Rovel Sequeira

Rovel Sequeira is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Michigan, holding an LSA Collegiate Postdoctoral Fellowship. Affiliated with the Center for South Asian Studies, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, and the Science, Technology, and Society Program, his work focuses on colonial/postcolonial South Asia’s intersections of sexuality, gender, race, and empire. He completed his PhD in English at the University of Pennsylvania (2022), with earlier degrees from St. Stephen’s College (Delhi, 2014) and St. Xavier’s College (Mumbai, 2012).

His research explores global feminist, queer, and trans studies through colonial archives, examining how modern sexual science interacted with racial discourses in India. Current projects include a book manuscript, The Empire and its Deviants, funded by an ACLS Fellowship (2025–26). Recent publications analyze prison-based sexological studies, Marathi couple eugenics, and hijra activism’s use of life narratives.

Awards include a Mellon/ACLS Fellowship and multiple grants. Teaching includes courses on gender in global contexts and English studies. He is on scholarly leave during 2025–26.