Kelli Kobor (Alexandria, Virginia)

submitted: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 13:38:39 -0500

Kelli M. Kobor, PhD
2611 Foundry Way, #102
Alexandria, VA  22314 USA

Phone: 703-567-6764
Fax:   703-567-6764
email: kobitt@worldnet.att.net

Affiliation: May 1998 graduate (Ph.D. in History), Duke University

Description of work:

Dissertation: "Orientalism, the Construction of Race, and the Politics 
of Identity in British India, 1800-1930." My focus is on the interplay 
between Indology, race-theory (especially related to Aryan and Dravidian 
consciousness), and socio-political movements in colonial-era South 
Asia.  A central argument is that Orientalism's most enduring legacy has 
been the reinforcement and legitimation of pre-colonial 
ethnic/regional/"racial" divisions among South Asians.  

Current projects: Revising and expanding dissertation for publication.  
I am especially interested in the relationship between Indology and 
Hindu Nationalism in contemporary, BJP-led India. 

Interests: Colonial and post-colonial South Asian cultural, 
intellectual, political history; Orientalist theory; Aryan and Dravidian 
ideologies; history of archaeology, anthropology, linguistics in South 
Asia; comparative imperialisms.