Dr. Swapnil Rai

Biography

Swapnil Rai is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan's LSA International Institute, specializing in Film and Television Media. His research focuses on global film and television, media industries, women's and gender studies, race and ethnicity, transnational stardom, and celebrity culture. Currently, he is working on a book project that examines the historical global flows of Indian films and the role of stars within Bollywood's production culture amid industry globalization. Rai earned his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Radio, TV, and Film. He has previously served as a Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow at the Center for Contemporary South Asia at Brown University and has taught at the College of Film and the Moving Image at Wesleyan University. His academic work has been published in a range of scholarly journals, including Communication, Culture & Critique, the International Journal of Communication, JumpCut, and the Journal of School of Literature. In addition to his academic career, Swapnil has experience as a journalist, writer, and editor, covering cinema, art, and culture, and worked in multimedia information services for Thomson Reuters.

Research Interests