Dr Manali Desai Becomes First Indian-Origin Woman to Head Department at Cambridge University, Woman of Colour Creates History in 811-Year-Old History of University (Watch Video)

Manali Desai, an Indian-origin woman has been appointed head of the department of sociology at the University of Cambridge. She created history by becoming the first woman of colour to hold such a role in the 811-year-old history of the university. She was born in the United States and moved to Delhi where she studied at the Modern School. She later moved to London for high school. She pursued her Economics degree at the University of Michigan and her doctoral studies in Sociology at the University of California Los Angeles. Desai taught in the US for a few years, after which she moved to the London School of Economics. In 2013, she joined Cambridge. Meghan Markle's Empowering 'Woman of Colour' Speech on Royal Tour in South Africa is a Must Hear (Watch Video)

Dr Manali said, "This is in a sense the history of women in education." She is currently working as the Principal Investigator on a big project about gendered violence across India and South Africa. Desai was deeply moved by the rape case in 2012 and was motivated to learn and work in the space of gendered violence. Kathy Sullivan, Former NASA Astronaut Becomes First Woman to Dive Into Challenger Deep, Here’s What You Should Know About the Earth’s Deepest Point.

She The People quoted her as saying, "In this project, we are building upon a second-wave of research that places gendered violence within wider transformations in the political economy of urban life and livelihoods, shifts in family forms and gender relations, and the historical legacies of racial, ethnic and other forms of categorisation that in turn implicate men and women in specific relations to the state and economy." Sharanya Sadarangani Becomes First Woman Cricketer to Play in the ECS T10 League 2020.

Dr Manali Desai, Cambridge University's Sociology Department Head:

Desai’s research also includes Indian politics and social movements other than writing on gender and violence and radial democracy in India. She is also a recipient of the 2019 Pilkington Teaching Prize, for work and teaching at Cambridge. Dr Desai’s appointment comes after the election of Sonita Alleyne as Master of Jesus College last year, in which she was the first woman of colour to be appointed as Head of a Cambridge College.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 25, 2020 01:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).