Doctoral Students

Michele Verma

Program:   Anthropology & Education

Degree:  Ph.D. Oct. 2008

Previous Graduate Education: Master in Anthropology, Columbia University

Research Interests: My dissertation is a constitutive analytic account of Hindu space, practice, and personhood among Guyanese, Trinidadian and Surinamese immigrants in Queens, New York City.  This work relates to my interest the multiple patterns of lived Hindu traditions in varied contexts around the world and everyday education in religious contexts.

Geographical Interests: South Asia, Caribbean, United States

Publications:
Verma, M. (2004). Two Hindu Education Programs for Youth in New Jersey. The Pluralism Project at Harvard University. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from http://www.pluralism.org/affiliates/student/verma/verma_paper.pdf

Verma, Michele Moritis. (2003). Arshya Vidya Gurukulam: People, Place, Meaning. Hinduism Here. Retrieved December 17, 2007, from http://www.barnard.edu/religion/hinduismhere/michele.html 

Presentations:
Verma, M. (2007, November). Non-School Based Education. Panel organized at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.

Verma, M. (2007, November). Hindu Priest Apprenticeships. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.

Verma, M. (2007, April). Religion and Ethnicity in a Multicultural Frame. Panel chaired at the annual meeting of the Association for Asian American Studies, New York.

Verma, M. (2007, April). Traditions of Hinduism in Diaspora. Panel organized at the annual meeting of the Society for Anthropology of Religion, Phoenix.

Verma, M. (2007, April). Anthropology of Religious and Spiritual Education. Panel organized and chaired at the annual meeting of the Society for Anthropology of Religion, Phoenix.

Verma, M. (2007, April). On Becoming a Hindu Priest in Guyana and Queens. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Anthropology of Religion, Phoenix.

Verma, M. (2007, April). Doing Yagnas in NYC: The social significance and transformation of an Indo-Caribbean practice. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Anthropology of Religion, Phoenix.

Verma, M. (2007, March). Becoming Sixteen: Transformations of Hindu Indo-Caribbean Practices in Queens. Paper presented at the annual SUNY-Stony Brook Graduate Student Ethnography Conference, New York.

Verma, M. (2006, November). Assuming an Unwanted Identity in a Polity of Practice. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Hose.

Verma, M. (2005, May). Arsha Vidya Gurukulam: People, Place and Meaning. Paper presented at a one-day conference, Hinduism Here, sponsored by the Department of Religion Barnard College, New York.

Verma, M. (2005, March). Using Conversational Analysis for analysis of Gender Constructions. Paper presented at a one-day conference, Under Construction, sponsored by the Department of Religion, Columbia University, New York.

Verma, M. (2004, November). The Occasioned Usage of Gender Categories: a Sai Baba Satsang. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association Meeting, New Orleans