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Dr. Ram’s teaching and scholarship is grounded in the critical cultural studies tradition and centers ethics of inclusion, equity, and social justice. Dr. Ram’s research program explores formations of gendered, racialized, and transnational identities in the context of migration, colonialism, and global media. Her published work includes several journal articles, book chapters, and the book Consuming Bollywood:Gender, Globalization and Media in the Indian Diaspora that analyzes how the spectacle of Bollywood cinema is used to renegotiate cultural meanings of home, gender, belonging, and identity. Her current research explores how brown South Asian bodies have been making a visible and noticeable appearance in mainstream American media and what that tells us about shifting body politics, culture, and race. Dr. Ram is actively engaged in conversations related to inclusive pedagogy on the campus through her role as co-facilitator of the Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Fellowship and was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2021. She also serves as  a board member of the non-profit organization, Friends of Shelter Associates, and is involved in fundraising and education/awareness activities related to sanitation in under-resourced communities in India.

Courses Taught:

COMM 250: Intercultural Communication
COMM 390: Qualitative Research Methods
COMM 385: Gender, Media, & Globalization
COMM 381: Bollywood

Academic Affiliations: 

National Communication Association, Eastern Communication Association, Faculty Advisor, Lambda Pi Eta, Communication Honor Society

Publications:

Ram, A. (in press). Ritual, romance, and royalty: Bollywood remakes of Hindu femininity. Global Media Journal: Canadian edition.

Ram, A. (2021). Out of India: Educating the New Woman in Queen, English Vinglish, and Badrinath Ki Dulhania. In A. Arora & M. Anwer (Eds.) Bollywood’s New Woman. Rutgers University Press.

Ram, A. (October, 2020). Asian popular culture in the U.S. Invited Speaker - Round Table Discussion for Asian-Pacific Studies BA Degree Launch Celebration, California State-Dominguez Hills..

Ram (November, 2019).  The comedic frame: Creating spaces of resistance, survival, and voice for the South Asian Diaspora. Paper presented at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Baltimore, MD.

Ram (October, 2019). Bollywood and the construction of Hindu femininity in the diaspora. Paper presented at The Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI.

Bhatia, A. & Ram A. (2018). South Asian Immigration to United States: A Brief History Within the Context of Race, Politics, and Identity. In E. Chang and M. Perera (Eds.), Biopsychosocial Approaches to Understanding Health in South Asian Americans (pp.15-32). New York, NU: Springer Publishers.

Ram, A. & Sen, R. (April, 2018).  Bridgework: How South Asian gendered bodies negotiate race and ethnicity in mainstream American television. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Pittsburgh, PA.

Ram, A. (February, 2017). “The intersection of race, gender, and feminism on TV.” Roundtable participant for panel presented at the annual convention of the Western States Communication Association, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ram, A. (November, 2015). “Bollywood, citizenship and the rhetoric of Hindu exceptionalism in the Indian diaspora.” Paper presented at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Las Vegas, NE.

Ram, A. (March, 2015). Bollywood and the diaspora and How they made each other: A tale of mediated identities. Invited Speaker The Schomburg Visiting Scholars Program at Ramapo College, NJ.

Ram, A. (2014). Consuming Bollywood: Gender, Globalization and Media in the Indian Diaspora. New York, NY: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers.

Ram, A. (May, 2014). Respondent for panel entitled, “Research and reflections on the dynamism of race in society.” Panel presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Providence, MA.

Ram, A. (May, 2014). Roundtable participant for panel entitled, “Introducing “A code of professional ethics for the Eastern Communication Association” Panel presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Providence, RI.

Bhatia, S. & Ram, A. (2012). Destiny’s Children: Remaking Culture and Transnational Identities in the Indian Diaspora in the U.S. In A. Hilger and C. Unger (Eds.), India in the World, 1947-1991: National and Transnational Perspectives. New York, NY: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers

Convention and Conference Presentations

Ram A. (November, 2015). “Bollywood, Citizenship and the Rhetoric of Hindu Exceptionalism in the Indian Diaspora.” Paper to be presented at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Las Vegas, NE.

Ram, A. (May, 2014). Respondent for panel entitled, “Research and Reflections on the Dynamism of Race in Society. Panel to be presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Providence, MA.

Ram, A. (May, 2014). Roundtable participant for panel entitled, “Introducing “A Code of Professional Ethics for the Eastern Communication Association” Panel to be presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Providence, MA.

Ram, A. (May, 2011) Chair and Respondent for panel entitled, “Storytelling, Performance, Discovery, and Dialogue: Bringing the Margins Into the Center of Intercultural Communication Research. Panel presented at the annual convention of the International Communication Association, Boston, MA.

Ram, A. (April, 2009) Media, Globalization, and Intercultural Communication Research, Paper presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Providence, RI

Ram, A. (April, 2008).  Roundtable participant for panel entitled, “The Conflict of Difference: How Faculty of Color Manage Classroom Diversity,” Panel presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Pittsburg, PA.

Ram, A. (April, 2008). Respondent for panel entitled, “The Fluidity of “Home” and Hybrid Identities in the Experience of Cross Cultural Sojourners. Panel presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Pittsburg, PA.

Ram, A. (April, 2008). Respondent for panel entitled, “Culture Clash in the Classroom: From Difference to Dialogue?” Panel presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Pittsburg, PA.

Ram, A. (April, 2007). National texts/transnational identities: How Bollywood attempts to reach out to the Indian diaspora. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Providence, RI.

Ram, A. (April, 2007). Roundtable participant for panel titled, “Motherhood and Academia,”  presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Providence, RI.

Ram, A. (November, 2005). From spectator to protagonist:  A textual analysis of Bollywood’s representations of the diaspora. Paper to be presented at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Boston, MA.

Ram, A. (November, 2005). Roundtable participant for panel titled, “Patriots” in the classroom: Discussions and debates post 9-11, to be held at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Boston, MA.

Ram A. (April, 2004). “Rethinking power and positionality in feminist ‘native’ ethnography.” Paper presentation at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Boston, MA.

Ram A. (April, 2004). Roundtable participant for panel titled, “Not on my dime!”: Charting the contours of contested knowledge,” at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Boston, MA.

Ram A. (November, 2003). “Transnational Gendered Mediations: How South Asian women deploy the rhetoric of feminism to reconstitute identity in the Diaspora.” Paper presented at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Miami, FL.

Ram A. (November, 2003). “Bollywood in the Diaspora: How Cinema Mediates Memory, National Identity and Cultural Difference.” Paper presented  at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Miami, FL.

Ram A. (April, 2001). Disciplining feminism: An analysis of sexual identity in Hum Rahi, an Indian soap opera. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Portland. ME.

Ram, A.  (April 2001). Texts and Contexts: Re-examine the pedagogical resources available for teaching Intercultural Communication. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association, Portland. ME.

Ram, A. (November, 2000). “Cinema and the Imagined Community: Nationalism and Popular Culture in the Indian Diaspora.” Paper presented at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Seattle.

Ram A. (November, 2000). Roundtable participant for discussion titled  “A Conversation about what Constitutes Ethnography: Multiple Voices in an Exploratory Forum” held at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Seattle.

Ram, A. & Bhatia, S. (July, 2000). “Migrancy, Media and the Making of Imagined Moral Communities.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Moral Education, Glasgow, Scotland.

Ram, A. (November, 1999). “Framing the feminine: Diasporic readings of gender in Indian cinema.” Paper presented at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Chicago. (Top Paper Award for the Feminist  and Women’s Studies Division).

Ram, A. (November, 1999).  Proposer and Chair for panel titled “Coloring Outside Intercultural Truisms” held at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Chicago.

Ram, A. (November, 1999). “Beyond the rhetoric of  binarism: Postcolonial alternatives to teaching intercultural communication.”  Paper presented at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Chicago.

Pathak, A., &  Ram, A. (November, 1998).  “Radha: Rituals of desire and raptures of devotion” Paper presented at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, New York.

Ram, A. (November, 1997).  "Field notes from home: Reflections on feminist ethnographic methods."  Poster session presented at the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, Chicago.

Ram, A. (November, 1997).  "Re-territorializing the classroom: South Asian pedagogical encounters."  Poster session presented at the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, Chicago.

Ram, A. (November, 1996).  "Is there an(other) voice in this class? The politics of representation in feminist pedagogy?” Paper presented at the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, San Diego.

Ram, A.  (November, 1995).  "Third World others and First World marginals--all in (an)other space."  Paper presented at the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, San Antonio.

Ram, A.  (November, 1995). "Inscribing the discourse of diversity within pedagogical spaces."  Paper presented at the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, San Antonio.

Ram, A.,  & Hafen, S.  (October, 1995). "Narratives from the diaspora: (Re)presenting race, class and gender in Mississippi Masala and Bhaji on the Beach."  Paper presented at the Fourth International Kentucky Conference on Narrative, Lexington, Kentucky.

Ram, A., & Descutner, D. (November, 1994). "Who speaks in this text? A tri-partite analysis of gender construction in Hum Rahi." Paper presented at the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, New Orleans.

Ram, A. (November, 1994).  "Cultural (Dis)engagements:  A semiotic analysis of South Asian women reading mainstream American television". Paper presented at the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, New Orleans.

Hafen, S., & Ram, A. (October, 1994).  "Women's gossiping justified: Recuperating gossip as feminist praxis."  Paper presented at The Third Annual Kentucky Conference on Narrative, Lexington, Kentucky.

Ram, A., Rahoi, R., & Svenkerud, P. (July, 1994).  "Deciding who wears the white hat:  More effectively using myth and archetype in prosocial entertainment programming:  Lessons to be learned from Hum Rahi".  Paper  presented at the annual convention of the International Communication Association, Sydney, Australia.  (Awarded Top Student Paper and Ranked as One of the Top Three Papers of the Intercultural and Development Communication Division).

Ram, A. (October, 1993).  "Exchanges and interchanges."  Panel participant at the annual convention of the Ohio Speech Communication Association, Columbus, OH.

Ram, A., & Singhal, A. (August, 1992).  "Communication strategies for preventing, controlling, and coping with AIDS:  Problems and prospects."  Paper presented at the annual convention of the International Association for Mass Communication Research, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Invited Talks (Scholarly and Professional

2015 (March). Invited Speaker, “Bollywood and the Diaspora and How They Made Each Other: A Tale of Mediated Identities.” The Schomburg Visiting Scholars Program at Ramapo College, NJ.

2011 (June) Invited Speaker, “Bollywood: A Global Media Phenomenon. Presentation at Senior Week 2011: The Evolution of Modern India: From British Rule to Global Power, Three Rivers Community College, CT.

2005 (Oct) Invited Speaker, “Educating the Right Way: Response to Michael Apple.” Paper presented at Education Colloquium, Connecticut College, CT.

2004 (Nov) Invited Workshop Facilitator, “Doing Business in India: Considering the Cultural, Social, Political, and Economic Contexts,” for senior managers at EMC Corporation, Milford, MA.

2003 (Dec) Invited Workshop Co-Facilitator, “Doing Business in India: Considering the Cultural, Social, Political, and Economic Contexts,” for senior managers at EMC Corporation, Milford, MA.

2000 (Oct) Invited Workshop Co-Facilitator, “Cultural identity and cross-cultural conflict,” for staff and teachers at the Child and Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut

998-99 Invited Workshop Facilitator, “Intercultural Communication: How to Communicate Effectively in the Contexts of National, Regional and Organizational Cultures” for Electricité de  France, Clark University, Worcester, MA.

997 (Dec) Invited Workshop Facilitator, “Morgan Construction Company Intercultural Communication Workshop,” for Morgan Construction Company, Worcester, MA.

994 (Feb) Invited Speaker, "Women as sign in Hum Rahi: An analysis of gender representation in an Indian soap opera". Paper presented at the Women's Studies Colloquium, Ohio University.

994 (Jan) Invited Speaker, "Lessons from the past, visions for the future."  Panel presentation at the Annual Ohio University Leadership Conference.

992 (Mar) Invited Workshop Facilitator, "Public Speaking and Interview Skills in a Cross-Cultural Context," for American Society for Engineers from India, Ohio University.

992 (Jan) Invited Workshop Facilitator, "Diversity and Difference: Issues in Cross-Cultural Communication," for International Student Union, Ohio University.

992 (May) Invited Speaker, "Changing roles, changing expectations:  A discussion of international women."  Panel presentation at the First Annual Conference for Women Students, Ohio University.

991 (Dec) Invited Workshop Facilitator, "Public Speaking and Interview Skills in a Cross-Cultural Context," for American Society for Engineers from India, Ohio University.