Close
Nalina's research interests lie broadly at the intersection of race, colonialism, and diasporas of empire. Specifically, she is drawn to the histories of Tamil diasporas in the Straits Settlements (Malacca, Penang, and Singapore) during their administration by the East India Company (1786 – 1867)
In her doctoral research, she investigates the efficacy of petitions in tracing the shifting status of Tamils. She seeks to nuance conceptions of petitioning by dwelling on subordinate rhetoric in the Company era, viewed through the prism of Tamil experience in the Straits Settlements. By making use of documents in the collections of the British Library, the National Archives of Singapore and the UK, the National Library Board and National Museum of Singapore, and the Tamil Nadu State Archives, Nalina’s project explores petitions as sites of situational rhetoric. In surveying polyglossic conventions adopted to draft petitions to the Company, her research seeks to situate petition writers and scribes as crucial to the configuration of such transregional palimpsests. Nalina’s project argues also for the consideration of petitions as instruments of education that aided the fledgling society learn to dialogue with the colonial administration. Ultimately, her project is concerned with the self-fashioning of race, class, and gender within the situation of the petition.
Nalina has a B.A. in History and an M.A. in International Studies from the University of Madras. Before joining UCL, Nalina worked in the museum sector in India and Singapore, curating South Asian collections for non-profit and public sector institutions, and in independent practice. She has also held fellowships with the National Library Board and National Heritage Board of Singapore, focusing on acquisitions and collecting strategies.
PhD
Supervisor: Dr Jagjeet Lally (Primary) and Dr Mark Frost (Secondary)
Working title: Power on Paper: Petitions to the East India Company from Tamils in the Straits Settlements, 1786 – 1867.
Expected Completion Date: 2027
Teaching
- Postgraduate Teaching Assistant, HIST0901, India and the Early Modern World, UCL, 2024/2025.
- Postgraduate Teaching Assistant, HIST0008, Making History, UCL, 2024/2025.
