Priya Raman

I am a scholar, performer, critic, and educator and my research focuses on South Asian performance aesthetics and criticism. In my interdisciplinary work, I integrate dance and performance studies, feminist, and postcolonial studies, as well as criticism and spectatorship theory. I particularly engage in archival study, auto-ethnography, practice-as-research methods, and qualitative analysis and interpretation.

In my book project, I investigate the influence of early-twentieth-century print media on shaping discussions surrounding South Asian performance, nationhood, race, class, and gender dynamics.

My performances merge embodied memories of technique and cultural traditions to both revive heritage and stimulate societal conversations.

I employ affective performance criticism techniques rooted in indigenous theories, fostering a decolonized approach to art spectatorship. These practices inform my pedagogy which aims to cultivate empathetic art consumers and position performance as a cultural practice.