Madhulika Sonkar | Humanities & Social Sciences

Madhulika Sonkar

Madhulika Sonkar
Assistant Professor
Sociology
CV Summary: 

Madhulika Sonkar is an assistant professor of sociology at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi. Her work engages the politics of schooling cultures, identity and aspirations in urban contexts, with a strong focus on Muslim women's educational journeys in contemporary India. Her PhD was based on the ethnographic study of a five-decade old Muslim girls’ school in Ballimaran, Old Delhi where she examined young women’s educational experiences in the complex mesh of class, beraderi, family, and neighbourhood. Since then her research and teaching are located at the intersections of sociology of education, gender studies and feminist praxis.

Additionally, she is interested in questions to do with educational policy, pedagogy, curriculum studies, higher education, and shifting meanings of skills and vocation in the Global South. Methodological interrogations on the challenges of conducting ethnography in diverse educational spaces remain pivotal to her training as a sociologist.

Currently she is an editorial member at the Feminist Review.

Madhulika has earlier taught sociology at Indraprastha College for Women and Maitreyi College, University of Delhi. Prior to joining academia, she was a news reporter covering public health, gender, and society for Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) from 2010-2012.

Contact Information

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Office: MS 623
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110016
Tel:+91-11-26548749(O)
Email: msonkar@hss.iitd.ac.in

Research Areas

Sociology of Education
Gender studies
Sociology of Childhood and Youth
Urban anthropology
Ethnographic methods
Sociology of News

Academic Background

PhD, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi

MPhil Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi

MA (Sociology), Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi

PG Diploma in Human Rights Law, Indian Law Institute, Delhi

BA (Mass Media and Mass Communication), Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi

Employment History

2022 Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi

2018-2022 Assistant Professor, Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi

2017-2018 Assistant Professor, Sociology, Maitreyi College, University of Delhi

Publications

Articles in Journals and edited Books

Sonkar, M., Lee, P.-H., Kim, K., & Ung Loh, J. (2024). active listening and checking-in as feminist pedagogy against neoliberal university practice. Feminist Review, 136(1), 43-51.

2024. ‘Taleem, Hunar, Tarbiyat: Meanings of Education and Vocation for Muslim Women in Old Delhi’ in Studies in religion and the everyday Edited by Farhana Ibrahim, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

2021. Journeys between Khauf and Khairiyat: Thinking through friendship in the ‘field’. Kohl: Journal of Body and Gender research. 7(1): 123-138. (Co-authored with Benazir Ruqayya)

2020. 'Power, Positionality and Ethnography in Educational Research' in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods in Education ed. by George W. Noblit, Oxford University Press, New York.

2020. 'Perspectives in the Sociology of Education and NEP 2020: A Conversation with Professor Meenakshi Thapan'. The JMC Review. Volume 4, Pp. 293-307.

2019. Power, Positionality and Ethnography in Educational Research. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.482

2018. ‘Right Relationship' between Teachers and Students: Ethnographic Unraveling of Krishnamurti's Ideas in Practice at Rishi Valley School’ in J. Krishnamurti and Educational Practice: Social and Moral Vision for Inclusive Education ed. by M. Thapan, Oxford University Press, Delhi.

Book Reviews

2021. Book Review: Sujata Patel (Ed.) Exploring Sociabilities of Contemporary India: New Perspectives. Contributions to Indian Sociology. 55(2): 276-279.

2021. A Relational Approach to Entangled Issues - Book Review of Simultaneous Identities: Language, Education and the Nepali Nation Uma Pradhan. The Book Review. Vol 45 (9).

2020. Book review: Mohammad A. Quayum and Md. Mahmudul Hasan (Eds.), A Feminist Foremother: Critical Essays on Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. Indian Journal of Gender Studies. 27(1): 160-163.

Courses