Welcome to our newest CRFR Co-Director, Dr Shruti Chaudhry
NEW DIRECTOR OF CRFR
Dr Shruti Chaudhry
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Please share with us a little about yourself and your background!
I am a Chancellor’s Fellow in sociology at the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh. I also completed my PhD at Edinburgh sociology. Before arriving at Edinburgh, I worked in the field of gender and development in India on projects including addressing gender-based violence and masculine sex ratios and the social and political economy of care. My doctoral research on marriage migration grew out of my involvement in a three-year research project on gender and (labour) migration. In 2019, I started a programme of research focused on minority ethnic ageing in Scotland that aimed to explore the relationships of care (both within and beyond the family) that are significant in the lives of older people of South-Asian heritage. Subsequently, I worked at the Edinburgh Advanced Care research Centre (ACRC) on a project on ‘Understanding transitions in care’, where I carried out a small study with older people of Black African, Chinese and South-Asian heritage in Edinburgh.
What are your research interests related to families and relationships?
My most recent research project focused on the family and intimate lives of South-Asian heritage older adults in Scotland. I am currently writing papers based on this research focused on ageing, ethnicity and friendship. I am particularly interested in exploring friendships that cross social boundaries of gender, ethnicity/race and class. I am working on developing a book project on friendship and social change.
My future agenda includes writing on my participants’ experiences of divorce and widowhood in mid-and-later life and also on the significance of sibling relationships in their lives. I am also planning a knowledge exchange event on minority ethnic ageing and the future of care in Scotland.
Currently, I also teach a course on intimate relationships with CRFR co-director, Lynn.
What are you most looking forward to in your role as a Co-Director?
I have been affiliated with CRFR as an associate researcher and was mentored by Lynn for my post-doctoral research and am thrilled to be joining as co-director. Over the last few years, I have established links with a range of organisations across Scotland working with minority communities and I am looking forward to connecting them to CRFR to further facilitate non-academic engagement.
I also hope to widen the CRFR associate researchers network to include scholars based in Global South contexts.
I am looking forward to deepening my involvement with the CRFR affiliated PhD student network. I am really excited about the possibility of planning a workshop for PhD students and early career researchers as well as a future CRFR international conference.