Divya Kumar-Dumas

Divya Kumar-Dumas serves as a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Art History and Archaeology within the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland. Her research integrates art history, archaeology, and environmental studies to examine ancient and medieval South Asia and the early Indian Ocean world, emphasizing materiality, transregional connections, and the poetics of place.

Her educational background includes:

• B.A. in History from Yale University
• M.Phil. and Ph.D. in South Asia Studies from the University of Pennsylvania
• M.P.S. in Landscape Design from George Washington University

Dr. Kumar-Dumas pioneers interdisciplinary approaches to landscape history and reception theory, notably through her book project reinterpreting Sigiriya's World Heritage site via medieval graffiti. Her scholarship challenges conservation frameworks by prioritizing historical use over origin, while her second research strand investigates first-millennium CE circulation of Indic objects across the Indian Ocean, co-editing the volume Moving 'Indian' Images in the First Millennium.

Her notable honors include:

• Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Maryland
• Fulbright Fellowship for study at Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts

She has secured significant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, Maryland State Arts Council, and Maryland Historical Trust for cultural policy advocacy and performance arts initiatives. Dr. Kumar-Dumas co-directs the Sigiriya Spatial and Landscape Data Collaboration (SSLDC), develops a digital initiative for South Asian maritime epigraphy, and serves as Managing Editor for the Gardens of the Roman Empire project, demonstrating sustained commitment to digital scholarship and public engagement.