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FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS

MADHUMITA DUTTA Professor Faculty member

Madhumita Dutta published an illustrated non-fiction narrative titled Mobile Girls Koottam –Working Women Speak based on a set of conversations (originally produced as Tamil radio podcasts) between migrant women workers who worked in an electronics factory in Tamil Nadu, India. Published by Zubaan, an Indian feminist publishing house, the book narrates the lives of working-class women, each from their own unique and nuanced perspective, the nature of their work, their dreams and desires, and their critique of a casteist patriarchal society. Challenging what theorisation and research can be, the book offers us a look into the complex lives of young rural migrant women in their own words and invites readers to engage in a process of learning and unlearning, and to interrogate our privileges as we imagine the life-worlds of working-class women. Consisting of transcripts from the titular radio podcast, the book brings to the page conversations that are at once playful, joyous, angry, and thoughtful on diverse topics like tea stalls for women, factory work, menstruation, and much more, made all the more lively through illustrations by Madhushree. The book has received wide attention from the mainstream media in India, academic journals and grassroots feminist and labor organizations.

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JIAN WANG

PhD Candidate

Two PhD candidates, Luyu Liu and Jian Wang, were awarded Presidential Fellowships last fall. The Presidential Fellowship is the most prestigious award given by the Graduate School to recognize the outstanding scholarly accomplishments and potential of graduate students entering the final phase of their dissertation research or terminal degree project.

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