Swati Simha

Education

• B.A., FLAME University, Pune.
• M.A., Intercultural Communication Studies, Shanghai Theatre Academy, Shanghai.
• M.Phil./ Ph.D. (ongoing), Comparative Politics and Political Theory, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

Profile

Swati has been working as a playwright for the last 7 years as she pursued her higher education in political theory. She has previously worked with the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester and the Royal Court Theatre, London, being commissioned to write plays about contemporary social and political issues. She was a recipient of the TOTO Award for creative writing in 2019 and her works have been showcased at several international festivals over the years. Since 2022, she has been recognised as a youth ambassador for cultural diplomacy by the South-South Cooperation Council.

Her M.Phil. presented a survey of ideas of ownership and personhood in the commentariat literature of the Nyaya school of thought in an attempt to understand caste in Hindu theology and jurisprudence. Her Ph.D. research focuses on the works of D.R. Nagaraj and his theoretical interventions in understanding counter-culture within the larger context of Dalit identity formation and the anti-caste literary and cultural movement in the Kannada Public Sphere between 1970-80.

Research Interests

• Intellectual History
• Political Theology and Jurisprudence
• Aesthetics and Literary Theory

Publications

• Simha, Swati. (2017). “Birthing a Critique of Modernity.” Critical Stages/ Scènes critiques, The IATC journal/Revue de l’AICT – June/Juin 2018: Issue No 17.
• Simha, Swati (2021), “The Banḍāyā Literary Movement: Ebbs and Tides” Sahapedia.org