Shalini Ayyagari

Shalini Ayyagari, an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Pittsburgh, is an ethnomusicologist specializing in South Asian studies, critical ethnography, and development studies. Her research explores music's role in everyday life and sociocultural resilience, particularly among caste-based musicians in the Indian Thar Desert.

• Department: Department of Music
• Teaching Areas: Ethnographic fieldwork, ethnographic film, Bollywood cinema, South Asian religion, futurism, development & sustainability

Research Focus: Ayyagari's work examines postpatronage musical contexts, urban/rural divides in Indian media, and the intersection of sound with sexual taboos. Her transmediated technology projects empower Indian musicians to document their own narratives.

• Notable Publication: Musical Resilience: Performing Patronage in the Indian Thar Desert (Wesleyan University Press, 2022)

Education:

• PhD in Ethnomusicology from University of California, Berkeley
• BA in Music from Swarthmore College

Scientific Awards:

• American Institute for Indian Studies Senior Research Fellowship recipient