Dr. Usha Iyer

Biography

Usha Iyer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art & Art History at Stanford University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of cinema, performance, gender, and sexuality studies, with a particular focus on cultural dynamics in the Global South, exploring vectors of race, gender, caste, and religion. Iyer is the author of "Dancing Women: Choreographing Corporeal Histories in Hindi Cinema" published by Oxford University Press in 2020, which examines constructions of gender and sexuality within the framework of Hindi cinema. This book has received accolades, including the British Association of South Asian Studies Book Prize and a nomination for the Oscar G. Brockett Book Prize from the Dance Research and Dance Studies Association. Currently, she is working on a new book project titled "Jammin’: Black Brown Media Intimacies in India and the Caribbean," which investigates the connections between Caribbean spectators and Indian cinema in the context of historical narratives of African enslavement and Indian indentureship. Iyer is also co-editing a volume entitled "Shift Focus: Reframing Indian New Waves". Her scholarly work has appeared in various journals, and she is involved in the editorial board of Film History. With a PhD in Film Studies from the University of Pittsburgh, her contributions to academia extend through various appointments and committee positions at Stanford, emphasizing her role in shaping discourse around South Asian studies.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards

Courses