I have attended and followed ACSAA for the past twenty years since my graduate student days at Berkeley, so when asked to run for the board I decided to head the call given how much all of you have generously done for me over the years with ACSAA. My goal is to support ALL members for future generations of scholars. At UCB, I co-founded the Asian Art Working Group; at Barnard, I founded a Religious Diversity Suite; and I currently participate in the Decolonial School at California College of Arts where I teach hybrid studio/theory courses and Visual Studies. I also teach South Asian Art History and Arts of Asia at San Francisco State University as a lecturer. I have taught at Mills, UCI, UCSC, and UCB and have worked at the Sackler in D.C. and the Musee Cernuschi in Paris.
Just out from Mapin and UC Press, my first book is a diachronic study of medieval temples (Śaiva, Śakta, and Jain) and their reuses in four different eras. This work includes 150 original photographs from Southern Rajasthan and is open access. Currently, I am working on multi-sectarian “encyclopedic impulses” in Mewar and Malwa. My interests also include book arts (c. 1450-1700), and Popular Indian Cinema (c. 1950s-1990s). My last trip to India involved fieldwork in Mandu, and a return to key sites in rural Rajasthan, with a keynote lecture at the LWHF in Udaipur. I am also teaching a contemporary studio/theory hybrid course at CCA, and revising something about Tala for publication. Liminality, ecology, affect, inter-caste praxis, multi-sectarian patronage, performance, gender and figuration are a few of the many themes I have taught and written about over time.
At SFSU, I now finally have access to scan hundreds of slides (Gupta and Medieval Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan) and hope to make them available soon as many ACSAA scholars have done for us over the years. As an ethnic and religious minority and Diasporic myself, I have a life-long commitment to Art Histories outside Europe, and to premodern art histories beyond Christian Art and beyond the false Hindu/Muslim divide. Multi-sectarian exploration of the past across broader South and Southeast Asia is a cornerstone of ACSAA’s values.
As a member of the board, I would do everything possible to run a kind, generous, and ethical organization for a diverse membership with a range of interests. I would continue to work on issues pertaining to human rights in India, and greater South Asia. I intend to serve as a voice for adjuncts, disabled scholars, and academic mothers. In addition, as a dual-citizen of France, I am excited about creative collaboration across North America and internationally with all fields in all periods. Under the pandemic, many are experimenting with new digital teaching modes, others are facing unemployment for the first time. On the board, I would support policies that provide outreach for all members and that advance the study of South and Southeast Asian Art. I also make art.