I have been teaching sociology for more than 25 years now, the last 19 years of this at Delhi University. Before this, I have been a lecturer at Yale University and IIT Bombay and held research fellowships/positions at London School of Economics, Australian National University, Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Shimla and Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. My teaching is integrated with my research where i examine social institutions and practices that engage with the environment. My primary field site has been the Western Himalayas, and I do ethnographic field work to build social theory. I use a political ecology framework which means I critically engage with social structures, power, agency, justice and ecology, across local to planetary scales.
Location: Delhi
https://du-in.academia.edu/SudhaVasan
Q. Tell us about your School and College before you came to IIFM. How was your experience there? And how did IIFM happen?
A. I studied Physics with maths and chemistry, which I throughly enjoyed, at Meenakshi College, Chennai. I also loved reading and creative writing and trekking in the Western Ghats and Himalayas. I was privileged to have a working mother who loved all this and encouraged me to pursue whatever I wanted.
After a B.Sc, I just wanted get off the beaten track and applied on a whim to a new and relatively unknown program in forestry management at IIFM. The subjects were all new to me, the significant practice component of PGDFM was rare in those days and sounded enjoyable (which they were/are), and the campus looked enticing – ‘high-tech’ infra for those days in the middle of wilderness. Two years at IIFM was for me an exposure to a wide range of possible career/life trajectories. The ‘field’ curriculum at IIFM clarified to me that I didn’t want an office job, and that a self-driven less structured environment would make me happier.
I was introduced to social research at IIFM and enjoyed my field research projects. I acknowledge Prof. P.K. Biswas as my first social science teacher in my edited book, Environmental Studies from India: Engaging the Planetary Ecological Crisis, published by Oxford University Press, Global this year .https://academic.oup.com/book/61589
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM so far?
A. From IIFM, I went to Purdue University for a Masters degree in NRM, and then to Yale University for a PhD bringing together environmental studies and social anthropology. I met exceptional peers and teachers at these institutions who trained me to ask fundamental questions, pursue rigorous methods, and immerse myself in research. I studied private forest owners in the mid-western US for my MS dissertation, and decided to study a forest dependent society in the Western Himalayas for my PhD. Good academic environments instill a passion for learning, which is what I try to recreate as a teacher for my students in India.
I travelled, hiked and camped across the United States and a few other countries in those years, with an interest in both diverse ecologies and cultures. I worked as a lecturer at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies after my PhD before returning to India as a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. The latter resulted in my first book: Living with Diversity: Forestry Institutions in the Western Himalaya, published by IIAS in 2007.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. Milestones are mostly my research being useful to someone and students inspired to lead exceptional lives. My research writings are mostly available on https://du-in.academia.edu/SudhaVasanacademic.edu and ResearchGate.
I found my niche in social science research and teaching; it allows me the privilege of learning from diverse experiences and standpoints, thinking critically, and connecting and sharing ideas that may help in small ways to build a more just and sustainable society.
Q. How has been your experience in your current Organization? What all areas have you been working here?
A. Teaching at a public university in India is an opportunity to meet students from a diversity of social and educational backgrounds, and play a small role in showing them how exciting and relevant social research can be. I teach at the MA and PhD level, and have had the privilege of guiding some exemplary PhD research anywhere in the world.
I’ve designed several new courses and taught them, been involved in designing and executing several small and large research projects, both funded and unfunded, worked as editor in academic journals (currently I’m an editor at Ecology, Economy, Society – the INSEE journal), and been involved with academic administration in different roles.
Q. What is the most satisfying part in your career?
A. It’s creative, challenging, independent, and autonomous, and provides the chance to influence how the next generation thinks. I’m constantly learning, designing my own research and new courses, reading, and meeting remarkable people across generations in the field and the classroom. So it’s still interesting after 25+ years.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. Yes. For me, IIFM was just not a run-of-the-mill ‘ranked’ college with a pre-defined end point. What was exciting was that it was less explored terrain, helped me push the boundaries of my own comfort zone, and taught me to explore new things. It allowed me to figure out a path that works for me.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles.
A. Parents, teachers and friends have shaped my career and life over the years by being sounding boards and a solid support system.
My suggestion to new generation of IIFMites is to be open minded and explore new subjects/ lives/ careers while you are at IIFM; it’s a risk worth taking to make your life interesting and satisfying – that is a much better indicator of success.
Q. How did you decide to go for higher studies post IIFM? And how was the experience?
A. Just curiosity and serendipity…
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. The lush green campus with calls of wildlife, snakes and hordes of millipedes that could not be avoided during the rains as you walked from the hostel to the mess, the modernist architecture made for silhouette photographs, the small and diverse batch of only 26 students, desperate last minute project submissions with so much help and collaboration; the forest department attachment in Kodaikanal, OTs with a corporate house and and an NGO – each is memorable in its own way.
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. All of them – courses, faculty, library, friends, alumni – and last but not least – field work.
Q. As an alumni, what’s your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. IIFM is more than a B-school. Explore new/ emerging subjects/skills. What is most popular today is likely to be saturated/ passe by the time you graduate – running behind the herd can be boring!
Q. What would be your advice for recent graduates who look for changing their sector after working for couple of years?
A. Do it! Every sector has its own challenges; the point is to figure out which one works for you.
Q. What is your typical day at the work?
A. Typical day includes reading and preparing for lectures, delivering classroom lectures, discussions in and outside class, tutorials, research discussions, evaluation work…Semester breaks are for field work, reading and writing.
Q. And how does it look like while you are on a break?
A. Usually involves travel, trekking, reading and writing.
Q. And how about weekends, hobbies, family and anything else you want to add?
A. Weekends are for gardening and reading.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors?
A. Favourite authors: Antonio Gramsci, Pierre Bourdieu, Nancy Frazer, David Harvey, Sidney Mintz, William Cronon, Raymond Williams, Barbara Harris-White, John Bellamy Foster.
Fiction: John Steinbeck, Amitav Ghosh, Ismat Chughtai, Saddat Hassan Manto.
Films: Kurosowa, Indie films – The Shape of Momo (most recently).
Favourite treks: Parang La, Panchachuli, Har ki dun, Minkiani pass, Chandratal, Sahasratal, Valley of flowers.
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students?
A. I’m happy to contribute wherever my skills and experience may be useful; in building a critical syllabus and pedagogy;
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? When was the last time you visited IIFM?
A. It’s grown substantially and is very different now – as it should be. Much larger number of students, more courses, degrees, faculty, buildings on campus; much clearer and more focused on careers and outcomes.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. Each one of your profiles has been so interesting to read…