I am an Associate Professor at the Department for International Studies and Political Science. All courses I am teaching are closely related to my own research, which focuses on social mobilisation and the relationship between state actors and social movement organisations, and how these dynamics are framed in the public sphere in India and beyond. I have done extensive field and survey research on the NGO sector in New Delhi, India to investigate the relationship between the Indian state and the NGO sector, and what influences the nature of NGOs’ activism. More recent projects  deal with substate populism in India as well as the newest wave of women’s movements in various parts of the world. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm about those topics with the cadets in my classes as well as fostering student research projects beyond class assignments.

At VMI I teach the following classes:

IS 230 – Comparative Politics

This is a required class for IS majors. Comparative politics is the branch of political science that studies the similarities and differences across different political systems and seeks to uncover generalizations about them. The goal of this class is to connect big theoretical ideas to particular contemporary issues. Students in this course will learn about political phenomena in a geographically diverse range of contexts and learn how scholars of comparative politics investigate different research questions and conduct their specific analyses. Thus, my course design reflects a focus on the comparative method and the applicability of abstract concepts (i.e. democracy, free & fair elections, civil liberties) across a variety of different states.

IS 338 X – Politics of India and the Subcontinent

My research expertise is on South Asia. Thus, I developed this course to share my knowledge on an important region in the world; home to India, the largest democracy and a prominent regional and nuclear power, as well as Pakistan, a state plagued by political instability and of geo-strategic importance to US foreign policy in Afghanistan. In this course, cadets closely examine the political framework of and the dynamics between the major regional players (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka) and explore the role and impact of political institutions, parties and political leaders, political participation and interest articulation as well as modernization and economic development. Though this class has attracted non-IS majors in the past, with the creation of the Asian Studies Minor this course now serves an even larger pool of cadets beyond the International Studies Department.

IS 339 – Digital Media and South Asian Politics

This class captures the increasing importance of digital media and information technologies in various political and public decision-making arenas and combines it with my regional expertise. In this course cadets explore the relationship between digital media and society in South Asia and investigate the significance of various new media technologies by reflecting on theoretical and social scientific perspectives to advance their understanding of South Asian politics. Topics covered include the impact of social media on transparency, political accountability, political participation, and economic development as well as the overall regime type. A major pedagogical aspect of this class is to have cadets become familiar with various digital media developments by having them write blogs reflecting their analysis of web sites, tweets and other information technology projects.

IS 431 W – Riots, Protest, Social Movements: Understanding Contentious Politics

I developed this writing intensive course to expose and teach cadets about the vast literature surrounding the study of contentious politics. Social movements and protest have become a part of the political landscape, and in this course cadets explore the dynamics of political contention, from collective looting to organized protest to revolution. Students engage with some of the theoretical perspectives, conceptual issues/questions, and empirical research that animate the study of contentious politics and influenced its development. By reviewing the field’s theoretical foundations, approaches, and applications students gain knowledge of both relevant theoretical concepts as well on a variety of cases.