Chand Venkata Durga Sepuri
Graduate Student, The Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
MPhil in Women’s Studies , Jadavpur University (2022)
MA in Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai (2019)
BA (Hons) Economics, University of Delhi (2017)
Chand is a social researcher and development sector professional with two years of experience of working as Guest Faculty at a state government university in New Delhi, India, in the area of life skills. They have also been part of queer, trans, and anti-caste advocacy efforts over the years. Their MA dissertation deployed an autoethnographic approach to investigate queer collectivization in university spaces, through the affective lens of love and resistance. Their MPhil dissertation sought to bring together anti-caste worldviews and trans liberation by outlining a theory of transgender justice based on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s idea of ‘Prabuddha Bharat’.
Their research interests lie at the intersection of queer theory, transgender studies, political economy of development, cultural studies, citizenship, anti-caste philosophy, South Asia, and engaged anthropology. Their research seeks to understand how marginalized communities’ visions of justice interact with the neoliberal state’s ideas of development. They are also a published poet and aspiring writer.