Shalini R. Ayyagari

Shalini R. Ayyagari serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Music at the University of Pittsburgh's Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, where she joined in 2015 after faculty positions at American University and Dartmouth College. Her work bridges ethnomusicology, South Asian studies, and development research with a focus on Rajasthan's Manganiyar musicians.

Her educational foundation includes:

• PhD in Music (Ethnomusicology) from University of California, Berkeley (2009)
• BA from Swarthmore College (2000)

Research centers on South Asian music traditions, postcolonial development, and cinematic representations of rural India. Through 15+ years of ethnographic fieldwork, she documents how Manganiyar musicians sustain caste-based musical livelihoods amid neoliberal economic shifts, as explored in her 2022 book Music Resilience. Current projects analyze transmedia storytelling with Manganiyar communities and urban/rural dynamics in India's Gandii Baat series.

Her publications reveal consistent engagement with musical borderlands, development imaginaries, and South Asian media. Key threads include the resilience of subaltern musicians, music's role in community mobilization, and sonic negotiations of cultural identity in postcolonial contexts.

Major recognitions include:

• American Institute of Indian Studies Senior Research Fellowship (2018-19)
• Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities (2009-11)
• Fulbright Institute of International Exchange Grant (2005-6)
• Charles Seeger Prize Honorable Mention (2009)

She mentors graduate researchers in ethnomusicological fieldwork while securing grants like the Hewlett International Grant and Central Research Development Fund for community-based projects. Current initiatives involve digital archiving through EVIADA and collaborative storytelling platforms with Rajasthan musicians.

Her work integrates field recordings, photo exhibits, and ethnographic film to document musical practices at India-Pakistan borderlands, emphasizing community agency in cultural preservation.