Shailaja D. Paik
2023-28 Taft Distinguished Professor
Dr. Shailaja D. Paik is Professor of History and Affiliate in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Asian Studies. Her research, writing, and teaching interests lie at the intersection of a number of fields: Modern South Asia; Dalit studies; women's, gender, and sexuality studies; social and political movements; oral history; human rights and humanitarianism. As a historian, Dr. Paik specializes in the social, intellectual, and cultural history of Modern India. Her first book Dalit Women's Education in Modern India: Double Discrimination (Routledge, 2014 ) examines the nexus between caste, class, gender, and state pedagogical practices among Dalit ("Untouchable") women in urban India. Her second book The Vulgarity of Caste: Dalits, Sexuality, and Humanity in Modern India (Stanford University Press, 2022 analyzes the politics of caste, class, gender, sexuality, and popular culture in modern Maharashtra. She directs the "Ambedkar-King Justice Initiative" at the University of Cincinnati and was named a 2024 MacArthur Fellow.