guests discuss the history of the presence of US troops in Afghanistan, its effect on the lives of the Afghan people, and what life may look like going forward. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Center for Latin American Studies alum Hari Seshasayee about the current state of Covid in Mumbai, his work as trade advisor with ProColombia, similarities between South Asia and Latin America, and his fond memories of his time at Stanford. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks to Dr. S.V. Mahadevan, Professor of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University, and Director of South Asia Outreach at the Center for Asian Health Research and Education and Director of Global Affairs and Strategy at the Stanford School of Medicine about the Covid crisis in India and the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqSoHRd4E6c (Watch a CSA recording of a conversation with Dr. Mahadevan on Covid in India on the SASS Tube >>) Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks to Suhaila Meera about her Theater and Performance Studies PhD at Stanford on border-crossing children in art, the emotional challenges of analyzing art which depicts painful histories, and the logistical challenges of producing theater in pandemic times. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks to Dinsha Mistree, Research Fellow and Lecturer in the Rule of Law Program at Stanford Law about his many projects in India, including the Rule of Non-Law, and how people negotiate traffic regulations. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron welcomes Abiya Ahmed, Director of The Markaz Resource Center at Stanford, to discuss her interest in the intersection of religion and education, and her experiences running one of seven Community Centers at Stanford. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron discusses mental health in the Muslim community with Dr. Rania Awaad, a practicing Psychiatrist based at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She is the Director of the Stanford Muslims and Mental Health Lab where she mentors and oversees multiple lines of research focused on Muslim mental health. https://profiles.stanford.edu/Rania_Awaad?tab=publications (Find a list of her publications here). Contact southasiainfo@stanford.edu to request a transcript. Please allow 7-10 days for your request to be processed.
Lalita du Perron talks to Jenna Forsyth, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford, about lead pollution in Bangladesh and across the globe. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
In this episode Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford undergraduate Vivek Tanna. They start off talking about religion and spirituality, and winding via queerness and comedy end up discussing yoga, Zumba, and cultural appropriation. The tagline for this episode is “When in doubt, shake it out”. Details of the Queerness, Spirituality, and Religion Speaker Series are here: https://orsl.stanford.edu/queerness-spirituality-and-religion-speaker-series. Transcript is available on our website.
Lalita du Perron talks to Alisha Cherian, PhD student in the Department of Anthropology at Stanford. Alisha’s research interests include Urban Space and Place, and Power, Identity, and Representation with particular reference to Singapore. In the podcast she talks about Singapore’s quota policy and its effect on the category of “Indian”. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks to Asia Health Policy Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford Shorenstein APARC Radhika Jain about health insurance and gender inequalities in accessing health care in India. The phrase to remember? “Mom ‘n’ Pop hospitals”. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks to Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies Usha Iyer about her new book Dancing Women: Choreographing Corporeal Histories of Hindi Cinema. In the podcast they discuss courtesans, feminism, the heteropatriarchy, Madhuri Dixit and Saroj Khan, as well as their shared passion for soca. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron welcomes Emera Bridger Wilson, Associate Director at the South Asia Center at the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, at Syracuse University. They discuss the South Asia National Outreach Consortium and the South Asia Book Award, known as SABA. For more information on SABA as well as upcoming talks on November 19 and December 5th, please visit southasiabookaward.wisc.edu. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks to Munia Bhaumik, 2020-21 Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center, about literature, translation, citizenship, aesthetics, politics, and Moby Dick. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford King Center on Global Development Postdoctoral Fellow Nirvikar Jassal about policing in India through the lens of gender – do women-only police stations lead to better access to justice for women? Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
This episode Lalita du Perron talks to Arzan Tarapore, South Asia research scholar at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford, about his career in government, security in India-China, and the role of Higher Ed in international relations. Music credit: Soham Shiva Visit Arzan’s website at https://www.arzantarapore.com/ (arzantarapore.com). Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks to Padma Maitland, Assistant Professor in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at California Polytechnic State University about the politics of museums, regionality, and the upcoming After Hope exhibition at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum.
In the month the world commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing, Lalita du Perron talks to Center for International Security and Cooperation pre-doctoral fellow Debak Das about his research on regional nuclear powers, national vs human security, the politics of nuclear proliferation, and the role of luck in keeping the world safe.
Lalita du Perron is joined by Snehal Naik, Senior Director of the Office of Student Engagement, to talk about what it means to be South Asian, why Stanford is special, and how we can build community even in these challenging times. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Associate Director for the Center for South Asia at Stanford University, Lalita du Perron sits down with Stephen Young, Associate Professor of Geography and International Studies at University of Wisconsin, Madison. Currently he is a Visiting Scholar at the Basic Income Lab at Stanford University and today he will discuss his research in South Asia. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Raghav Mehrotra speaks about the impact of the lockdown on labour migration, Aajeevika Bureau's work, the heterogeneity of migration, and supply chains for products we are likely currently using. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
In this week’s South Asian Studies at Stanford (SASS) pod, Lalita du Perron talks to C. Ryan Perkins, curator for South Asian and Islamic Studies at Stanford, about his research, his projects in the library, his trip to Peshawar to meet collectors, and the politics of preservation. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Stanford History PhD Candidate Anubha Anushree joins Lalita du Perron to discuss her research project on corruption, nationalism, and the state. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Mashail Malik from Stanford Political Science talks to Lalita du Perron about the politics of ethnicity in Pakistan, policing and the role of the state in Karachi and elsewhere, and colorism in South Asian communities. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron is joined virtually by theater personality Gauri Gupta, currently at Stanford through the Distinguished Careers Institute. They talk about virtual theater in the world of Covid, and the importance of language, poetry, and shared community. The Iqbal Bano ghazal which was meant to play at the end did not record, but you can access it here: https://youtu.be/xMHdvl7vGqs (https://youtu.be/xMHdvl7vGqs). Apologies for the technical glitches. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron talks with Soledad Artiz Prillaman (Assistant Professor, Political Science, Stanford University) about female empowerment and political engagement in rural Madhya Pradesh (India), the pros and cons of micro credit, and how the state in India is using informal networks in its fight against Covid19. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
Lalita du Perron virtually sits down with Stanford History graduate student Mejgan Massoumi to talk about her research on the Afghan artist Ahmad Zahir and his importance in Afghan culture. In their conversation they discuss politics in contemporary Afghanistan, Covid and family life, and the ongoing relevance of radio as a source of information. Join us! Correction: At 29:29 Mejgan says "Since the 1990s" but meant "Since the 1960s." Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
In this podcast Center for South Asia Associate Director Lalita du Perron talks to Madihah Akhter, PhD student in the Stanford History department. They discuss the history of pandemics, the responsibility of the state, the role of technology, the power of social media, and contemporary music. Transcript available on request (email us at southasiainfo@stanford.edu). Please allow a week for transcript to become available.
In this podcast, Lalita du Perron is joined by Asfandyar Ali Mir, Postdoctoral fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation in the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University. Together they explore the complex issue of the International Relations of South Asia, especially as pertaining to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and discuss the US media, US foreign policy, gender roles, and the impact of Covid-19.