Dr. Praveen Sewgobind
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
My name is Praveen Sewgobind and from 1 July 2022 onwards I will be the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen. My tasks include chairing the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. This committee aims to formulate a strategic policy and action plan regarding DEI.
In my PhD dissertation, I explored the nexus of South Asian diaspora memory and migration, in relation to decolonial cosmopolitanism. I hold a BA in English Language and Culture from the University of Amsterdam, and an rMA in Cultural Analysis from the University of Amsterdam. In August 2019, I successfully defended my PhD dissertation at the University of Potsdam (cum laude).
I have co-organized two academic conferences, a two-day international conference exploring tensions between theory and practice in the humanities at the University of Amsterdam (Is Thought Action? NICA/ASCA Conference Exploring Tensions Between Academic Theory and Praxis, see http://www.nica-institute.com/is-thought-action/ ) and an international graduate conference at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS), see https://arthist.net/archive/12701.
Curriculum Vitae
2009-2012: BA English Language and Culture (University of Amsterdam)
2012-2014: rMA Cultural Analysis (University of Amsterdam)
2015-2016: PhD researcher LUCAS (Leiden University)
2016-2019: Associate Doctoral Fellow RTG Minor Cosmopolitanisms, University of Potsdam
2019-2020: Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher, Graduate Center, City University New York
2020-2021: Research Professor Diversity & Inclusivity, Design Academy Eindhoven
2021-2022: Project Leader Inclusion and Diversity, ArtEZ University of the Arts
2022-current: Diversity Officer, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
Teaching
Academic year 2020-2021, first semester: ASCA/NICA Seminar Series “Critical Race Theory”
https://www.nica-institute.com/critical-race-theory-seminar/
Academic year 2020-2021, second semester: NICA Core Course Seminar Series “Decolonial Studies and Political Philosophy”
https://www.nica-institute.com/decolonial-studies-and-political-philosophy-2/
Publications
Sewgobind P., Kwakoe, Baba and Mai: Revisiting Dutch Colonialism in Suriname, Postcolonial Interventions: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Postcolonial Studies, Vol. IV, Issue 2 (June 2019) 264-300: Online: https://postcolonialinterventions.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/june-2019-master_suriname.pdf
Dissertation
Other Materialities
Sewgobind, P., Configurations of Black and Brown Racialization in Suriname. (under review).
Sewgobind, P., Magnetized Racializations of Space: Habitual Bodies and Bodily Habits. (under review).
Dismantling Colonial Racism : Travelogue – Imagery – Poetics
Paper Presentations
“Beyond the Black-White Binary: Surinamese Black and Brown Entanglements of Racialization under White Supremacy.” Presented at the New York University Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies’ Working Group on Racisms in Comparative Perspective. New York, United States, November 2019.
“Beyond the Black-White Binary: Surinamese Black and Brown Entanglements of Racialization under White Supremacy.” Presented at the Penn State University Conference Racial Disposability and Cultures of Resistance. State College, United States. October 2019.
“Raced Bodies, Erased Histories: African and South Asian Entanglements in Suriname.” Presented at the Northeastern University Conference (Re)Writing Global Histories: Movement, Memory, and Materiality. Boston, United States. March 2019.
”Raced Bodies, Erased Histories: African and South Asian Entanglements in Suriname.” Presented at the Goethe University Conference Postcolonial Narrations: Moving Centers and Traveling Cultures. Frankfurt am Main, Germany. October 2018.
“Memory Practices Among Diasporic Hindustani Communities in the Netherlands and Suriname: Transcultural Belonging and Identity in the Age of Globality.” Presented at the Institute for Kashmir Studies, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Kashmir. November 2017.
“‘We Will Now Remove This Roadblock !’: Combating Israeli State Terror in Palestine.” Presented at the IFAO/Humber College Conference The State of (In)Equality: Social Justice Under Siege. Toronto, Canada. October 2017.
“Detroping White Privilege: ‘Diversity’ Politics Beyond the Token Paradigm.” Presented at the Humboldt University Conference Race, Power, and Privilege in Academia. Berlin, Germany, July 2017.
“’We Will Now Remove This Roadblock !’:Combating Israeli State Terror in Palestine.” Presented at the University of Innsbruck Conference Terror on Tour III: Borders, Detours, and Contingencies. Innsbruck, Austria, March 2017.
“Demasking Black Pete: Resisting Colonial Amnesia in the Netherlands.” Presented at the European Race and Imagery Foundation/Innsbruck University Conference Returning the Gaze II: Stories of Resistance. Innsbruck, Austria. November 2016. https://erifonline.org/2017/07/28/detroping-white-privilege-diversity-politics-beyond-the-token-paradigm/
“Demasking Black Pete: Resisting Colonial Amnesia in the Netherlands.” Presented at the IFOA/Humber College Conference Truth, Lies, and Manufacturing Memory. Toronto, Canada. October 2016.
“Meandericity Meets Cultural Hegemony: A Critical Elaboration of Hall’s Legacy.” Presented at TU Dortmund University. Dortmund, Germany. February 2016.
“Beyond Hybridity, towards Meandericity.” Presented at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome. Rome, Italy. October 2015.
praveensewgobind.com 