University of London, Birkbeck College

Faculty Member, History, Classics and Archaeology

Professor of History

About

I have three major research interests: the history of European medicine, the history of modern science in India, and the cultural history of modern India.  In all these apparently disparate areas, I focus on the fundamental theme of identity and how sexual, racial and cultural identities are constructed, interpreted and disseminated in different historical contexts.  I am the author of three books, broadly in the areas of history of medicine and of the body and sexuality, and many papers in the same fields.  I am currently working on a comprehensive study of the historical, cultural and ideological contexts that shaped the work and impact of the film-maker Satyajit Ray (1921-1992).  A major aim of the study is to analyze how Ray's films, in spite of their profoundly Bengali/Indian setting and tone, came to be seen, especially by Western critics, as timeless and universal.

Contact Information