UC professor wins recognition for scholarship in India’s caste system
Text explores feminist influences on conflicts in Dalit culture, community
UC’s Shailaja Paik has been awarded the 2023 John F. Richards Prize in South Asian History for her book “The Vulgarity of Caste: Dalits, Sexuality and Humanity in Modern India.” Paik is the Charles P. Taft Distinguished Professor of History in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Conferred by the American Historical Association, the competitive award recognizes the most distinguished work of scholarship on South Asian History published in English. Applicants are evaluated on the basis of depth of research, methodological innovation, conceptual originality and literary excellence.
Published by Stanford University Press in 2022, the book explores the social and intellectual history of Dalit performance of Tamasha—a popular form of public, secular, traveling theater.
In India, Dalit were known as untouchables, as members of the lowest stratum of the castes. Some 200 million people, or 16% of the population of India, are Dalit, or born into social marginalization, economic disadvantage, exclusion and human rights violations. For centuries, Dalits have been forced to take manual jobs, working as cleaners, scavengers and waste pickers.
Cover of book, "The Vulgarity of Caste," provided by Stanford University Press.
In her book, Paik argues that Dalit artists, activists and leaders used Tamasha to negotiate the violence, exploitation and stigma inherent in their experience as members of the lowest caste. She also explores how Dalit Tamasha women became foundational actors in conflicts over caste, culture, class, gender and sexuality.
“This work is one of the many reasons Paik is at the forefront of Dalit feminist studies, and why she is one of the most innovative historians of South Asia writing today,” said Christian Lee Novetzke, professor in the South Asia Program at the University of Washington, in a release.
Paik knows of which she writes. Raised in a tenement in Pune, India, Paik herself is a Dalit. When she was a girl, water service was sporadic, and she carried vessels of water on her head from the city public tap to her home for bathing, cleaning and cooking.
Encouraged by her father, she pursued her education, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree in history from the Savitribai Phule Pune University. Through a series of fellowships, Paik made her way to earn her doctorate, concentrating her research on the field of Dalit studies and focusing on ways to tell the stories of India’s underrepresented Dalit caste.
"My book offers the first social and intellectual history of Tamasha (popular, traveling secular theatre)—a supposedly traditional culture of Dalits (“Untouchable”), and especially of Dalit women," says Paik. "It has educational, societal, and legislative impact and it deepens global conversations on social justice, equality, and human rights, and the worldwide dialogue on caste and race."
Paik has been on faculty at UC since 2010, with her first book, “Dalit Women’s Education in Modern India: Double Discrimination” (Routledge), published in 2014.
Since then, she also has been awarded the Frederick Burkhardt Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Stanford Humanities Center Fellowship, the American Institute of Indian Studies Fellowship, and the Luce Foundation Fellowship.
In addition to her work with the College of Arts and Sciences’ history department, Paik serves as an affiliate faculty member in both the departments of Asian Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She teaches classes on South Asian history, society, culture and politics.
Featured image at top: UC associate professor of history Shailaja Paik. Credit/provided.
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
Mural by UC grad honors U.S. military history
July 17, 2024
Local 12 highlighted a new mural by University of Cincinnati graduate and artist Brandon Hawkins that pays tribute to U.S. military history.
Social media fuels extreme political rhetoric
July 17, 2024
UC College of Arts and Sciences Professor Jeffrey Blevins tells Local 12 that online algorithms fuel political polarization on social media.
We love ‘Lucy’ — the AI avatar redefining UC tech transfer
July 17, 2024
In a visionary leap at the University of Cincinnati, the marriage of artificial intelligence and interactive technology has birthed "Lucy," a Smarthelp AI avatar poised to revolutionize how regional industries engage with UC's tech transfer initiatives.
NIS program opens new horizons for international student
July 17, 2024
In his pursuit of physics and a taste for research, Akash Khanikor ventured from his hometown in India's Assam to the University of Cincinnati, drawn by the promise of hands-on exploration early in his undergraduate career as a NEXT Innovation Scholar.
Camp aims to empower children, teens who stutter
July 17, 2024
A one-week, evidence-based program for children and teens who stutter at the University of Cincinnati will teach kids to communicate effectively, advocate for themselves and develop confidence about their communication abilities. Camp Dream. Speak. Live., which is coming to Cincinnati for the first time July 22-26, began in 2014 at the University of Texas at Austin. The Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research at UT expects to serve more than 2,000 children at camps across the United States, Africa, Asia and Europe this year.
UC archivist explores Troy’s invisible workers
July 17, 2024
UC Classics archivist Jeff Kramer examined the unheralded and largely uncredited role laborers played in the 1930s excavation at Troy in Turkey.
CCM alum Donald Lawrence to be inducted into Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame
July 16, 2024
UC College-Conservatory of Music alumnus Donald Lawrence is part of the 2024 class of Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame inductees. Located at the Banks in downtown Cincinnati, the induction ceremony on July 27 will feature a parade of stars and a free concert by the Zapp Band.
U.S. stroke survival is improving, but race still plays role
July 16, 2024
U.S. News & World Report, HealthDay and Real Health covered new research from the University of Cincinnati that found overall rates of long-term survival following stroke are improving, but Black individuals experience worse long-term outcomes compared to white individuals.
Collaborative pianist and vocal coach Kirill Kuzmin joins CCM’s faculty
July 16, 2024
UC College-Conservatory of Music Interim Dean Jonathan Kregor has announced the addition of Kirill Kuzmin to the college’s faculty of distinguished performing and media arts experts, researchers and educators. A Grammy-nominated collaborative pianist and vocal coach, Kuzmin begins his new role as Associate Professor of Opera/Vocal Coaching on Aug. 15, 2024.
My incredible first year at Cincinnati Law: Journey, reflections and highlights
July 16, 2024
Dean Haider Ala Hamoudi gives a progress report on his first year as dean of the College of Law.