معرفی
Krupa Shandilya serves as Associate Professor of Sexuality, Women's and Gender Studies at Amherst College, where she contributes significantly to South Asian literary studies, feminist theory, and postcolonial scholarship. Her academic work bridges literary analysis with contemporary political and social movements in South Asia.
Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in English from Cornell University (2009), a B.A. in English with minors in Latin and Women's Studies from the University of Rochester (2004), and an earlier B.A. in English from the University of Mumbai (St. Xavier's College, 2002).
Shandilya's research spans South Asian literary traditions across multiple languages including Urdu, Bengali, Hindi, and English, with particular focus on how literature intersects with social reform movements, gender politics, and religious identity. Her work examines revolutionary Urdu poetry, feminist film theory, and representations of minority communities in contemporary India. She approaches literary analysis through feminist, postcolonial, and critical theory frameworks, emphasizing the political dimensions of cultural production.
Her scholarly output reveals consistent engagement with themes of Muslim identity, gender politics, cinema, and social justice movements in South Asia. The articles demonstrate evolving focus from comparative literary analysis of 19th century novels toward contemporary issues including protest movements, queer identity, and right-wing politics in India. Her work increasingly connects historical literary traditions to current political struggles, particularly examining how poetry and cinema function as sites of resistance.
Shandilya has made significant contributions through her monograph Intimate Relations: Social Reform and the Late Nineteenth Century South Asian Novel (Northwestern University Press, 2017), which offers a comparative analysis of Bengali and Urdu literature. She is currently working on Urdu Poetry and Politics in Contemporary India, examining revolutionary Urdu poetry in progressive Bombay cinema and public protests. Her translation work includes M.H. Ruswa's The Madness of Waiting and poetry by Urdu modernist Miraji.
Her teaching interests align closely with her research, encompassing South Asian literature across multiple languages, feminist theory, postcolonial studies, and South Asian cinema. Her publications appear in leading journals including Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, Modern Fiction Studies, Gender and History, and New Cinemas.
