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 Nana Sato-Rossberg

Undergraduate Admissions Tutor

Mr Mohamed Said

Undergraduate Programme Convenors

Mr Naresh Sharma (BA South Asian Studies, BA South Asian Studies and...)

Dr Lidia Wojtczak (BA South Asian Studies - Sanskrit Pathway)

Postgraduate Programme Convenors

TERM 1: Professor Rachel Dwyer (MA Intensive South Asian Studies, MA South Asian Area Studies)

TERMS 2-3: Dr David Lunn (MA Intensive South Asian Studies, MA South Asian Area Studies)

Research Tutor

TERM 1: Professor Michael J Hutt

TERMS 2-3: Professor Wen-chin Ouyang

Academic Advisors

Year 1: Mr Naresh Sharma

Year 2: Mr Rakesh Nautiyal

Years 3-4: Dr Lidia Wojtczak

Please note that for Masters Students, the Postgraduate Programme Convenor is also the Admissions Tutor and Academic Adviser.

Academic Staff

Professor 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: TERM 1: Tue 3-4pm, Wed 3-4pm / TERM 2: Sabbatical
Professor 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: Tuesday 2-3pm, Thursday 4-5pm
Professor 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 3-5pm. Email for an appointment

Senior Lectors

Mr Naresh Sharma
Senior Lecturer 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: Monday 3-4pm, Thursday 2-3pm

Teaching Fellows

Dr 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
Dr David Lunn
Research Associate and Senior Teaching Fellow
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.

  • Tel: 020 7898 4294
  • Email: dl24@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 457
  • Academic Support Hours: Tue 2.00–3.30, or by appointment
Dr John Stevens
Senior Teaching Fellow in Bengali
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.

Research Associates

Dr Csaba Kiss
Kiss Csaba - SA IMG - 485 186 56

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

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

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

Emeritus Professors

Professor 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

Dr 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