Earthy Humanness: Dalit Women’s Activism and Performance Intersectionality – A Lecture with Dr. Roja Suganthy-Singh

Dr. Roja Suganthy-Singh will deliver a public lecture that will explore the complex intersections of caste, class, gender, religion, and tradition in the agency-narratives of Dalit women in Tamil Nadu, India. These narratives are characteristic of what the author calls “earthy humanness”, an unconditional ethics of care that encapsulates the material and spiritual well-being of communities, persons, selves, and nature. This event marks the second year SU will observe Dalit History month.

Dr. Roja Suganthy-Singh is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, Women and Gender Studies, at St. John Fisher University Rochester, NY. As a South Asian Dalit feminist scholar, her ongoing activism, research, and writings focus on the intersections of race, class, caste, and gender using a post-colonial and transnational feminist lens. Advancing a global humanism outlook, Singh provides dialogues on a wide range of subjects including race, gender, caste, religion, class, sexuality, cross-cultural interactions, world cultures, indigenous cultural studies, and global gender studies. Working closely with US-based South Asian organizations she advocates for democratic principles. She continues to be deeply involved in human rights work in Tamil Nadu, India, and the US, promoting the right to education for girls and youth from minority communities.  Her book, Spotted Goddesses: Dalit Women’s agency-narratives on caste and gender violence, is widely recognized and used in universities and activism circles in the US and India.

This event is hosted by the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and co-sponsored by the Departments of Religion, Social Science, Sociology, the Humanities Center, the South Asia Center, African American Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Engaged Humanities Network, Office of Strategic Affairs, the Graduate School, and CODE^SHIFT.

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