Generate a tailored SOP for Dr. Purba Hossain. Improve your application with a focused, well-structured draft.
Purba Hossain is a Junior Research Fellow at Christ's College, University of York, specializing in the history of colonial South Asia. She holds a BA and MA from Presidency University in Kolkata, India, and a PhD from the University of Leeds. Hossain has received notable fellowships including the G.K. Roth Research Fellow from the Royal Historical Society and the Tawney Fellow for the year 2021-22. Her publication, 'Voices of Calcutta', examines how merchants, reformers, missionaries, and educationists in colonial Calcutta influenced debates on labor and servitude, particularly regarding the use of indentured laborers in Caribbean and Indian Ocean plantations. The book reveals a complex network of correspondence including letters, petitions, and interviews that highlight the role of individuals in shaping post-Abolition rhetoric within the British Empire. Hossain's current research project focuses on the indigenous voices in British India, particularly the role of translators and language informants in mediating between the monolingual British authorities and the multilingual colonial subjects, addressing how these interactions informed colonial knowledge structures.