Urnisa Karmakar
Ph.D. Candidate, English
Dalit studies • queer theory • feminist thought • sexuality • gender • caste • performance • visual arts • South Asia • South Asian diaspora
My research explores the intersections of Dalit studies, queer theory, and transnational feminist thought, with a particular focus on South Asia and its diasporas. I examine how caste, gender, and sexuality shape cultural production, state power, and resistance in both national and diasporic contexts. My emerging work engages with Dalit queer literature, performance traditions, and visual art to theorize anti-caste futurisms and sacred insurgencies. Drawing on Black queer studies, I analyze how Dalit queer and trans subjects reimagine kinship, divinity, and political belonging beyond the confines of the nation-state.