SOAS University of London

South Asia Section, School of Languages, Cultures & Linguistics

South Asia Section Staff

Head of the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics

Dr Ben Murtagh

Learning & Teaching Coordinator

Dr Dana Healy

Research Coordinator

Professor Friederike Luepke

Undergraduate Admissions Tutor

Mr Mohamed Said

Undergraduate Programme Convenors

Mr Naresh Sharma (BA South Asian Studies)

Postgraduate Programme Convenors

Professor Rachel Dwyer (MA Intensive South Asian Studies, MA South Asian Area Studies)

Research Tutor

Professor Mike Hutt (Term 1), Professor Francesca Orsini (Terms 2-3)

  • Please note that for Masters Students the Admissions Tutor and Academic Advisor is the Postgraduate Programme Convenor.

Academic Advisors

Year 1: Mr Naresh Sharma

Year 2: Mr Krishna Pradhan

Years 3-4: Dr Lidia Wojtczak

Academic Staff

Rachel Dwyer
Professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema
Rachel Dwyer

Hindi Cinema; Indian popular culture; Indian film; Hinduism; new middle classes; Mumbai/Bombay

  • Tel: 020 7898 4294
  • Email: rd3@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 457
  • Academic Support Hours: By appointment: Tue 1.30-2.30, Wed 3.15-4.15
Michael J Hutt
Professor of Nepali and Himalayan Studies
Michael Hutt
Nepali literature; the Nepali media; Nepali politics; Bhutanese refugees.
  • Tel: 020 7898 4286
  • Email: mh8@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 359
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 4-5pm
James Mallinson
Senior Lecturer in Sanskrit and Classical Indian Studies
James Mallinson
  • Tel: 020 7898 4368
  • Email: jm63@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 458
  • On Sabbatical:On Research Leave 2015-2020
Francesca Orsini
Professor of Hindi and South Asian Literature
Francesca Orsini
Hindi Literature; North Indian literary cultures; Hindi; Urdu.
  • Tel: + 44(0)20 7898 4242
  • Email: fo@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 419
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesdays 11:00 - 13:00. Email for an appointment

Senior Lectors

Rakesh Nautiyal
Senior Lector in Hindi
Nautiyal Rakesh - SA IMG - 240, 186, 56
Hindi language
  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4304
  • Email: rn17@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 452
  • Academic Support Hours: Tues & Fri: 10.00-11.00 by Email Appointment
Krishna Pradhan
Senior Lector in Nepali
Staff Silhouette
Nepali Language
  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4297
  • Email: kp15@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 460
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays 11:00 - 13:00
Naresh Sharma
Senior Lector in Urdu and Hindi
Naresh Sharma
Urdu and Hindi language
  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4296
  • Email: ns19@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 452
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesday 3-4pm; Thursday 3-4pm
Lidia Wojtczak
Senior Lector in Sanskrit
Wojtczak Lidia - SA IMG - 250, 186, 56
  • Tel: +44(0)20 7074 5159
  • Email: lw24@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 458
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays 11:00 to 13:00 or by appointment

Teaching Fellows

Sahana Bajpaie
Senior Teaching Fellow in Bengali
Sahana Bajpaie
  • Tel: +44(0) 20 7898 4648
  • Email: sb165@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 374
  • Academic Support Hours: Tues & Wed: 15.00 - 16.00, By Appointment Only
Stefanie Lotter
Co-Investigator 'After the Earth's Violent Sway: The tangible and intangible legacies of a natural disaster'
Co-Investigator ‘Dignity Without Danger: Collaboratively Analysing Stigma and Taboos to Develop Innovative Strategies to Address Menstrual Exclusion in Nepal’
LOTTER Stefanie - SA IMG - 485 186 56

Nepali society and culture; museology; social and cultural anthropology of the Himalaya; elite studies; heritage studies

  • Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4711
  • Email: sl70@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 460
  • Academic Support Hours: Thursday: 10.00-12.00
David Lunn
Simon Digby Postdoctoral Fellow
Research Associate
David Lunn

19th- and 20th-century Hindi and Urdu literature; cinema; music; journalism; north Indian literary history; intellectual history; literary translation; literary and cultural history of Southeast Asia; Malay; comparative literature; postcolonial studies.

Research Associates

Louise Harrington
Research Associate
Louise Harrington

Comparative partitions; conflict and post-conflict literature and cinema; border studies; migration and diaspora studies; South Asia; Ireland; Israel/Palestine.

Csaba Kiss
Kiss Csaba - SA IMG - 485 186 56

History of Indian religions; Śaivism; mediaeval history of yoga; castes; Indian poetry; Indian inscriptions

William Radice
Research Associate
Staff Silhouette
Bengali language and literature; Tagore; Michael Madhusudan Dutt; 19th century Bengal; literary translation; poetry in Bangladesh.
Renate Söhnen-Thieme
Research Associate
Renate Sohnen Thieme
Sanskrit language and literature; classical Indian religions; folklore and music of Baltistan
John Stevens
Research Associate
John Stevens

The interconnected histories of modern West Bengal, Bangladesh and Britain; comparative religion and political theology in India and Britain; postcolonial theory; the historical construction of gender, race, class and nation; social, cultural and transnational history. He is a regular visitor to India and Bangladesh for research purposes.

Hanne-Ruth Thompson
Research Associate
Hanne-Ruth Thompson

Structural and descriptive linguistics, syntax, semantics, Bengali grammar and lexicography, philosophy of language

Emeritus Professors

Christopher Shackle
Emeritus Professor of the Modern Languages of South Asia
Staff Silhouette

Punjabi and Urdu languages and literatures; regional languages of Pakistan and North-West India; Sufism and Islam in South Asia; Sikhism and its scriptures; comparative literature of the Islamic world.

Research Fellows

Jason Birch
Postdoctoral Researcher, ERC-Funded Hatha Yoga Project
Birch Jason - SAS IMG 240 186 56

Indian history; religions; Sanskrit; yoga; Śaivism; āyurveda; textual criticism; codicology