I am a PhD Candidate at UCL Geography (2022 -2025). My dissertation tentatively titled: "Making Moves: Hip Hop Hustle and Youth Entrepreneurship in New India" focuses on the relationship between hip hop, gender, and youth aspirations in Delhi. The project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) UBEL-DTP studentship. My primary supervisor is Dr. Andrew Harris, and my secondary supervisor is Dr. Pushpa Arabindoo.  

 

I hold a BA in Political Science and Religious Studies (2017) from Grinnell College, and an MSc in Contemporary India Studies from SOAS, University of London. After graduating in 2018, I worked with various organisations in the development sector. My professional interests centred on co-creating learning and evaluation frameworks through participatory mechanisms with young people — those directly impacted by the programmes we were working on.

 

I am passionate about centring this same approach in my doctoral project — ensuring that the outputs that I produce are translatable beyond academia, and are engaging and accessible to the communities and organisations I will engage in my project and beyond.

 

Image is Kinari performing at Nehru Place Social. March 2024

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