My MPhil research involves studying political messages embedded in photojournalistic images, and is being carried out under the supervision of Dr. Michael Edwards. I hold a BA (Honours) in Political Science from Jesus & Mary College and an MA in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi.

My research seeks to examine the political implications of women’s reservation in panchayats. The study will explore the evolution of women’s role in public life, particularly in the state of Haryana, through the lens of collective action and political participation. Prior to this MPhil, I completed my BA (Honours) in History from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi.

I am exploring the concept of vernacular rights cultures, in contrast to dominant epistemologies and practices of global human rights, as it pertains to the Rohingya community living in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. My research is focussed on how the Rohingya communities conceptualise their own struggle for rights and how this process produces unique, radical ideas of justice, politics and citizenship.

My research looks to explore the shift of Bharatanatyam’s identity over the years and challenge stereotypes around the identity of Bharatanatyam performers. I will discuss gender, religion and cultural belonging as popular, yet unfounded, markers of legitimacy on the Bharatanatyam stage. This interest stems from my experience as a Bharatanatyam practitioner.

Before this, I worked in the Indian Parliament as a Legislative Assistant and also as a researcher at the Fairwork project on the gig economy based at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. My current research, funded by the Cambridge Trusts and the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, examines how caste influences the ‘spatiality’ of workspaces which are increasingly merging with public spaces in India’s gig economy.

I completed my undergraduate in History and Politics at Cambridge before moving on to the Modern South Asian MPhil. My research centres on Kashmir and its contrasting imaginations by Hindu Nationalism, focussing on the last 30 years in particular.

Prior to moving to Cambridge, I received my B.A. in History at Miranda House, University of Delhi and my Diploma in Liberal Arts at Ashoka University. My MPhil project looks at the intersection of gender, body politics and state ideology in understanding the rise of women wrestlers in present-day Rohtak, Haryana.

My MPhil project is an interdisciplinary analysis of the ways in which sound intersects with social-spatial geographies and architectures in Nizamuddin. Before coming to Cambridge, I worked as a history researcher and sound artist for museums, galleries, arts and documentary film organizations across India and the UK.

Partly funded by the Debesh-Kamal Scholarship, Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Kolkata, my dissertation will explore the dynamics and forms of native agency in influencing the development of educational policy in British colonial India, focussing on the petitions launched in reaction to Governor-General Bentinck's Resolution on English Education in India in 1835

With a previous Master in Economics, I worked for a Parliamentarian and the Opposition party in Andhra Pradesh for 4 years. I also drafted 3 chapters for the Telangana Socio Economic Outlook 2022. I am engaged with issues of policy-making, political mobilisation, ethnographic research, public finance, and popular writing.

My name is Phoebe Wates and this is my fourth year studying at Cambridge. I did my undergraduate degree studying History and was inspired to continue my studies by the India paper. My research is on dowry-related deaths in late colonial India and will focus specifically on case law to do with women’s property rights.

My research mainly focuses on India’s foreign policy and its relations with other countries. My MPhil project will mainly examine the transformation of India’s Central Asia policy and its causes. I am also interested in India’s economic growth and industrialization process, which I believe will determine India’s future and deeply shape the world. I received my undergraduate degree in diplomacy from Beijing Foreign Studies University, China.