Dr. Pooja Kalita is a post-doctoral research fellow for HaP. She received her PhD from the Department of Sociology, South Asian University (New Delhi). Her research focuses on the intersection of gender, material culture, food, visuality, and placemaking. For her PhD dissertation, she worked in the arena of food, gender performances, and regional identity in the urban spaces of Guwahati (Assam). She has been interested in the feminist reading of spaces and the evolving boundaries between the ‘private’ and the ‘public’, especially in the context of South Asia. Her publications include both academic and popular media pieces.

In 2020, Pooja was awarded the Zubaan-Sasakawa Peace Foundation (Japan) research grant to carry out a research project that looked into gender and placemaking after the Baghjan blowout tragedy in Tinsukia district (Assam). The resultant paper is a visual narrative that includes texts, photographs, and artworks. Pooja is also involved in the practice of photography, art, and short-film making and has an interest in these mediums as research methodology. She was a co-writer and co-director of the short film Day One (2020), made for the Nagari Film Festival, funded by the Charles Correa Foundation (India). She has also previously interned with international organizations such as ActionAid International and was the founding member of the Northeast Society at Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi. For her work with the HaP project, Pooja investigates the intersection between gender, heritage, and politics of space.