About
Anupama Rao is a Professor of History and MESAAS (Middle East, South Asia, and African Studies) at Barnard College and Columbia University. Her research and teaching focus on gender and sexuality studies, caste and race, historical anthropology, social theory, comparative urbanism, and colonial genealogies of human rights and humanitarianism.
- Education: BA (University of Chicago), Ph.D. (University of Michigan)
Rao serves as Director of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society and convenor of the Ambedkar Initiative, supported by multiple Columbia/Barnard institutions. She previously held editorial leadership at Comparative Studies in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and has participated in international research programs at Stanford, Humboldt University, and the National Humanities Center.
Rao's publications include The Caste Question (2009) and co-edited volumes like Cambridge Companion to Ambedkar (2023). Her recent peer-reviewed articles examine intersections of caste, race, and equality, anti-caste thought, urban marginalization, and postcolonial policy analysis. Current projects include Ambedkar in America and Dalit Bombay, exploring caste-political culture dynamics in colonial/postcolonial India.
- Scientific Awards: ACLS Fellowship, NEH Grant, SSRC Fellowship, National Humanities Center Fellowship, REWORK Fellowship
- Grants: Mellon Foundation, Columbia University, Social Science Research Council
