Interview is edited for length and clarity.
Why did you choose to study at Simmons?
I have always been a writer. I was first a journalist, then I came to Simmons for my master’s in cultural studies. I then went on to my PhD in anthropology at Brown University. After my PhD, I did a post doc, which was housed in the Asian and North African Studies Department at the University of Venice.
Around four years into my journalism career, I felt stagnated intellectually. I don’t know if the journalism scene has changed much, but, in the first decade of the 21st century, if you were working for a newspaper, you were boxed in. Your target was finding enough articles to fill up the pages. Intellectually, I wanted to have a bigger picture of the world and the topics I was interested in. So I thought it would be interesting to zoom out a bit, that this would help me become a better writer.
As a journalist, I was mostly writing features, so covering a lot of cultural issues. I had a naïve idea of what cultural studies was. Some of the aspects of the program were quite familiar and what I had expected and wanted out of it, but the core courses and theoretical aspects were challenging in a really good way. I enjoyed the critical theory introduced to me by the Simmons program, and that's how I ended up applying for PhD programs as well.
I'm also a world traveler. I was first in India, then I was in Oman, and then I came to the United States. For a short amount of time, I also went to Italy. Now I am in Germany and I see myself as a world citizen. Simmons was part of this larger journey.
Although the graduate programs are co-ed, did Simmons being a women’s-centered college impact your experience?
Well, I also did my undergrad in a women’s only program, and I think the program did end up as a safe space, which I appreciated. Similarly, I think Simmons, in particular, is a safe space for a lot of women, and a lot of queer people.
What is your favorite memory from Simmons?
It is not one particular moment, but a course I took with Professor Laura Prieto. She taught a course on gender and colonialism, and it came together so beautifully. I loved everything about the course. She, herself in later years, told me that she tried to teach it twice again — once as a gender cultural studies course, and another time as a history course — and it never worked the way it did when I was taking it, because we had an interesting mix of people in the room.
There was somebody with Native American heritage. There was my dear friend who was from Kenya and another student who had a family history of slave ownership in the Caribbean. There was such a beautiful coming together of people which brought a lot of interesting perspectives on gender and colonialism.
Another professor who stands out is Jyoti Puri, who was in the sociology program. She has always been supportive. She agreed to be an external member of my PhD committee as well. I owe so much to her. She is one of the rare professors who is very measured in what she says. Every word she utters has weight to it. Steve Ortega was supportive as well.
I struggled with imposter syndrome when I was in my PhD program, as opposed to when I was in the master's program at Simmons. The faculty actually builds you up. At Simmons, I had the confidence to submit a term paper to a reputed journal and get it published. I wish more graduate institutions were like Simmons, where the faculty is actively trying to build up your confidence, rather than pull you down.
What advice would you give Ifill students?
Simmons, in general, is like a bubble. It was easy for me, at least coming from somewhere far away, to assume that all academic spaces are this safe, that is, liberal and progressive places. Simmons and the program itself allow you to explore yourself, your thought process, and your ideas. That it is more the exception than the norm.
It is important not to be ‘seduced’ by the theories. I remember Professor Puri telling us toward the end of the first semester that this jargon is attractive, but please don't implement it in your writing. You have to find your own voice.
My advice would be to recognize that Simmons is a very special space, and it is not the norm. We should take what we can from the program and the institutions, but also keep in mind that it is a bubble and wherever you go after Simmons may come as a rude shock.