Swaroopa Lahiri

Graduate Student
PhD Cohort 2017

Specialization

Global Political Economy, Development and Environment

Bio

Swaroopa Lahiri is interested in the nexus between climate change and feminization of agriculture in South Asia and the subsequent implications for female empowerment. In August 2018, she was awarded the Dara Shikoh Residency Fellowship and spent time in Ladakh, India, exploring the impact of factors such as migration, climate change, and mechanization on women’s empowerment in the region. She completed her Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in May 2016. Her concentration was economic and political development and her specialization was South Asia. She was involved in a consultancy project for the International Labour Organization (ILO) at Columbia which enabled her to explore the links between gender and development. Her team worked on an impact assessment of a workers’ center for migrant garment workers in Jordan, especially female Bangladeshi workers.

In July 2014, she obtained her Bachelor of Arts (Economics Major) from Sciences Po Paris and spent her final year of undergraduate studies as an exchange student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). During her time at MIT, she served as a research assistant for J-PAL. She has also worked on a number of government projects such as the Indian government’s National Child Labor Project, Railway Children project and the Childline Project.

 

Publications

  • "Harsh life on an island" (Human-tiger encounters in the Sundarbans), The Telegraph, Vol. XXXVII No. 55, Page 14, Fifth Column, August 31, 2018.  https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/harsh-life-on-an-island-255757
  • “Soft power – a major tool in Modi’s foreign policy kit”, Journal of South Asian Studies.Vol 5, No. 1 (2017), 39-47. ISSN 2307-4000
  • “All roads do not lead to development: the divergent outcomes of donor assistance and aid in Bangladesh and Pakistan”, Journal of South Asian Studies. Vol.4, No. 2(2016), 45-49. ISSN 2307-4000
  • Presented research paper titled “Impact of climate change on gender inequality in India” at the Sixth Annual Symposium of the Consortium for Asian and African Studies in Seoul themed “Global and the Local: New Concepts and Approaches”  27-28 October 2015. Paper was subsequently published in “ Proceedings of the papers: Global and the Local: New Concepts and Approaches”, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Press, 2016, ISBN 978-4-907877-14-9
  • Presented research paper titled “Precarious Borders: the intricacies of the Indo-Bangladesh frontier” at Brown University’s Conference titled “ In Dialogue with Borders”, 3-4 April 2015
  • Presented research paper titled “Identity and Ideology – a tug of war in a globalized world?”at the annual Centre for International Peace and Security Studies (CIPSS) and Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS) graduate student conference titled “ Identity, Ideology and Security in a Globalized World” in Montreal  -12th March 2015
  • “ Dragon or Panda?”, The European. March 7, 2014. http://www.theeuropean-magazine.com/swaroopa-lahiri--3/8118-the-intricacies-of-sino-latin-american-relations--3
  • "At the Mercy of Fate" (Plight of small fish traders in Bengal), The Telegraph, Vol. XXXVI No. 35, Pg. 10, Fifth Column, August 10, 2017. https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170810/jsp/opinion/story_166359.jsp
  • "With Mud-Slinging, Chest-Thumping, Media from India, China Mirror Border Impasse," The Wire. July 25, 2017. https://thewire.in/161147/india-china-media-doklam-standoff/
  • "Modi's Stategic Deployment of Cultural Diplomacy," The Daily Star - Star Weekend. June 9, 2017. http://www.thedailystar.net/star-weekend/modis-strategic-deployment-cultural-diplomacy-1417408

 

Courses

  • Teaching Assistant (F’17)- SOC 108 Methods of Research

  • Teaching Assistant (W’18)- SOC 108 ST Special Topics in Methods of Research

  • Teaching Assistant (S’18) - SOC 108C Cultural Analysis

  • Teaching Assistant (F’18)- GLOBL 130 Global Economy and Development

  • Teaching Assistant (W’18)- GLOBL 130 Global Economy and Development