VINEETA SINHA, Phd Curriculum Vitae Head, South Asian Studies
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1 VINEETA SINHA, PhD Curriculum Vitae Head, South Asian Studies Programme & Department of Sociology Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences National University of Singapore 11 Arts Link Singapore 115750 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] +65-65163821 +65-65164528 EDUCATION The Johns Hopkins University 1995 Ph.D (Anthropology). (Dissertation title: Theorising the Complex Singapore Health Scene: Reconceptualising Medical Pluralism. (Supervisors: Prof. Michel Rolph-Trouilot and Prof. Sidney Mintz) 1993 M.A. (Anthropology). National University of Singapore. 1988 M. Soc. Sci., Department of Sociology. (Thesis title: Hinduism in Singapore: A Sociological and Ethnographic Perspective. (Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Geoffrey Benjamin and Prof. Trevor O’Ling) 1985 B. Soc. Sci., (First Class Honours in Sociology) (Academic Exercise title: Modern Indian Movements: Religious and Counter-Religious, Singapore. (Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Geoffrey Benjamin) 1984 B.A. (Sociology, English Literature and Statistics) 2 ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS National University of Singapore July 2014 Professor, Department of Sociology and South Asian Studies Programme. July 2006-2014 Associate Professor with tenure, Department of Sociology Dec 1995-2006 Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology. June 1990- Oct 1995 Senior Tutor, Department of Sociology. Nov 1988-Mar 1990 Part-time tutor, Department of Sociology. July 1987-Sep 1987 Part-time Tutor, Department of Sociology. July 1985-Mar 1986 Part-time Tutor, Department of Sociology. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore Sep 1987-Sep 1988 Research Associate. RESEARCH INTERESTS Hindu Religiosity in the Diaspora; Religion-State Encounters; Secularity, Religiosity and Post-Secularity; Religion, Commodification and Consumption; History and Practice of Sociology; Critique of Concepts and Categories in the Social Sciences; Rethinking the Teaching of Classical Sociological Theory; Political Economy of Health; Critique of Androcentrism; Women in Academia; Women and leadership. FIELDWORK AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCE • In Tamil Nadu (India) and Kuala Lumpur & Penang (Malaysia): o June 2003, July 2004, May 2005 and February 2006: Conducted fieldwork in relation to research on Hinduism in the Diaspora. • In Singapore: o January 2001 to-date: Conducted fieldwork for the three monographs I have published. Singapore and Malaysia continue to be my fiedlsites. o September 1993 - December 1994: Fieldwork for Ph.D dissertation. o June 1985 - July 1987: Fieldwork for M. Soc. Sci thesis. o July 1984 - November 1984: Fieldwork for Honours academic exercise. LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY English Conversational and written (Excellent) 3 Hindi Conversational and written (Excellent) Malay Conversational and written (Elementary) AWARDS 2013 and 2014 ODPRT (Office of Deputy President (Research & Technology)) Grant for Research Excellence, SGD 5000. 2012 Ministry of Education, Tier 2 funding – SGD 635,000. Project Title: Urban Aspirations 2007-08 MOE Tier 1 Research Grant - SGD 20,000.00 I was awarded the MOE Tier 1 research grant for my book project on religion-state encounters. This award supported research which culminated in the publication of my book, Religion State Encounters in Hindu Domains: From the Straits Settlements to Singapore, published by Springer, 2011. 2007 Teaching Award, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore. 2003 Research Support Scheme, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences - SGD 5,000 This grant facilitated research in Singapore, Malaysia and Tamil Nadu and led to the publication of my first book, A New God in the Diaspora? Muneeswaran Worship in Contemporary Singapore, published by NUS Press and NIAS, 2005. 2003 Writing scheme for Assistant Professors, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore This award allowed me to complete my book manuscript, A New God in the Diaspora? Muneeswaran Worship in Contemporary Singapore, which was published by NUS Press and NIAS in 2005. 1991-1995 Overseas Graduate Scholarship, National University of Singapore I was a recipient of this scholarship which supported my PhD studies at the Department of Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University. 1985-87 National University of Singapore Graduate Research Scholarship, National University of Singapore. I completed a Master’s degree at the Department of Sociology, 4 National University of Singapore during the tenure of this scholarship. PUBLICATIONS Books 2005 A New God in the Diaspora? Muneeswaran Worship in Contemporary Singapore. Singapore: Singapore University Press and the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. Reviewed in: Sociological Bulletin, Volume 55, Number 3, pp 513-16, Sep- Dec 2006, reviewed by Ravindra K. Jain, India. Material Religion, Volume 4, Number 1, March 2008, reviewed by Yeoh Seng Guan, Monash University, Sunway Campus, Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia. SOJOURN, Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, Volume 23, No. 1, April 2008, pp 149-154, reviewed by A. Mani, Japan. Asian Journal of Social Science, Volume 36(3), 687-688, 2008, reviewed by Daniel Goh, National University of Singapore. International Journal of Hindu Studies, 13(1):107-108, 2009 reviewed by Paul Younger, McMaster University, Canada. 2010 Religion and Commodification: Merchandising Diasporic Hinduism, London: Routledge. Reviewed in: Religion, Volume 41(4): 691-694, 2011, reviewed by Caleb Simmons, University of Florida, USA. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 27(2): 324-325, reviewed by Gwilym Beckerlegge, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. International Journal of Hindu Studies, 16(1): 126-128, reviewed by Michael Baltutis, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, USA. Sociological Bulletin, 61(3): 542-544, reviewed by Ajaya Kumar Sahoo, University of Hyderabad, India 5 2011 Religion-State Encounters in Hindu Domains: From the Straits Settlements to Singapore, New York and London: Springer. Reviewed in: Asian Journal of Social Science, 40:698-699, 2012, reviewed by Ravindra Jain, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 28(1):161-165, reviewed by Yeoh Seng Guan, Monash University, Kuala Lumpur. Sociological Bulletin, 61(3):544-546, reviewed by Kiranmayi Bhushi, Ambedkar University, New Delhi. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, June 2013 (forthcoming), reviewed by Dr. Norman Vasu, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. 2015 Indians, Singapore: Institute of Policy Studies, April 2017 Sociological Theory Beyond the Canon (with Syed Farid Alatas), London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan (forthcoming) Editorial Work 2010 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) 2015 Food, Foodways and Foodscapes; Culture, Community and Consumption in Post-colonial Singapore (co-edited with Lily Kong), Singapore: World Scientific. 2017 (Edited with Eric Thompson) Southeast Asian Anthropologies. Singapore: NUS Press (forthcoming). Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles 6 Sinha, V. ‘Marking spaces as ‘sacred’: Infusing Singapore’s urban landscape with sacrality.’ International Sociology, 31(4): 467-488, 2016. Sinha, V. ‘Enacting a goddess festival in Urban Singapore: Bringing Back the Old Ways.’ Material Religion, 10(1): 76-103, 2014. Sinha, V. ‘Mapping a field: Forms of Hindu religiosity in Malaysia and Singapore’ Religion Compass, April 2013. Sinha, V. ‘Tracking signs of the ‘sacred’ in urban Singapore.’ Commentary, Volume 22, March 2013. Sinha, V. ‘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. Sinha, V. ‘Mixing and Matching: The shape of everyday Hindu religiosity.’ Asian Journal of Social Science, 37(1): 83-106, 2009. Sinha, V. ‘‘Hinduism’ and ‘Taoism’ in Singapore: Seeing Points of Convergence.’ Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 39(1): 123-147, 2008. Sinha, V. ‘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. Sinha, V. ‘Transnational Religion: Intersections of local and global.’ Asian Journal of Social Science, 34(2): 203-208, 2006. Sinha, V. ‘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. Sinha, V. ‘‘Persistence of ‘folk Hinduism’ in Singapore and Malaysia’ Australian Religious Studies Review, 18(2)-211-234, 2005. Sinha, V. ‘Theorising ‘talk’ about religious harmony and religious pluralism in Singapore’ Journal of Contemporary Religion, 20(1): 25-40, 2005. Sinha, V. “Merging different sacred spaces: enabling religious encounters through pragmatic utilization of space?” Contributions to Indian Sociology, 37, 3: 459-494, October 2003. Sinha, V. “De-centering social sciences in practice through individual acts and choices”, Current Sociology, January Volume 51(1):7-26, 2003. Sinha, V. (with Farid Alatas) “Teaching Classical Theory in Singapore: The Context of Eurocentrism” (with Syed Farid Alatas), Teaching Sociology, 29,