Soma Chaudhuri

Soma Chaudhuri is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University (MSU) and Co-Director of the Center for Gender in Global Context (GenCen). She holds a PhD from Vanderbilt University (2008). Her research focuses on intersections of gender, development, social movements, and violence, particularly exploring how structural gender inequalities are perpetuated through violence and how grassroots women resist these systems. She investigates non-state actors' roles in empowering women through programs, analyzing their impacts and failures.

Current research projects include:

• Pandemic impacts on Indian migrant workers
• Risk-motivation dynamics in social justice protests during public health crises
• Queer decolonial feminist perspectives on witchcraft and witch hunts

Her work has been funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Social Science Research Council. Chaudhuri is also an editorial board member for Sociology of Development and International Journal of Sociology.

Key publications span witchcraft studies, gender violence interventions, and protest mobilization. She has published in high-impact journals like American Journal of Sociology, Mobilization, and Criminology & Public Policy. Her 2023 work on Asian Indian immigrants' caregiving during the pandemic highlights intersectional challenges faced by diasporic communities.

Chaudhuri’s teaching emphasizes qualitative methodologies and gender studies. She actively bridges academic research with public engagement through GenCen, fostering global gender equity initiatives.