Education
1994-2000
Doctor of
Philosophy, Department of History of Art and Architecture,
Harvard University.
Doctoral Thesis: The Islamic Architecture of Western India
(mid-12th-14th Centuries: Continuities
and Interpretations.
Advisers:
Professor Pramod Chandra, Professor Gulru Necipoglu, Professor
David Mitten.
1989-1992 Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude, Mount Holyoke
College. Double Major: Art History and Spanish Literature.
Senior Thesis: Andalusian Women’s
Poetry: a Thematic Analysis of Women’s Place in Society and
Culture.
Languages: Gujarati (native tongue), Hindi/Urdu, Spanish
(fluent), Arabic, Persian, French, German.
Employment History
2000-2003 Assistant Professor, Department of the History of Art, The
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Spring, 2000 Visiting Assistant Professor, Wesleyan
University.
Winter, 1999
Visiting Lecturer, Rhode Island School of Design.
Teaching Philosophy
I have taught courses on the visual history of the Islamic
World from Iberia to South Asia, and that of South Asia in
particular from the early historic through modern periods. My
teaching experience has also varied as to the students,
including advanced undergraduates (Rhode Island School of Design
1999; Wesleyan University, 2000), and graduate students (The
University of Michigan, 2001-2003). Teaching courses
encompassing distant geographical areas, and presenting artistic
traditions according to the students’ varying levels of
expertise, have led me to conceptualize the historical
trajectory of cultural exchanges ranging from the first years of
the Common Era through the 19th century in clear and
cogent ways.
Based on my professional experience, I would be able to teach
courses in Islamic, Indian, and Asian art and architectural
histories. Courses on Islam would explore the regions from
Spain to India. More focused courses on the Indic cultural
sphere -- i.e. Afghanistan, India, and Bangladesh -- would cover
the ancient (3rd century BCE-2nd century
CE), Gupta through post-Gupta (mid-4th-8th
centuries CE), Sultanate (ca. 1193-1525) and Mughal periods
(1526-1857). General courses on Asia would encompass the
overland cultural connections stretching from China through
Iran, and the maritime routes interconnecting Southeast Asia,
India, the Persian Gulf, and the coast of east Africa. These
courses would be comprehensive in elucidating the cross-cultural
influences among the indigenous and imported traditions of the
various regions, as well as focused in their analysis of the
methods and specific elements of these influences. Students
will be able to find the material’s relevance to their own daily
lives, upon seeing that the current technological age is a
modern manifestation of age-old cross-cultural connections.
Sample Courses
Spring,
2000 South Asian Architecture through the Ages: Religion,
Nationalism, and Identity. The course explored South Asian
architecture spanning the 1st-17th
centuries CE, specifically its religious and nationalist
identification in the service of constantly shifting definitions
of Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina, and Muslim. Wesleyan University.
Spring,
2001 South Asia from the 1st through the 18th
Centuries CE. The course examined the material history of South
Asia, challenging the coalescence of “South Asian art history”
as a discipline which excludes the unique Islamic history of the
region. The University of Michigan.
Spring,
2001 A Millennium of Islamic Architecture: Continuity and
Innovation. The course examined Islamic architecture from Spain
to India, deepening the definition of “Islamic” by exploring
various regions’ indigenous pre-Islamic traditions in tandem
with later developments. The University of Michigan.
Fall,
2002 The Making of “India” during the 5th
through 15th Centuries. The course explored building
and representation in South Asia as processes of confluence of
Indic, Near Eastern and East Asian traditions. The University
of Michigan. |