Darshana Chakrabarty

Darshana Chakrabarty is a doctoral candidate in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies under Prof. Ali Na. She completed her second Masters in English, specializing in Film and Media Studies, from Arizona State University in Spring 2021. Her research investigates the formation and evolution of virtual social identities, politics, and cultures, of Indian queer individuals and communities within the domains of Indian digital media and contemporary Indian Indie cinema. It explores how advancements in Internet technologies, digitalization, and cyberspace in India have provided LGBTQ+ individuals with opportunities to explore their non-binary gender and sexual identities, create communities, contribute to the awareness about gender and sexual fluidity, and use cyberspace to expand their acts of resistance against homo/transphobia. She has written multiple articles and essays for renowned journals, and book chapters published by Routledge and IGI Global. She is a reviewer of CINEJ Cinema Journal, University of Pittsburgh and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Back in India, she used to be a high school teacher of English language and literature. Her research interests are Indian queer politics and culture, Indian digital media, Indian Indie cinema, Indian film industry, gender and sexuality studies, cultural studies, film studies and theories.