Dheepa Sundaram
Assistant Professor
Sturm Hall, 2000 East Asbury Avenue Denver, CO 80208
What I do
Cultural theorist and scholar of performance, ritual, and digital culture in South Asia.Professional Biography
DU Religious Studies page: https://www.du.edu/ahss/religiousstudies/facultystaff/sundaram.html
Personal website: www.globalizingdharma.com
Dr. Dheepa Sundaram (she/her/hers) is scholar of performance, ritual, and digital culture at the University of Denver. Her research examines the formation of Hindu virtual religious publics, online platforms, social media, apps, and emerging technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Dr. Sundaram's current monograph project examines how commercial ritual websites fashion a new, digital canon for Hindu religious praxis, effectively "branding" religious identities through a neoliberal "Vedicizing" of virtual spaces. Her most recent article explores how Instagram helps foster virtual, ethnonationalist, social networks within India, highlighting issues of access/accessibility to religious spaces and the viability and visibility of online counter-narratives, especially those from minoritized/marginalized caste, gender, and class communities.
Personal website: www.globalizingdharma.com
Dr. Dheepa Sundaram (she/her/hers) is scholar of performance, ritual, and digital culture at the University of Denver. Her research examines the formation of Hindu virtual religious publics, online platforms, social media, apps, and emerging technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Dr. Sundaram's current monograph project examines how commercial ritual websites fashion a new, digital canon for Hindu religious praxis, effectively "branding" religious identities through a neoliberal "Vedicizing" of virtual spaces. Her most recent article explores how Instagram helps foster virtual, ethnonationalist, social networks within India, highlighting issues of access/accessibility to religious spaces and the viability and visibility of online counter-narratives, especially those from minoritized/marginalized caste, gender, and class communities.
Degree(s)
- Ph.D., Comparative Literature, University of Illinois, 2014
- MA, Comparative Literature, University of Illinois, 2008
- BA, Comparative Literature; Religious Studies, Indiana University, 2000
Professional Affiliations
- American Academy of Religion
- Association of Internet Researchers
- American Comparative Literature Association