Aparna Rayaprol is Professor and Former Head, Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad Her areas of interest include gender studies, Indian diaspora, qualitative research methods and urban sociology. Earlier, she was an Associate Professor in Research Methodology at the Tata Institute for Social Sciences in Mumbai. She was a faculty on the Semester at Sea Fall 2003 Voyage which went around the world (10 countries) teaching courses in sociology. Her PhD was from the University of Pittsburgh. Her research on second generation Indian-Americans was funded initially by an ICSSR grant on Indian diaspora and Princeton University at the Center for the Study of American Religion in 1998-99. She continues to work in the area of diaspora and gender as well as globalization and gender in the Indian context. She is the author of Negotiating Identities: Women in the Indian Diaspora, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1997.

She was the Director of the Study in India Program from 2009-14 at the University of Hyderabad and was associated with it since its inception in 1998 and has been closely involved with its academic as well as administrative responsibilities. She has been conceptualizing and teaching new courses for SIP and coordinating the academic activities between teachers and students as well as reciprocal institutions. .

Areas of Specialization and Interest

• Indian Diaspora

• Sociology of Gender

• Qualitative Research Methods/Ethnography

• Urban Sociology

Distinctions:

• Served as the Head of the Department of Sociology from December 2014-17.

• Served as the Director of the University’s flagship Study in India Program (SIP) from 2009-2014

• Represented the University of Hyderabad on a British Council sponsored trip of Generation UK India team members from nine Indian institutions to visit UK universities in Scotland, Wales, England from 3^rd April till 8^th April 2016 for international partnerships .

• Currently collaborating on an international Research Project with California Polytechnic Pomona, University of Connecticut and Boston University for a project on Living Religions. Went for a workshop at Los Angeles, California September 2017

• On a project on Religion and Gender with Waseda University Japan and Delhi University 2017

• Keynote Lecture at the Fourth Academic Conference on Migration at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras, Feb, 6-7, 2015 on "The Predicaments of Migration: Reconfiguring Boundaries and Citizenship"

• Invited by the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, at the University of Heidelberg, Germany from 5th to 8th May, to give a talk on “Return Migration and the Transformation of Hyderabad City".

• Keynote Lecture on "Building Bridges between Theories, Research and Praxis: Feminist Reflections" “Centre for Women's Studies National Seminar on"Building Bridges: Contemporary Research in Gender Studies" for Research Scholars from March 24-26, 2014

• Two invited talks at the Centre for Diaspora Studies at the Central University of Gujarat October 29-30, 2013: "Problematizing Gender in Diaspora Studies" and "Methodological Challenges in Understanding Diasporas"

• Keynote Lecture "Challenges and Opportunities in Internationalization: An Experiential Account" at the The Fulbright South and Central Asia Conference, March 1, 2015 at Taj Krishna, Hyderabad.

• Invited to lecture on Gender and Generation among South Asian-Americans: Locations and Dislocations” at the Women and Gender Studies (WGST), Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 29, 2012.

• Invited as the SAP Visiting Fellow to the Department of Sociology, University of Mumbai from December 4-9, 2011.

• Fulbright_Nehru grant for the International Educators Seminar, October 15-30, 2011 to visit educational institutions in Washington DC, Philadelphia and NYC.

• Invited Speaker at the Symposium on “Gender, Culture and Development” at the 35th All India Sociological Conference, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 10-12 October, 2009. Paper: “Changing Locations and Transnational Movements: Relocations and Gendered Survival Strategies”.

• Invited Panelist at the FICCI Education Summit in New Delhi on the topic of “Global Competitiveness through Partnerships” on November 7, New Delhi at the FICCI Bhavan. “The Study in India Program: Experiences from University of Hyderabad”.

• Represented University of Hyderabad at the Canada-India Graduate Mobility workshop, in Delhi December 14-15^th 2009.

• “Has Feminist Research Changed Pedagogical Approaches in Social Science? Are we Actually Walking the Talk?” First ISA World Forum of Sociology, Barcelona, Spain at the Research Committee on Women and Society RC32 titled “Talking the Talk, Walking the Walk: feminism and Research Methodologies in Action.”

• “Changing Locations and Transnational Identities” at the Research Committee Organizers of Rc32/RC05 Joint Session on Intersectionality and Diasporas, Barcelona, Spain, Septr 5-8, 2008.

• Invited Speaker by the Women’ Studies Department, South Dakota State University as part of the International Seminar Series onEvolution of Women’s Work March 19-15, 2005. Gave a series of lectures on gender issues in India.

• Subject Expert for UGC Countrywide Class room series on gender studies by EMMRC for “Feminist Research Methodology” and “Public and Private Dichotomy,” 2006.

• Member: Advisory Board, Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, International Telugu Centre.

• Regular panelist for TV 9 Naveena program on women’s issues: Gender division of labor, sexual harassment, domestic labor, socialization etc.

• Expert reviewer for Oxford University Press, Orient Longman, and Sociological Bulletin.

• Honored by the University of Pittsburgh at the annual Honors Convocation for winning the Rotary International

• Awarded grant for field work in the United States under ICSSR (Indian Council for Social Science Research) Grants for Studies in Indian Diaspora scheme.

• Rotary Foundation Graduate Scholarship for International Understanding, 1988‑89.

• Junior Research Fellowship, the Indian Council for Social Science Research and the University Grants Commission (UGC), 1987‑88.

Some Major Publications:

Book

• Negotiating Identities: Women in the Indian Diaspora, Oxford University Press (India), 1997.

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Articles

• [With Anushyama Mukherjee] "Women Migrants and Social Remittances: the Case of Barkas in Hyderabad, in the Review of Women's Studies of the Economic and Political Weekly, Volume 54, No 17, 27th April 2019.

• "The Indian Diaspora in the 21st Century" in Diplomacy and Beyond: A journal of Foreign Policy and National Affairs, Volume 3, Issue 2, February 2019.

• “Feminist Research: Redefining Methodology in the Social Sciences” Contributions to Indian Sociology Volume 50 No 3 October 26, 2016.

• "Cultural Reproduction and the Reconstruction of Identities in the Indian Diaspora" in Sekhar Bandopadhyay and Aloka Parasher-Sen [eds.] Religion and Modernity in India (Chapter 11 ). New Delhi, Oxford University Press 2016.

• “Teaching Gender in Indian Universities: Reflections on Feminist Pedagogy” in Sociological Bulletin, Vol 60 No 1, Jan to April 2011.

• “Understanding Gender Diversities in the Diaspora” in N. Jayaram ed. Diversities in the Indian Diaspora, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2011.

• “Understanding Gender Justice: Perceptions of Lawyers in India” (with Sawmya Ray), Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Vol 17 No 3 November 2010, pp. 335-363.

• “Being American, Learning to be Indian: Gender and Generation in the Context of Transnational Migration.” in Meenkashi Thapan (ed), Transnational Migration and the Politics of Identity, New Delhi, Sage, 2005.

• Entries on “Hinduism” and “South Asians” in The Encyclopedia of American Culture, Routledge, 2001.

• “‘Can You Talk Indian?’:Shifting Notions of Community and Identity in the Indian Diaspora,” Community and Identities in South Asia, Surinder Singh Jodhka (ed), Sage, 2001.

• "Report on the National Seminar on Human Rights in Grassroots Perspective," Indian Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 1, no.1, January-June, 1997.

Research Guidance:

M.Phil Students currently under supervision (2)

1. Debomita Mukherjee

2. Pardhu Pinnamshetty

Ph.D Students currently under supervision

1. Ipsita Pradhan

2. Mitaja Chakraborthy

3. Astha Mishra

4. Obaid Farooqi

5. Ilika K. Jimo (Deregistered)

M.Phil Degree Awarded

1. Basima Shahna Muhammed. "Understanding Islamic Practices from a Feminist Perspective", Awarded 2015

2. Anurupa mitra. "Understanding the politics of Reproduction- A review of Abortion debates in India", Awarded 2014

3. Ishita Das Purkayastha. "Gender a Dynamics of Childcare: A study of Day care centers in Kolkata", Awarded, 2011

4. Anushyama Mukherjee. "Emerging patterns of informal labour in the hi tech city: A study of the tow settlements in Hyderabad", Awarded, 2010

5. Ilika K. Jimo. "Property rights of women: A study of sumi nagas", Awarded, 2008

6. Pitheli k. jimo. "Understanding returnees local responses to global educational patterns", Awarded, 2008

7. Kanchan Bharati. "Understanding Elder care: A study of old homes in Hyderabad", Awarded, 2006

8. V Sawmveli. "Christianity and gender : A study of protestant mizos", Awarded, 2005

9. Nungshimenla Jamir. "Naga women and identity", Awarded 2004

10. Remya Mohanakrishnan. "Alternative education : A study of two schools in Secunderabad", Awarded 2003

11. Sawmya Ray. "Legal constructions of domestic violence; study of cases in Hyderabad court", Awarded 2002

Ph.D Degrees Awarded:

1. Pitheli K. Jimo. "Reconceptualising Home and Citizenship: A Study of Return Migrants in Hyderabad", Awarded 2017

2. Anushuyama Mukherjee. "Understanding homeland/s and identities: A study of Barkars in Hyderabad", Awarded 2015

3. V. Sawmveli. "Law religion and gender: A study of women’s rights in Mizoram", Awarded, 2012

4. Sawmya Ray. "Legal constructions of violence against Women: A study in Odisha", Awarded, 2009