Ramnath Kalyani

Ramnath Kalyani is an Assistant Professor at Columbia University specializing in modern South Asian history with a focus on legal history, migration, and transnational studies. She holds a Ph.D. in History from Princeton University (2018), an LL.M. from Yale Law School (2010), and a B.A., LL.B (Hons.) from National Law School of India University (2009).

• Former positions: University of Georgia (pre-Columbia), Prize Fellow at Harvard University's Center for History and Economics (2018-2021)
• Current research explores maritime boundaries and coastal communities in India
• Recipient of American Council for Learned Societies (ACLS) fellowship

Research interests center on:

• Legal struggles over citizenship post-WWII
• Transnational migration patterns between South and Southeast Asia
• Decolonization processes through taxation, immigration, and detention regimes
• Archival methodologies and colonial legal continuities
• Maritime boundary-making in the Indian Ocean

Recent publications analyze:

• Decolonization and international law
• Bangladesh's legal geography
• Maritime boundaries in the Bay of Bengal
• Colonial debt structures

Scientific awards include:

• Distinguished Book Award (Asian Law and Society Association, 2024)
• Surrency Prize (Law and History Review, 2021)
• Jane Burbank Prize (American Society for Legal History, 2021)

Her current book project Adrift in the Indian Ocean investigates coastal communities' experiences with maritime boundary-making and survival crossings, supported by an ACLS fellowship.