South Asia
Research highlights
Tackling the parasitic disease, leishmaniasis
White Rose South Asia Network
Combating global antimicrobial resistance
Tobacco and TB
Protecting food crops in India against climate change
Primary Health Care and Universal Health Coverage policies in South Asia
Rice Fuel
Region Members
Dr Anindya Bhattacharya

Department of Economics and Related Studies
Anindya's reasearch interests are in measuring institutional structure in rural areas on the basis of primary data on interaction networks and then investigating the impacts of that on development outcomes.
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Chakraborty, Arnab

History
Arnab's research interests include the Madras Presidency, one of the three presidencies in Colonial India. Dealing with medical transformation in the area, from military to civilian perspectives.
Dr Arun Kumar
School for Business and Society
Arun researches the histories of development and management in post/colonial India. He is particularly interested in researching the historical role and influence of large-scale organised philanthropy. He was recently awarded a grant by the Rockefeller Archives Centre to research the history of management education in India.
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Dr Gerard McCann
History
Gerard's research areas include India-Africa relations; South Asian diaspora (especially in East Africa and Southeast Asia); Sikh diaspora; Indian foreign policy; India and the world; decolonization; third worldism and global south.
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Indrani Karmakar

English and Related Literature
Indrani's research interests are in women's writing, gender and sexuality, motherhood, postcolonial feminism and Indian women's writing.
Sigamany, Indrani
York Law School
Indrani researches existing policies concerning indigenous peoples in order to identify gaps in the implementation of human rights instruments, and examines what concrete changes have occurred for indigenous peoples as a result of land rights legislation.
Dr Janaka Jayawickrama

Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU)
Janaka's research aims to develop new knowledge on dealing with uncertainties and dangers presented by disasters and conflicts in the region. He is collaborating with communities and institutions in countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Pacific Islands.
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Dr Joanna de Groot
History
Joanna's research interests include gendered socio-cultural histories of Iran, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and the Persianate world since c.1750; orientalism, imperialism and anti-imperialism in those settings; concepts of, and debates around, historical practice in those fields.
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Melony Bethala

English and Related Literature
Melony's research looks at a cross-national comparison - India and Ireland, postcolonial theory, contemporary womanhood in India, postcolonial feminism, nationalism, motherhood, female sexuality, Indian women's poetry, Indian English poetry.
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Professor Paul Kaye

Centre for Immunology and Infection
Department of Biology / HYMS
Paul's research focuses on neglected diseases of poverty, mostly the leishmaniases. He works with colleagues in India (Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi; Kala Azar Medical Research Centre, Muzaffarpur) and Sri Lanka (University of Sri Jayewardenepura) to better understand disease pathogenesis and to develop new approaches for prevention and treatment of disease.
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Dr Richard Friend

Environment
Richard's research interest include transformations of rural society and urbanization; political economy of urbanization and changing patterns of poverty, vulnerability and risk; environmental governance and rights; development, climate change and natural disasters; specialist interest in Thailand and the Mekong region.
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Ruth Kelly

Centre for Applied Human Rights
Centre for Women's Studies
Ruth's research interests are in human rights, vernacular storytelling and alternative approaches to development (notably the commons, the care economy and wage-led growth); Creative activism; Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Vietnam.
Dr Sam Hellmuth

Language and Linguistic Science
Sam works on the sound systems of Arabic dialects primarily, but also on the Indo-Aryan language Mirpuri Pahari (spoken both in the UK and in Pakistan), with a special focus on the expression of meaning via stress, rhythm and intonation, and on the contemporary effects of historical contact.
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Dr Samarthia Thankappan
Environment
Samarthia's research areas include sustainable food production and consumption (includes sustainable lifestyles, sustainable diets, food losses and food waste management and environmentally friendly behaviours); Understanding enhanced transport systems (includes innovative, efficient, sustainable and practical shortest pathways for low carbon strategies); CSR and sustainability of supply chains across a range of sectors (food, automotive, textiles, construction).
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Ullah, Zahid
Politics (PhD student)
Zahid is working on violent extremism in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan with a focus on the link between the system of governance and violent extremism.
Professor Jason Edwards

Department of History of Art
I work primarily on South Asia Art and the Raj, and British encounters with Hinduism and Buddhism in colonial South Asia. I also have research interests in British Japanism and Chinoiserie and the longer Anglo-American reception of Buddhism. The Queer Middle East is also of developing interest to me.
Samantha Lui
Global Opportunities, International Recruitment, Partnerships and Mobility (IRPM)
I'm interested in events, funding and study exchange opportunities for York students in Asia.
Vasana Kaushalya
School for Business and Society (Postgraduate researcher)
Vasana's research is focused on body labour in the wellness industry in Sri Lanka. Key research themes include gender, space and power relations.
Aakanksha Singh
English and Related Literature
Aakanksha's PhD research focuses on queer women characters in contemporary Indian writing. Her other research interests include gender, feminism, translation, queer feminist theory and affect theory
Professor Rob Marchant
Environment and Geography
Through a range of ecological techniques, contemporary mapping, modelling and scenario development, I aim to better understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of tropical ecosystems, their societal value and challenges to their conservation and sustainable development.
Claudia Milena Adler
Health Sciences
My research interests are on what learning approaches empower girls and women from marginalised and rural backgrounds, focusing on women folk from South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Her work focuses on raising awareness of the implications on women folk from South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Her work focuses on raising awareness of the implications on health and wellbeing and community wellbeing by contemporary and non-mainstream pedagogical approaches within the context of disasters, conflict and uneven development.
Aljawharah Alzamil
Languages and linguistics
My research interests focuses on Saudi Arabic dialects linguistics aspects, mainly on phonological and intonational aspects in relation to sociolinguistics aspects and language contact.
Dr Adam Green
Archaeology and Environment
Dr Green is an archaeologist who specialises in the long-run relationship between inequality and sustainability in South Asia. His research highlights the surprising prevalence of egalitarianism in the archaeological record, and his interest in inequality in the past is tied to a strong desire to reduce inequalities in the present. He works closely with farmers, economists, agronomists, and other stakeholder communities to identify ways archaeological data and insights can help make the world fairer and more sustainable.
Professor Martin Jones
York Law School
Martin's research examines the role of the law, the legal professional and legal processes and institutions in protection, with a particular focus on the protection of refugees and activists at risk (human rights defenders).