Sharmila Rudrappa

Interests

Biography

Sharmila Rudrappa, a South-Asian-American Studies Scholar, is also a sociologist who specializes in gender and immigration issues. Her book, Ethnic Routes to Becoming American: Indian Immigrants and the Cultures of Citizenship (Rutgers University Press, 2004), is an ethnography of a shelter for battered South Asian American women, and a cultural organization in Chicago. The book contextualizes immigrant race politics within the larger cultural turn we see in the sphere of American politics in the late 20th century. A companion article, "Radical Caring In An Ethnic Shelter: South Asian American Women Workers At Apna Ghar, Chicago," was recently published in Gender and Society.

At present, Dr. Rudrappa is working on how globalization affects the social rights of citizenship. Her project is tentatively titled "Techno-Braceros, Indian Mothers and Other Such Phenomena: Conceiving Citizenship in 21st Century United States." She was in India during the summer 2003 conducting preliminary research for the project. She was a recipient of the Humanities Institute Fellowship for the fall 2003.

Courses Taught:

• AAS 330/ SOC 321K/ WGS 340: Asian American Issues: Family Politics
• AAS 330/ SOC 321K/ WGS 340: South Asian American Experience -W
• AAS 330/ SOC 321K/ WGS 340: South Asians in the U.S.: Race/Work/Family
• AAS 330/ SOC 321K/ WGS 322: Special Topic in Race: Nation/Citizen

Current Research Projects:

Dr. Rudrappa is currently working on two research projects: Indian information technology/immigrants in the U.S., and the cultural politics of assisted reproductive technologies in India.

NIH Biosketch