WHO I AM

A TEACHER

I teach sociology as a practice of liberation, equipping students to critically analyze and challenge systems of caste, race, and inequality by connecting rigorous theory to their own lived experiences and collective struggles for dignity.

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I am a sociologist and educator whose teaching is deeply shaped by my own lived experience as a woman, a dalit, an immigrant in the US, and then as someone who reached some of the more privileged spaces of higher education and academia. 

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My research on caste, social exclusion, and inequality in South Asia and its diasporas informs my pedagogical approach, which centers on making sociology both analytically rigorous and personally meaningful. I encourage students to interrogate how systems of hierarchy operate across contexts, from rural India to immigrant communities in the United States, and how they are reproduced, resisted, and transformed.

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Across my experience teaching & mentoring undergraduates at the University of Maryland and Montgomery College, as well as supporting graduate-level statistics training, I design classrooms that prioritize discussion, critical reflection, and applied learning. I encourage students to connect foundational theories of stratification, social psychology, and inequality to their own lives, often through writing, field-based assignments, and collaborative dialogue. In doing so, students move beyond learning about society to actively analyzing and engaging with it.

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​​Beyond the classroom, I am committed to mentorship and applied learning.  My broader professional experience, including work with the U.S. Census Bureau’s International Programs Center and in India’s microfinance sector, allows me to bring real-world applications of sociological insight into my teaching.

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I also serve as Co-Founder and Research Lead at SpendMatch, where I design and evaluate tools to expand access to educational funding for underrepresented students. This work reflects my broader commitment to educational equity and informs my teaching by connecting sociological theory to institutional change and innovation.

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Ultimately, I see teaching as both an intellectual and transformative practice, one that equips students not only with the tools to understand inequality, but with the confidence and agency to reshape the worlds they inhabit.