Syracuse University News " " Mohanty Named Distinguished Professor of Women's and Gender Studies

Mohanty Named Distinguished Professor of Women's and Gender Studies

Chandra Talpade Mohanty, an internationally recognized scholar of postcolonial and transnational feminist theory and Dean's Professor of the Humanities in The College of Arts and Sciences, has been named Distinguished Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Syracuse University by Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric F. Spina.

Distinguished Professor is one of the University's highest honors for faculty whose exemplary leadership in teaching and research has advanced the University's scholarly mission. They are faculty members who occupy the highest echelons of repute within their chosen fields and among their peers.

"Professor Mohanty is a highly regarded scholar in the field of feminist theory and a distinguished educator who challenges students to explore questions of social justice that impact us all," Spina says. "Her insightful scholarship on feminist thought in the 21st century resonates strongly across disciplines and is influential nationally and internationally."

In addition to serving as professor of women's and gender studies (a department she chaired from 2008-2011), Mohanty is also an affiliated faculty member of the Department of Sociology and of the cultural foundations of education program in the School of Education. Her work focuses on transnational feminist theory, anti-capitalist feminist praxis, anti-racist education and the politics of knowledge.

"Professor Mohanty is renowned in the field of transnational feminism, and students clamor to take classes with her because of her deeply perceptive research, teaching and ideas," says Gwendolyn D. Pough, chair and associate professor of in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies. "We are proud to have her as an integral part of our department."

Mohanty, who teaches core courses in women's and gender studies and graduate seminars in the "Practice of Transnational Feminism" and "Feminism and Postcolonial Studies," explores questions of feminism that relate both to women in the Global South and Western nations and how those concerns connect.

"Professor Mohanty exemplifies the college's commitment to interdisciplinary study, especially in the area of women and gender studies," says College of Arts and Sciences Dean George M. Langford. "Her appointment is indicative of the respect she has earned, both on campus and around the globe, and recognition of the critical importance of social justice scholarship."

For Mohanty, the appointment has important meaning to her personally and for the work that she does.

"I was very honored and thrilled by the appointment," Mohanty says. "I see it as an honor that is more than individual recognition-it recognizes the significance of a key field of study: anti-racist, transnational feminism."

A much sought-after public lecturer who has presented at conferences and institutions around the world, Mohanty earned an honorary doctor of humanities from Wooster College in Ohio in 2012 and an honorary doctorate from the faculty of social sciences at Lund University in Sweden in 2008. She earned a B.A. and an M.A. in English from the University of Delhi, an M.A. in the teaching of English from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Before arriving at SU in 2004, Mohanty was a professor of women's studies at Hamilton College, a faculty member at the Union Institute Graduate School and an assistant professor at Oberlin College.

Mohanty is the author of "Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity" (Duke University Press, 2003, and Zubaan Books, India, 2004), and co-editor of "Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism" (Indiana University Press, 1991), "Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures" (Routledge, 1997), "Feminism and War: Confronting U.S. Imperialism" (Zed Press, 2008) and "The Sage Handbook on Identities" (co-edited with Margaret Wetherell , Sage Publications, 2010). Her work has been translated into Arabic, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, Farsi, Chinese, Russian, Swedish, Thai, Korean, Turkish, Slovenian, Hindi and Japanese. Along with being the author of many essays, she is series editor of "Comparative Feminist Studies" for Palgrave/Macmillan.

Among her other work, Mohanty is a member of the advisory boards of Signs, A Journal Of Women in Culture and Society; Transformations, The Journal of Inclusive Pedagogy and Scholarship; Feminist Africa (South Africa); Asian Women (Korea); Feminist Economics; and the Caribbean Review of Gender Studies. She is a steering committee member of the Municipal Services Project, a transnational research and advocacy group focused on alternatives to privatization in the Global South; a founding member of the Democratizing Knowledge Collective at Syracuse University; and coordinating team member of the Future of Minority Studies Research Project.

Mohanty has worked with three grassroots community organizations: Grassroots Leadership of North Carolina, Center for Immigrant Families in New York City and Awareness, Orissa, India, and was a member of the Indigenous and Women of Color Solidarity Delegation to Palestine in 2011. She served as a consultant/evaluator for the Association of American Colleges & Universities, the Ford Foundation and UN Women.

Send this story via e-mail

Source: Syr