Baisakhi Sengupta

Education

Current     Ph.D. Candidate, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los   Angeles.

2018         M.Phil. Ancient History and Archaeology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India.

2014         M.A. Ancient History, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India.

2012         B.A. (Hons.) History, Hindu College, University of Delhi.

Areas of Interest

Highland Archaeology, Himalayas Studies, Archaeology of Medieval North India, Gender and Masculine Subjectivity, Landscape and Space, Embodiment, Iconography, Figurine Studies, Human-Animal Studies, Multispecies Ecology.

Profile

Baisakhi Sengupta is a native of India. On completing her BA (hons.) in History at Hindu College, University of Delhi, India she received her MA and M.Phil. in Ancient History and Archaeology from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Baisakhi is interested in exploring the archaeology of highland sites in the Pir Panjal Valley of the Indian Himalayas. For her doctoral project she studies sites locally known as “Ghora Galis” or horse passes that house hundreds of horse and warrior sculptures and other associated archaeological finds in an underexplored cultural landscape. Her documentation and analysis of these sites bring her to dwell upon intersecting themes such as embodiment and materiality, art and iconography, landscape and place, masculine subjectivity and warrior identity in Medieval South Asia.

Baisakhi has participated in some well-known archaeological projects in India and abroad, including the Indus valley sites of Karanpura and Rakhigarhi, the medieval site of Chandravati and Late Intermediate Period sites in the Andes in Puno, Peru. Her background in history and archaeology have brought her diverse work opportunities, such as projects in the National Museum in Delhi digitizing artefacts and paintings, transcribing and documenting 19th century documents from colonial America, and mapping historical monuments from the erstwhile state of Kapurthala in Punjab. Baisakhi has contributed to outreach projects that help introduce archaeology to young children and make it fascinating for them in experiential ways.

Field Experience

Himalayas (India), Various Indus Valley and Medieval sites (North India), Andes (Peru).

Teaching

2022    Teaching Fellow, Art and Archaeology of Ancient Greece, Department of Classics, UCLA, Prof. John Papadopoulos, Winter 2022.

2021    Teaching Associate, Cinema and the Ancient World, Department of Classics, UCLA, Prof. Francesca Martelli, Fall 2021.

2021    Teaching Associate, Art and Archaeology of Ancient Greece, Department of Classics, UCLA, Prof. John Papadopoulos. Winter 2021.

2020    Teaching Associate, Women and Power in the Ancient World Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA, Prof. Kara Cooney, Fall 2020.

2020    Teaching Assistant, Anthropology 2: Archaeology: Introduction, Department of Anthropology, UCLA, Prof. Greg Schachner, Spring 2020.

2020    Teaching Assistant, Art and Archaeology of Ancient Greece, Department of Classics, UCLA, Prof. John Papadopoulos. Winter 2020.

2019    Teaching Assistant, Women and Power in the Ancient World, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA, Prof. Kara Cooney, Fall 2019.