Sensory Life of Caste in Indian Universities

The classroom can be a space for us to engage in deep learning, rigorous  debate, collaboration and critical thinking. It’s 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?
This 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.
We will be discussing their co-authored piece “Why Indian Universities Are Places Where Savarnas Get Affection and Dalit-Bahujans Experience Distance.” We will also discuss Christy’s book “Sexuality and Public Space in India: Reading the Visible” and her article “Universities as Spaces of Disaffection” and Thirumal’s recent article “Regurgitative Violence: The Sacred and the Profane in Higher Education Institutions in India” and “Dominant Bodies and Their Ethical Performances: Violence of Caste Embodiment in Higher Educational Institutions.”
Audio courtesy: Summertime by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060 [CC BY 3.0]