Ruma Sen, Professor of Communications at Ramapo College of New Jersey, will speak on Tuesday, October 29  at 1:45 p.m. in the Trustees Pavilion, Ramapo College of New Jersey about “Frontlines and Fault Lines:  Notes and Observations from field work among Muslim communities in Gujarat and Kashmir, India.” The program will be presented under the auspices of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and is free and open to the public.

Professor Sen’s talk will be based on the ethnographic research she has conducted among Muslim communities in two states at the frontlines of religion-based violence in India. Both Gujarat and Kashmir play significant roles in understanding the history and location of religious persecution and ethnic cleansing in the country. The curated narratives of struggle, loss, pain and disjuncture continue to largely determine minority identity in India. Given the recent abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution and their implications for the state and people of Kashmir, the future of fascism in India will also be discussed.

A native of India, Professor Sen holds  a B.A. in English from the University of Calcutta, an M.A. in Communication from the University of Delaware, and an M.A. in Communication and Development and Studies as well as a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Ohio University. Professor Sen’s research lies at the intersections of migration, displacement, globalization and intercultural communication. As a feminist scholar, she uses critical ethnography to examine the relationship between religion, ethnicity and identity constructions and practices. Additionally, she researches the political, economic, cultural, and social consequences of transnational cultural flows, new media technologies, and global popular culture. Her research has appeared in edited volumes on intercultural communication and globalization and in scholarly journals.