FASS Staff Profile

PROFESSOR SINHA, VINEETA
PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Appointment:
PROFESSOR
Office:
AS3/03-16
Email:
socvs@nus.edu.sg
Tel:
65165076
Fax:
Homepage:
http://profile.nus.edu.sg/fass/socvs/
Tabs

Brief Introduction

I am an ethnographer at heart and committed to qualitative research methodologies. In terms of disciplinary grounding, my work cuts across multiple disciplines from sociology, anthropology, history and area studies, which has enriched my approach to learning, researching and teaching. The Department of Sociology at NUS is special to me for several reasons. This is where I was exposed, first as an undergraduate and then a master’s student, to the disciplines of sociology and anthropology and to a group of inspiring teachers. This is also now a place where I practice my craft – teaching and undertaking sociological and anthropological research – with great personal satisfaction. The dual disciplinary grounding, which lies at the core of my intellectual inheritance, has enriched my training as an ethnographer and enabled me to draw on the strengths of both fields of study.

 


Teaching Areas

I joined the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore in December 1995. Since then I have had the opportunity to teach both undergraduate and postgraduate courses and supervise honours, masters and doctoral research. In 2007, my strong teaching was recognized by the award of the Faculty Teaching Award, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore. I look forward to, and enjoy teaching courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. I teach courses in the area of materiality, visuality, religion, secularity and post-secularity, reading and writing ethnography, women and sociological/anthropological theory, critical examination of concepts and categories in the social sciences and comparative sociology/anthropology of religion. I have also had the opportunity to approach teaching in modes that encourage students to challenge received sociological wisdom while still imparting foundational sociological knowledge. This also reflects my broader interest in higher education and related pedagogical issues. I have curated and taught the following undergraduate and graduate modules.

UNDERGRADUATE MODULAR TEACHING

1000 level modules

·       SC1101 Introduction to Sociology

·       SC1102 Introduction to Anthropology

·       SC1103 Singapore Society

2000 level modules

·       SC2215 Sociology of Food

3000 level modules

·       SC3101 Social Thought and Social Theory

·       SC3208 Religion in Society and Culture

4000 level modules

·       SC4202 Reading Ethnographies

·       SC4218 Religion, Secularity and Post-Secularity

·       SC4101 Practicing Sociology and Anthropology

GRADUATE MODULAR TEACHING

5000-6000 level (graduate modules)

·       SC5209 Sociology of Everyday Life

·       SC6224 Producing Ethnography

·       SC6216 Anthropological Perspectives

 


Graduate Supervision

In addition to undergraduate and graduate classroom teaching, I have also been heavily involved with supervision of student research, both at the honours and graduate levels. Since 1996, when I started teaching at the department, I have handled at least two (and in some years 3) honours students every academic year. I have supervised graduate research of several students at the Masters and PhD levels, taking on a larger number of students than is the norm. I serve on graduate committees outside the Department of Sociology and have acted as internal and external examiner for numerous NUS-based and non-NUS-based theses.

CURRENT

PhD students

  1. Magdelana Jezorina, ‘Mental wellness in Kashmir and Ladakh, ’Comparative Asian Studies, National University of Singapore– current.
  2. Shray Mehta, ‘Populism and moral economy,’ Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore – current.

COMPLETED

Masters Students

  1. A. Aarthi, ‘Understanding The Textures Of Power And Patriarchy: Everyday Lives Of Tamil Domestic Workers In Singapore,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 201
  2. Kellynn, Wee, ‘“Brokerage in Asia’s Migration Industry,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2017.
  3. Lynette, Chan, ‘'Flea-ting' Markets: Commodities, Consumption and Value in a  Flea Market in Singapore,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2009.  
  4. Mamta Sachan Kumar, ‘Trade of the Times: Preconceiving "Diaspora" with the Sindhi  Merchants in Japan,’ Department of Sociology, 2007.  (Co-supervised)
  5. Tan Xiang Ru, ‘Food Consumption in Singapore: Negotiating Pleasure, Health and Ethics,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2007.
  6. Chand Somaiah, ‘Recovery Narratives of Hungering & Healing,’ Department of Sociology, 2007.  
  7. Alvin Tay, ‘The Continuity of Chinese Religion in Singaporean Modernity,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2006.
  8. Yang Wei, ‘Theorizing "Over-Prescription": Drug Prescription Practices  Relating to the Pharmaceutical Industry in Shanghai,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2006. 
  9. Sim Hee Juat, ‘WE, THE PEOPLE OF SINGAPORE: Understanding Market Citizenship and its Implications,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2004.  (Co-supervised) 
  10. Nagah Devi D/O Ramasamy ‘Ethnographic Accounts of the 'Sathya Sai Baba' Movement – A  Spiritual Reform- Oriented Movement in Singapore: Identity Formation, Charity-giving & Rationalization Process,’  Department of Sociology, NUS, 2004.
  11. Yvonne Chow, ‘Aging Bodies: Cultural Narratives of Men-o-pause(s) in Singapore’, Department of Sociology, NUS, 2001.
  12. Lim Yun Xin, ‘Voicing Poverty’, Department of Sociology NUS, 2001.
  13. Lee Hing Giap, Justin, ‘The Bluing of Boundaries at the Periphery: Explaining the Eclecticism and Syncretism of Alternative Healing, Psychotherapeutic, Motivational and Spiritual Movements’, Department of Sociology NUS, 2000.
  14. Niven Kumar, ‘The everyday, urban space and the state in Singapore the body in practice’, Department of Sociology, NUS, 1996.

PhD Students 

  1. S. Soontree, ‘Subject Formation and Self-Making in the Everyday Life of Stateless Shan People in the Thai-Burmese Borderland.’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2021.
  2. Melissa Zermit Namchu, ‘ Understanding Health Practices of the Lepcha Community: An Anthropological Inquiry,’ South Asian Studies Programme, NUS, 2020.
  3.  Shivani Gupta, ‘Mapping Women’s Worlds in Contemporary Urban Banaras,’ South Asian Studies Programme, NUS,  2019.
  4. Gopika Jadeja, ‘“‘We Will Build an Overbridge’: Dalit Poetry and Identity in Gujarat”,’ South Asian Studies Programme, NUS, 2019.
  5. Achala Gupta, ‘Formal education from a ‘shadow’ perspective: an ethnographic account of private tutoring in Dehradun, India,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2018.
  6. George Jose, ‘Resisting the Urban in Mumbai,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2018.
  7. Ritu Jain, ‘Language Ideology and Hindi in Singapore,’ South Asian Studies Programme, NUS, 2017.
  8. Sapitula Manuel V J, ‘The Our Mother of Perpetual Help Devotion: A Sociological Study of Popular Religion in the Philippines,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2008.
  9. Seuty Sabur, ‘ Mobility Through Affinal Relations: Bangladeshi "Middle Class", Transnational Immigrants and Networking,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2005.
  10. Mohd Saiful Islam, ‘The "Poisoned" Body: An Anthropological study of Arsenicosis  in Rural Bangladesh,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2004.
  11. George, Radics, ‘Politics from the Heart: Personal Choices, the War in Mindanao, and Social Structure,’ Department of Sociology, NUS, 2003.

Current Research

RESEARCH AND WRITING IN PROGRESS

  1. Temple Tracks: Labour, Mobility, Piety (Monograph)

My interests in tracking Hinduism in Singapore historically as well as theorizing the contemporary Hindu landscape continue with this book project. I use the history of the Malayan Railways (especially its manifestation in Singapore) to narrate the interlocking accounts of Indian, Hindu labour arrivals into Malaya and the various forms of Hindu presence on the island, in particular the practice of marking sacred sites as shrines and temples along the railways tracks. This project presents an interlocking narrative of multiple time-frames and chronologies, which are neither linear nor unitary. The word ‘tracks’ is crucial in this project, connoting multiple positionings. First, it refers simply and literally to the Hindu temples that were historically founded along the Malayan Railway tracks, a reference which allows me to address the issue of Indian and Hindu labour migration into colonial Malaya and to chronicle the temples along these tracks. A second meaning of tracks connects with the former usage but focuses on the more contemporary period and asks the marks/imprints these temples along the tracks have left; this question is relevant especially in view of physical absence of temples and shrines (which have disappeared as a result of demolition, redevelopment and movement efforts) – what continues to be present in the name of sacrality in the absence of physical markers of sacred spaces? Indeed, since the removal of the Malayan Railway tracks since 1 July 2011, what happens to the ontology of ‘temples along the tracks’? Third, it refers to the ‘traces’ that these temples have inscribed on individual memories and consciousness. My aim is thus to tap into individual level and collective memories and remembrances about Hindu temples across the island of Singapore and also connect this with contemporary efforts to recreate/reproduce/retain sacred spaces along the railway tracks.  Finally, as a researcher, I insert myself consciously into this narrative, freely moving between and across locations and timeframes through my own recollections of the island’s Hindu landscape in an effort to track temples therein. Methodologically, I rely on archival material, oral history records as well as primary data generated through my own ethnographic work, in particular eliciting narratives from informants about their memories and remembrances of Hindu places of worship and practices.

2. Rendering them Visible: Women in Singapore’s Academic Landscape (Co-authored Book project)

This book project (conceived with a co-author) focuses on women academics, particularly the issue of how women are present as academic/intellectual and administrative leaders in academic institutions. The question of women’s presence in academia, apart from the issue of leadership, has been moot in women’s studies and in feminist scholarship. The noted under-representation of women in high-level, administrative, managerial and executive positions in universities, research centers and think tanks has been noted in all disciplines, including in the sciences. Here we would like to explore the visibility of female leadership in the academic arena (specifically in the humanities and the social sciences) and the kind of work they do in their capacity as heads of departments and in high-level administrative positions relating to organizational policy-making, etc. What difference, if any, do women leaders bring to these tasks and does one find a more enlightened and progressive attitude to women leaders in a scholarly, intellectual environment? What stereotypes and prejudices persist even in these settings? How do women negotiate their identities as academic leaders and women?

3. Sojourneying Deities: Unbounded Efficacy (Monograph – in preparation)

Much of the literature on migration and religion is anthropocentric, focusing on the movement of humans across national boundaries and querying how such flows also enable the export of religious practices, institutions, sentiments, ideologies and solidarities. The idea of moving deities is not alien for Hindus. A great deal of festival Hinduism sees ‘utsav’ (processional) versions/manifestations of Hindu divinities temporarily venturing beyond their secular abodes. These outings serve to ‘please’ the deity as well as benefit spectators who imbibe the deity’s divine power. However, this project  examines the phenomenon of globally sojourneying Hindu deities – not as a byproduct of human mobilities, or an accompanying move - but as an independent phenomenon, consciously and deliberately planned to achieve particular outcomes. This demonstrates a particular religious logic and ambition at work; its success rests on tremendous financial investment and secular labour as well as effective negotiation of bureaucratic and administrative terrains, unlike the movement of humans. Moving away from the idea of religious processions, I examine a different variant of the phenomenon of ‘gods on the move.’ Relying on ethnographic data about ‘divine visits’ from India to Singapore and other diasporic Hindu locales, I argue that this voyage across national boundaries registers several critical moves: it attempts to spread divine power and mark divine territory, enhance unity and solidarity amongst devotees, lead to the formation of new communities and demonstrate not only cosmic but transnational efficacy of deities beyond particular national borders. I suggest that even as trans-global Hindu communities are necessarily embedded within discrete boundaries of nation-states, their sense of religious connectivity with sentiments, solidarities and ideologies is by no means contained in these frames and assumes global even cosmic proportions.

 4. Asian Anthropology (project idea conceived with a colleague from NUS)

The proposed Survey of Asian Anthropologies will provide a broad review and establish contemporary frameworks for the ongoing development of the discipline of Anthropology in Asia. Anthropology has been a leading social science discipline throughout much of East, South and Southeast Asia as these societies have developed and modernized over the past hundred years and especially during the post-colonial and neo-national late twentieth century. Historically, anthropologists were often the most prominent social scientists involved in studying Asian societies during the height of the European colonial era as well as the mid- to late twentieth century eras of decolonialization and Cold War antagonisms. In the late twentieth century, the discipline turned a great deal of attention to critiquing colonial and neo-colonial (e.g. neoliberal) relations of power and their implications for the production of knowledge within anthropology. These critiques have centred largely on issues of “de-colonizing” knowledge, positionality (i.e. examining the implications of field researchers’ subjective and social position within the societies they study), and indigenizing anthropological knowledge. Two major trends are evident in early twenty-first century Anthropology. The first is the inward-turning and increasing provincialism of the discipline in the West, especially in the United States, where anthropology has increasingly focused on issues of American political economy (especially income inequality) and identity politics. The second has been the development of relatively autonomous anthropological traditions outside of the West – in Africa, Asia, Latin America and elsewhere.

 

 

 

 


Research Interests

Through all my research endeavours, I have always combined an empirical focus with broader theoretical interests which are reflected in the stance that my research has taken. Also, given the close link between teaching and research, since teaching at the Department of Sociology, all of my major research projects have been driven by my teaching foci. This is evident both in the kinds of research I have been involved and subsequently in my writing and publications.

My work based on my research expertise that runs the gamut from Hindu religiosity in the Diaspora, Religion-State encounters, religion, commodification and consumption processes, materiality, visuality and Piety, history and practice of Sociology and Anthropology, critique of concepts and categories in the social sciences, rethinking pedagogy in the social sciences, women in academia and leadership, decolonising social sciences, and gender violence and sexual harassment. My research has focused on everyday urban formations, religion, and community in Singapore and Malaysia. As a scholar of Diaspora Hinduism and global migration, I have explored forms of Hindu religiosity in the Indian Diaspora.

The history of Anthropology and Sociology has been of particular interest to me as have been the conceptual and theoretical apparatus used therein. In addition to the history of the discipline, as a practitioner I am also interested in the practice of sociology within particular socio-cultural, political and institutional locations. The fact of my own specific location in Southeast Asia, Asia, or in a formerly colonized entity, do shape my own encounters with Sociology and Anthropology. While I accept that these are universal disciplines, I also contend that the particularities of the frames within which both sociologists- as educators and students- are located, are important factors that determine its eventual expression. Also, as a practitioner, I see the need to continuously push the boundaries of this field in a way that make it open to new ideas. Sociological theory, its history and teaching, have long engaged me.

The following are some of research interests: 

  • Hindu Religiosity in the Diaspora
  • Migration, mobilities and religion
  • Religion, Commodification and Consumption Processes
  • Materiality, Visuality and Piety
  • Religiosity, secularity and post-secularity
  • Anthropology and the Contemporary World
  • Business, Consumer and Institutional Ethnography
  • Rethinking Pedagogy in the Social Sciences
  • Decolonizing Research Methodologies
  • History and Practice of Sociology and Anthropology
  • Critique of Concepts and Categories in the Social Sciences
  • Women in Academia; Women and leadership
  • Gender Violence and Sexual Harassment

Publications

OTHERS

  • Books
    1. Southeast Asian Anthropologies (Co-edited with Eric Thompson). Singapore: NUS Press, 2019.
    2. Sociological Theory Beyond the Canon (Co-authored with Syed Farid Alatas), London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
    3. Food, Foodways and Foodscapes: Culture, Community and Consumption in Post-colonial Singapore (Co-edited with Lily Kong). Singapore: World Scientific Press, 2015
    4. Indians, Singapore: Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore Press Holdings, 2015.
    5. RELIGION-STATE ENCOUNTERS IN HINDU DOMAINS: FROM THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS TO SINGAPORE, New York and London: Springer, 2011.
    6. RELIGION AND COMMODIFICATION: MERCHANDISING DIASPORIC HINDUISM, London: Routledge, 2010.
    7. A NEW GOD IN THE DIASPORA? MUNEESWARAN WORSHIP IN CONTEMPORARY SINGAPORE. Singapore: Singapore University Press and the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2005.

    Editorial Work

    1. Southeast Asian Anthropologies (Co-edited with Eric Thompson). Singapore: NUS Press. 2018
    2. Food, Foodways and Foodscapes; Culture, Community and Consumption in Post-colonial Singapore (Co-edited with Lily Kong), Singapore: World Scientific, 2015.
    3. Guest Editor of the ‘Current Sociology 60th Anniversary E-Special’ on the theme of ‘Reinserting feminist perspectives in theorizing health domains.’

    (This E-Special drew together related articles from the journal's extensive archive to provide the research community with key articles and debates on particular themes. I selected 4 articles from Current Sociology archives on the theme of ‘Reinserting feminist perspectives in theorizing health domains.’ 

    (http://csi.sagepub.com/cgi/collection/feminist_perspectives)

    Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

    1. ‘Annihilating the Savage Slot from Anthropology: Materialising Meaningful Practices.’ HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 11:1: 264-272, 2021.
    2. Invited Commentary on article, ‘Vulnerable Sovereignty: Sovereign Deities and Tigers’ Politics in Sri Lanka,’ by Sidharthan Maunaguru, Current Anthropology, December 2020)
    3. (with George Radics). ‘Regulating Religion and Granting Public Holidays in Singapore.’ Asian Journal of Social Science, 46:524-548, 2018.
    4. ‘Marking spaces as ‘sacred’: Infusing Singapore’s urban landscape with sacrality.’ International Sociology, 31(4): 467-488, 2016.
    5. ‘Enacting a goddess festival in Urban Singapore: Bringing Back the Old Ways.’ Material Religion, 10(1): 76-103, 2014.
    6. ‘Mapping a field: Forms of Hindu religiosity in Malaysia and Singapore’ Religion Compass, April 2013.
    7. ‘Tracking signs of the ‘sacred’ in urban Singapore.’ Commentary, Volume 22, March 2013.
    8. ‘Unraveling ‘Singaporean Hinduism’ Seeing the Pluralism Within: A Look at Three ‘Home-grown’ Hindu Groups.’ International Journal of Hindu Studies, 14(2-3): 253-279, 2010.
    9. ‘Mixing and Matching: The shape of everyday Hindu religiosity.’ Asian Journal of Social Science, 37(1): 83-106, 2009.
    10. ‘‘Hinduism’ and ‘Taoism’ in Singapore: Seeing Points of Convergence.’ Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 39(1): 123-147, 2008.
    11. ‘The conceptualization of ‘primitive mentality’: Reading Lucien Levy-Bruhl and Franz Boas as methodologists’ Asian Journal of Social Science, 35(4-5): 681-708, 2007.
    12. Transnational Religion: Intersections of local and global.’ Asian Journal of Social Science, 34(2): 203-208, 2006.
    13. ‘Problematizing received categories: Revisiting ‘folk Hinduism’, ‘Popular Hinduism’ and ‘Sanskritization.’ Special Issue of Current Sociology, edited by Syed Farid Alatas, 54(1): 98-111, 2006.
    14. ‘‘Persistence of ‘folk Hinduism’ in Singapore and Malaysia’ Australian Religious Studies Review, 18(2)-211-234, 2005.
    15. ‘Theorising ‘talk’ about religious harmony and religious pluralism in Singapore’ Journal of Contemporary Religion, 20(1): 25-40, 2005.
    16. “Merging different sacred spaces: enabling religious encounters through pragmatic utilization of  space?” Contributions to Indian Sociology, 37, 3: 459-494, October 2003.
    17. “De-centering social sciences in practice through individual acts and choices”, Current Sociology, January Volume 51(1):7-26, 2003.
    18. (with Farid Alatas) “Teaching Classical Theory in Singapore: The Context of Eurocentrism” (with Syed Farid Alatas), Teaching Sociology, 29, 3: 316-331, 2001.
    19. “Reading Harriet Martineau in the Context of Social Thought and Social Theory”, Akademika,Vol. 28, 2001.
    20. “Moving Beyond Critique: Practising the Social Sciences in the Context of Globality, Post- modernity and Post-coloniality.” Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, 28, 1: 67-104, 2000.
    21. “Reconceptualising the Social Sciences in non-Western Settings: Challenges and Dilemmas”. Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, 25, 1: 167-181, 1997.
    22. “Unpacking the labels ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hinduism’ in Singapore”. Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, 25,2: 139-160, 1997.
    23. “Towards a Gracious Society”. Commentary, 14, 1997.
    24. “Locating Religious Specialists in Singapore's Hindu Nexuses”. Contributions to Southeast Asian Ethnography: Sacred Elites in Southeast Asia, Number 8: 87-109, 1989.

    Book Chapters

    1. 'Interrogating a ‘Diasporic’ Lens: Narrating Singapore’s Indian Communities.’ In New Perspectives on the Indian Diaspora edited by Ruben Gowricharan, London and New York: Routledge, Chapter 6, 2021.
    2. ‘Disentangling’ as an Everyday Practice: Material, Visual  Sacred and Commodity features of ‘Puja Things.’ In Routledge Handbook of Material Religion, edited by Brent Plate and Pooyan Tamimi Arab. London and New York: Routledge, (Final version accepted, forthcoming October 2021).
    3. ‘Visual Cultures in Hinduism, 1857-1947.’ In Cultural History of Hinduism in Age of Modernism/Late Colonialism/Aspiration to Autonomy 1857-1947 edited by Gwilym Beckerlegge, New York: Bloomsbury, (Final version accepted, forthcoming December 2021). 
    4.  ‘The Internet: A New Marketplace for Transacting ‘Puja Items’ Digital Hinduism, edited by Xenia Zeller, London and New York: Routledge, Chapter 9, 165-185, 2019.
    5. ‘Mutiny of the 5th Light Infantry, Singapore Emeute, 1915 Soldier Mutiny: What’s in a Name?’ In Tommy Koh and Simon Wightman (eds).Singapore and United Kingdom: 1819-2019. Singapore: ST Press, March 2019.  
    6. ‘The Modern Hindu Diaspora.’ In Torkel Brekke (ed), Modern Hinduism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019, pp 179-202.
    7. (with Davie, G., T. Ammerman, N., et. al) ‘Religions and Social Progress: Critical Assessments and Creative Partnerships.’ In International Panel on Social Progress (IPSP) (Author), Rethinking Society for the 21st Century: Report of the International Panel on Social Progress (40,000 words). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018, 641-676.
    8. ‘‘Documenting Anthropological Work in Singapore: The Journey of a Discipline’ In Southeast Asian Anthropologies (eds) Eric Thompson and Vineeta Sinha. Singapore: NUS Press. 2019, Chapter 6.
    9.  (with Eric Thompson) ‘Introduction’ In Eric Thompson and Vineeta Sinha (eds) Southeast Asian Anthropologies. Singapore: NUS Press, 2019.
    10. ‘Methodological Musings: Trawling Singapore's Urban Religious Landscapes.’ Urban Asias : essays on futurity past and present / Tim Bunnell/Daniel P.S. Goh (eds.), 263-277, Berlin: Jovis, 2018.
    11. ‘Made in Singapore: Conceiving, Making and Using Ritual Objects in Hindu Domains.’ In Koning, Juliette, Njoto-Feillard, Gwenaël (Eds.) New Religiosities, Modern Capitalism, and Moral Complexities in Southeast Asia, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, pp 247-263.
    12. ‘Housing Hindu deities in urban landscapes: Insights from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur’ In Yeoh Seng Guan (ed) The Other Kuala Lumpur; Living in the shadows of a globalising Southeast Asian city, London: Rouitledge, 2016, pp 122-145, 2014.
    13. ‘Mapping Singapore’s Culinary Landscape: Is Anyone Cooking?’ In Food, Foodways and Foodscapes; Culture, Community and Consumption in Post-colonial Singapore (co-edited with Lily Kong), Singapore: World Scientific, 2015, pp 159-184.
    14. ‘Religion, Commodification and Consumerism’ in Paul Hedges (ed) Controversies in Contemporary Religion, Santa Barbara: Praeger, pp 113-136, 2014.
    15. ‘Documenting Anthropological Work in Singapore: The Journey of a Discipline’ In Ajit K Danda (ed) Locating Alternative Anthropological Traditions, Kolkata: Indian Anthropological Society, 2012.
    16. ‘Gods on the move: Chariot Processions in Singapore’ In Knut Jacobsen (ed.), South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and the Diaspora London: Routledge, Chapter 11, 2008.
    17. ‘Merchandizing Hinduism: Commodities, Markets and Possibilities for Enchantment’ In Pattana Kitiarsa (ed.) Religious Commodifications in Asia; Marketing Gods, London: Routledge, pp 169-185, 2008.
    18. “Religiously-inspired, India-derived’ Movements in Singapore.’ In Lai Ah Eng (ed.) Religious Diversity and Religious Harmony in Singapore. Institute of Policy Studies: Singapore, pp 142-166, 2008.
    19. (with Rowena Robinson) ‘Religious Studies in South and Southeast.’ In Gregory Alles (ed.), Religious Studies as a Global Enterprise, London: Routledge, pp 127-158, 2007.
    20. ‘Constructing and Contesting ‘Singaporean Hinduism’’, ed. Lian Kwen Fee, Ethnic Identities in Southeast Asia, Social Sciences in Asia, Monograph Series, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, pp 145-168, 2006.
    21. ‘Indigenizing Anthropology in India: Problematics of negotiating an identity’ in Asian Anthropology, edited by Jan van Bremen, Eyal Ben-Ari and Syed Farid Alatas, 2004.
    22. ‘British colonial rhetoric on ‘modern medicine’ and ‘health at home’: realities of health conditions in 19th Century Britain. In Asia in Europe and Europe in Asia, edited by Srilata Ravi, Mario Rutten and Goh Beng Lan, pp 184-213. Singapore: IAAS and ISEAS Series on Asia, 2004.
    23. ‘Scrutinizing the themes of ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’ in the discourse on multi-religiosity    and religious encounters in Singapore’, In Syed Farid Alatas, Lim Teck Ghee and Kazuhide  Kuroda (eds.), Asian Inter-faith Dialogue: Perspectives on Religion, Education and Social Cohesion, Singapore: World Bank and RIMA publication, 2003.
    24. ‘Multi-religiosity and the secular state: A note form Singapore’ In N. N. Vohra (ed.) Emerging Asia; Challenges for India and Singapore,  pp 169-177, India International Centre, New Delhi: Manohar, 2003.
    25. ‘Rebuilding institutional structures in the Social Sciences through critique’ In Reflections on Alternative Discourses from Southeast Asia, edited by Syed Farid Alatas, pp. 78-87. Singapore: Pagesetters, 2001
    26. “Constituting and Re-constituting the Religious Domain in the Modern Nation State of Singapore”. In Our Place in Time: Exploring Heritage and Memory in Singapore, edited by Kwok Kian Woon, Lily Kong, Kwa Chong Guan and Brenda Yeoh. Singapore: Singapore Heritage Society, 1999.
    27. “Discourse on Hinduism in Contemporary Singapore”. In K.S. Sandhu and A. Mani (eds.) Indian Communities in Southeast Asia, pp. 826-846, Singapore: Times Academic Press, 1994.

    Encyclopedia Entries

    1. ‘Hinduism in Singapore’ (3000 word entry), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 4, Edited by Knut Jacobsen, 2013.
    2. ‘Malas’ (3000 word entry), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 4, Edited by Knut Jacobsen, 2013.
    3. ‘Hinduism and Commodification’ (5000 word entry), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 3, Edited by Knut Jacobsen, 2012.
    4. ‘Sanskritization’, (2000 word entry), Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Sociology, edited by George Ritzer, London: Blackwell, 2006.
    5. ‘Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati’ (2000 word entry), Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Sociology, edited by George Ritzer, London: Blackwell, 2006.

     

Administration and Leadership Contributions

  • Co-Chair, Cross-Campus Committee for reviewing NUS Staff Sexual Misconduct Policies, 2019-2020.
  • Head, Department of Sociology, NUS,  July 2015 to-date.
  • Head, South Asian Studies Programme, NUS, July 2012-2018.
  • Concurrent Head of the Department of Sociology and South Asian Studies Programme from 2015-2018.
  • Curated the MOE proposal to introduce Anthropology as a new undergraduate major at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS (pending approval).
  • Member, Faculty and Promotion and Tenure Committee II, NUS, July 2021 to-date.
  • Member, Faculty and Promotion and Tenure Committee, NUS, July 2016 to January 2018.          
  • Member, Asia Research Institute Management Board, NUS, 2015 to-date.
  • Invited to review and benchmark the Department of Sociology, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, 10-15 February 2019.
  • Elected Vice-President (Publications), International Sociological Association, 2014-2018.
  • Elected Executive Committee Member, International Sociological Association, 2010-2014.

 

Invited Keynote lectures, plenaries and discussant

  • Keynote Speaker, at the Webinar, ‘Decolonial Research Methods: Resisting Coloniality in Academic Knowledge Production.’ Organised by University of Liverpool, Singapore, 26 October, 2021 (On Zoom)
  • Speaker at an online webinar, ‘In the Name  of Gender’, organized by HerWILL, a US-based non-profit organisation working with a global group of women,14 November 2020. (On Zoom)
  • Lecture, ‘Pandita Ramabai Saraswati: A woman ahead of the times.’ Organised by the Ateneo De Manila University 21 September 2020. (On Zoom)
  • Invited Commentator, Book launch of Faith, Identity and Cohesion, by Jolene Jerard, organized by the Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, 15 August 2020. (On Zoom)
  • Discussant on a talk on ‘Civic Nationalism,’ by Neil Devotta, organized by  the Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, 31 August 2020  (On Zoom)
  • Keynote Lecture, ‘Rethinking Western Canons: Social Theory in Asia.’ Hong Kong Baptist University, 12-13 December 2019 (declined due to the unrest and protests in Hong Kong and the Covid pandemic).  
  • Keynote Lecture, Third Annual Conference of the Asian Consortium of South Asian Studies entitled ‘South Asia in Context, Genealogies and Trajectories’, National University of Singapore, 22 - 23 November 2019.
  • Keynote Lecture, Conference ‘Entangled Comparisons. Grounding Research on Asia – Expanding Research Methodologies’, Bielefeld University, September 5-7, 2019.
  • Keynote Lecture, ‘Ethnography on the Move’ Shaping Migrant and Mobile Worlds: Connectivities, Comparisons, Collaborations, National University of Singapore, Migration Cluster Workshop, 21-22 February 2019.
  • Lead Presenter, Roundtable on ‘Region as Method’ at the South Asian Studies Graduate Seminar, National University of Singapore, 20 February 2019
  • Public Lecture, ‘Women Thinkers in Classical Sociology as ‘Missing’ Persons.’ College of Humanities and Social Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, 14 February 2019.
  • Keynote Lecture, ‘Religion, Sexuality and Commodification’, at the ECSO, Ethics, Culture and Society Conference, University of Ghent, Belgium, 26-27 November 2018.
  • Taught a Master Class, ‘Anthropology of Religion, Ethics and Commodification’ at ECSO, Ethics, Culture and Society Conference, University of Ghent, Belgium, Monday, 26 November, 2018.
  • Invited Rapporteur at ‘The Force of Life; Living in Precarious Spaces and Times in Asia’, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, 20-21 July 2015.
  • Keynote Lecture at ‘Food and the Global Asian City’, a workshop co-organized by The FASS Cities Cluster and TG07 Senses and Society (International Sociological Association), with support from the Office of the Deputy President (Research & Technology), NUS, 8-9 April 2015.
  • Keynote Lecture at the 8th Singapore Graduate Forum on Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore Law faculty, 22-26 July 2013.
  • Served as one of two teaching faculty at the International Sociological Association’s PhD Lab at the University of Sydney, 15 – 20 July 2013.
  • Panelist at a ‘Roundtable on Intellectual Capacity Building’ at International Convention of Asia Scholars, Macau June 25-27, 2013.
  • Discussant and Commentator at a Workshop on "Designing an MA in Gender, Culture and Development: teaching , research and activism" from 10 - 12 January 2013 at BRAC Centre, Dhaka, organized by The Centre for Gender and Social Transformation of BRAC Development Institute (BDI) and Department of English and Humanities (ENH) of BRAC University.
  • Panelist on the theme of ‘Asian Feminisms’ at BRAC University, Dhaka, 12 January 2013.
  • Plenary Speaker at the Asia Pacific Sociological Association’s Conference held in Manila, October 2012.
  • Chaired the Plenary Session at the 7th ARI Graduate Forum, 19 July 2012, Singapore.
  • Plenary Speaker, Conference on ‘Religion in Public Spaces in Contemporary Southeast Asia’, organized by PPIM UIN Jakarta with the Support of the Embassy of Canada and ASEAN Foundation, March 13-14, 2012, Jakarta.
  • Speaker at the Shell’s Scenarios Workshop, and gave a talk entitled ‘Religion and Global Forces: Hinduism in the Indian Context,’ 17-18 October 2011, Singapore.
  • Discussant at a panel on a conference organised by the Asia Research Institute on the subject of 'Religious Pluralism' in 2011.
  • Keynote Lecture at 'EnCAFE' (European Network of Comparative Analysis of Food and Eating' held in conjunction with the PhD Summer School held at Taylor's University College, Subang Jaya, Malaysia, from 28th June to 2nd July 2010.
  • Discussant at the workshop on ‘Transnational Religion, Migration and Diversity in Southeast Asia”, held in Kuala Lumpur, 2-4 December 2004.
  • Attended and participated in the Freeman Foundation Seminar with a focus on Higher Education organized by the Salzburg Seminar, June 1999, Salzburg, Austria.

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