LINKS
CA 260 website

COURSES
Communication and Human Behavior
Nature of Rhetorical Criticism
Performance and Performativity Theory
Rhetoric, Culture, and Folklore

ACTIVITIES
My research, most broadly, engages with rhetorical theory, critical social theory, feminist theory, and performance/performativity theory. Through these frameworks, I explore the ways that marginalized groups with political agendas use the cultural resources at their disposal to advance various modes of identification, encourage deliberation and debate, and broaden political consciousness and engagement. That is, I am particularly interested in how people seek to persuade others in the public sphere using means other than traditional platform oratory, relying instead on transformations of traditional and popular culture for rhetorical ends. In looking at these issues, I have focused my research on the rhetorical performances of feminist groups in India and diasporic South Asian communities in the United States. In both cases, I use ethnographic fieldwork methods to gather my data.

The feminist groups I have worked with attempt to reform social institutions and influence legislation, addressing issues such as domestic abuse, rape, inheritance rights, dowry practices, and pre-natal sex determination tests. In order to raise awareness about these social problems they engage in a variety of activities, from organizing protest rallies to conducting political outreach campaigns. Many employ cultural forms, such as street theater, as a means to raise critical consciousness and mobilize action. The rhetorical work created by social reformers and activists testifies to the liberating possibilities of strategically taking from a cultural heritage what we regard as positive and framing it in innovative ways, possibly by combining it with elements that seem foreign or, at times, antithetical.

My second line of research considers Indian American rhetorical practices that decry hate speech and social violence. While many grassroots advocacy groups have responded to such violence in political speeches or community forums, I am particularly interested in a less conventional, but no less important, means of political activism: autobiographical performance. These performances, found within documentaries, progressive community theater, and cultural festivals, to name but a few, are used to witness transgressions, encourage discussion about contentious issues, and argue for changes in the social environment. Many grassroots organizations use autobiographical testimonials to advance claims for recognition based in oppositional interpretations of identities, histories, and experiences, both in terms of political and cultural struggles within mainstream society and their diversity and equality struggles within Indian American communities and families. Taken together, the various oral narratives provide a unique window into the current concerns and aspirations of diasporic South Asians. These issues are the focus of a book manuscript in progress titled Performing Politics: Critical Play and the Rhetorical Work of Words in South Asian American Activism.

DEGREES

• Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2000
• M.A., Hamline University, 1994
• B.A., University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1989

MAJOR HONORS/AWARDS

• A.W. Mellon Grant, 2006 - 2008
• CSS Exceptional Professor Award, 2004
• MacArthur Pre-dissertation Award, 1995

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

"South Asian Women and Criminality: Eclectic Representations of Devi Chaudhurani in Nationalist and Feminist Rhetoric" In Quarterly Journal of Speech 93 (2007)

"The Uses of Folklore/The Uses of Rhetoric: Political Street Plays by Grassroots Feminist Organizations in Gujarat" In Journal of American Folklore. Forthcoming (2007)

"Immigration, Diaspora, and American Communities" In Richard Schaefer (Ed), Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, Forthcoming (2007)

"Unity in Diversity: Indian American Communities" In Richard Schaefer (Ed), Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Forthcoming (2007)

"Immigration and Community," In Karen Christensen and David Levinson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Community. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2003

"South Asian Street Plays and Feminist Resistance: Promoting Change Through Cultural Performance" 23rd Annual Third World Conference Proceedings, Volume Two Chicago: TWCF Publications, 1997.