Shalini Shankar

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CURRICULUM VITAE

Shalini Shankar

Northwestern University, Department of Anthropology

Current and Past Positions

2014-17    NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Director, Asian American Studies Program

2014-15     Interim Director of Graduate Studies, Anthropology                           

2010         NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Associate Professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies

2007-10    NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies

2003-07   BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY (SUNY)

Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Asian & Asian American Studies Education

2003        NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, Ph.D. Anthropology; Dissertation:

“Windows of Opportunity: South Asian American Youth and the Promise of Technology in Silicon Valley.”

1998          NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, Master of Arts, Anthropology; Thesis:

“ImagiNation and Belonging: Politics of Class and Location in the South Asian Diaspora.”

1994          WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY (CT), Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology.

High honors in Anthropology; Thesis: “College Girls and Popular Culture in Bombay (Mumbai), India.

Books

2019    Beeline: What Spelling Bees Reveal about Generation Z's New Path to Success. Basic Books.

2017    Language and Materiality: Ethnographic and Theoretical Explorations, J. Cavanaugh and S. Shankar, eds. Cambridge University Press.

2015    Advertising Diversity: Ad Agencies and the Creation of Asian American Consumers. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

2008    Desi Land: Teen Culture, Class, and Success in Silicon Valley. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Referee Journal Articles

2016    “Coming in First: Sound and Embodiment in Spelling Bees” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 26(2)1-22.

2014    “Producing Authenticity in Global Capitalism: Materiality, Language, and Value.” Co-Author Jillian Cavanaugh. American Anthropologist 116(1):1-14.

2013    “Affect and Sport in Asian American Advertising.” South Asian Popular Culture 11(3): 231- 242.

2013    “Racial Naturalization, Advertising, and Model Consumers for a New Millennium.” Journal of Asian American Studies 16(2): 159-188.

2012    “Creating Model Consumers: Producing Ethnicity, Race, and Class in Asian American Advertising. American Ethnologist 39(3): 578-591.

2011    “Style and Language Use among Youth of the New Immigration: Formations of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class in Everyday Practice.” Identities 18:646-671.

2011    “Asian American Youth Language Use: Perspectives Across Schools and Communities.” Review of Research in Education, Special Issue: “Youth Cultures, Language, and Literacy” 35:1-28.

2008    “Speaking like a Model Minority: ‘FOB’ Styles, Gender, and Racial Meanings among Desi Teens in Silicon Valley.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 18(2): 268-289.

2006    “Metaconsumptive Practices and the Circulation of Objectifications.” Journal of Material Culture 11(3): 293-317.

2004    “Reel to Real: Desi Teens' Linguistic Engagements with Bollywood.” Pragmatics 14(2-3): 317-335. Reprinted in Beyond Yellow English: Toward a Linguistic Anthropology of Asian Pacific America, Angela Reyes and Adrienne Lo, eds. Pp. 309-324. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Book Chapters and Other Publications

2017    “Materiality of Words: The Branded Embodiment of Competitive Spelling.” In Language and Materiality:  Ethnographic and Theoretical Explorations, J. Cavanaugh and S. Shankar, eds. Cambridge University Press.

Accepted. “Language and Materiality: Mapping the Field.” Co-authored with Jillian Cavanaugh.

In Language and Materiality: Theoretical and Ethnographic Explorations, J. Cavanaugh and S. Shankar, eds. Under review at Cambridge University Press.

Under review.  “South Asian American Language Use in Multilingual Silicon Valley.” In Vox California, Patricia Baquedano-Lopez and H. Samy Alim, eds. University of California Press, under contract.

2016. “Reflections on Professional Sports and Immigrant Life.” In Asian American Sporting Cultures, Stanley Thangaraj, Constancio Arnolodo, and Christina Chin, eds. NYU Press.

2014    “Heritage Language Use, Asian and Pacific Islander American.”  Sage Encyclopedia of Asian Americans. Mary Yu Danico, Ed.

2013    "Youth Culture." Oxford Bibliographies in Anthropology. Ed. John Jackson. New York: Oxford University Press.

2013    “Chinese and Japanese Americans.” Smithsonian Exhibit: Race and Ethnicity in Advertising, 1890s- Present.

2013    “South Asian Americans.” Smithsonian Exhibit: Race and Ethnicity in Advertising, 1890s- Present.

2012    “Language and Materiality in Global Capitalism.” Co-Author Jillian Cavanaugh. Annual Review of Anthropology 41:355–369.

2007    “Book Review: The Anthropology of Names and Naming, eds. Gabriele vom Bruck & Barbara Bodenhorn.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 13 (4): 1045–1046.

2004    “FOBby or Tight?: ‘Multicultural Day’ and Other Struggles at Two Silicon Valley High Schools.” In Local Actions: Cultural Activism, Power and Public Life in America. Melissa

Checker and Maggie Fishman, eds. Pp. 184-207. New York: Columbia University Press.

Fellowships, Grants, and Awards

2017   John Simon Guggenheim Fellow.

2014    Public Voices/OpEd Project Fellow, Northwestern University.

2013    The Business of Spelling: Branded Bees, Neoliberal Socialization, and Racialized Stereotypes. National Science Foundation Cultural Anthropology Research Grant.

2013    The Business of Spelling: Branded Bees, Neoliberal Socialization, and Racialized Stereotypes. The Wenner-Gren Foundation, Post-Ph.D. Research Grant.

2012    The Business of Spelling. Northwestern University Research Grant.

2012    Travel Grant, Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, Durham, NC.

2011    Advertising Agency: Producing Racial Imagery of Asian Americans. Northwestern University Research Grant.

2010    Visiting Professor Program, Advertising Education Foundation, New York, NY.

2009    Advertising Agency: Producing Racial Imagery of Asian Americans. National Science Foundation Cultural Anthropology Research Grant.

2009    The Post-Racial Turn. Research Workshop co-organized with Dr. Barnor Hesse. Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities & The Institute for Comparative Race and Diaspora, Northwestern University.

2009    Advertising Agency: Producing Racial Imagery of Asian Americans. Northwestern University Research Grant ($5,000).           

2001    Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship on Research Related to Education ($20,000).

2001    New York University June E. Esserman Dissertation Fellowship, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences ($15,000).

1999    Social Science Research Council Dissertation Research Fellowship, International Migration Program ($15,000).

1999    American Institute of Indian Studies Fellowship for intensive summer language study at the

Hindi Language Institute, Udaipur, India ($4000).

1998    Social Science Research Council Predissertation Workshop, International Migration Program

1995    New York University multi-year funding package.

Select Invited Presentations

2016    “The Semiotics of Spelling Bees: Sound, Temporality, and Language Materiality.” The Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures & Department of Anthropology, The University of Notre Dame, March 29.

2016    “From Spellbound to Spellebrity: Brain Sports, Spelling Careers, and the Competitive Lives of Generation Z.” Teachers College, Columbia University, February 4.

2015    “3 Developmental Stages.” A Symposium in Honor of Bambi Schieffelin, New York University, October 10.

2015    “#LinguisticAnthropology: Language and Ethnography Matter for Social Equality ”Keynote Address, University of Toronto “This is Linguistic Anthropology” Conference, May 9.

2015    “Elite Spellers and Mediatized Spelling Bees: Chronotopes of Neoliberal Childhoods.” Linguistic Anthropology workshop, University of Toronto, May 8.

2015    “Semiotics of Spelling: Soundscapes and Qualia in Media.” Semiotics Workshop, University of Chicago, March 5.

2015    “Assembling Race: Ethnographies of Language and Media Production among Asian Americans.” Department of Anthropology and The American Studies Program, Princeton University. February 10.

2014    “Branding and Diversity in the American Landscape: Transforming Public Spaces for Consumption.” Urban Futures Seminar, Graduate Center, CUNY, April 25.

2014    “Copywriting Diversity: Productions of Language, Materiality, and Brand in Asian American Advertising.” Department of Anthropology, New York University, March 13.

2013    “Language and Mobility.” Presidential Panel on Education and Migration, American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, November 22.

2013    “Branding Diversity: Contests of Ethnoracial Expertise in American Advertising.” Department of Anthropology, UCLA, May 15.

2013    “Ethnoracial Expertise and Contests of Diversity in American Advertising.” Anthropology of Markets and Consumption Conference, UC Irvine, March 8.

2012    “Race Makers, Ethnolinguistic Experts, and Global Diversity in American Advertising.” Buffet Center for International and Comparative Politics, Northwestern University, October 28.

2012    “Language Commodification, Circulation, and Contests of Racial Authenticity in Asian American Advertising Production.” Society for Linguistic Anthropology Invited Session. AAA Meetings, San Francisco, CA. November 12.

2011    “Consuming Disciplines: The Relationship between Anthropology and Asian American Studies.” Roundtable, Asian American Studies Meetings, New Orleans, LA, May 20.

2011    “Reconsidering Language Use and Style among Youth of the New Immigration.” Migration Studies Seminar, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA. April 15.

2011    “Style and Language Use among Youth of the New Immigration.” Series on “Schooling” at Munroe Center for Cultural Inquiry, Pitzer College, Claremont Colleges, CA. March 1.

2010    “New Media Circulations of Language and Ethnicity in New York City.” American

Anthropological Association Society for Visual Anthropology Invited Panel. AAA Meetings. New Orleans, LA. November 19.

2009    “Producing Race and Ethnicity: Objectification and Cultural Meaning in Advertising.”

American Anthropological Association Executive Program Committee and Society for Visual Anthropology Invited Panel. AAA Meetings, Philadelphia, PA. December 5.

2009    Presenter and respondent for book discussion for Desi Land. Anthropology Department,

Emory University. October 29.

2009    “Discursive and Interdiscursive Constructions of Race and Ethnicity in Advertising.”

Invited Speaker, Department of Anthropology and Linguistics Program, Emory University. October 28.

2009    “Translation as Semiotic Transformation Producing Race and Ethnicity in Asian American

Advertisements.” Invited Speaker, Anthropology Monday Seminar Series, University of Chicago. June 8.

2009    Presenter and respondent for book discussion for Desi Land. Critical Ethnicity and Diaspora

Group, Northwestern University. April 29.

2009    “Translating Brands, Translating Lives: Producing Asian American Advertising.” Invited

Speaker, Asian American Studies Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. April 15.

2009    Presenter and respondent for book discussion for Desi Land. Asian American Studies

Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. April 15.

2009    Presenter and respondent for book reading for Desi Land. Asian American Writers

Workshop, April 2.

2008    Invited Panelist, “Between Conversation and Critique: African American Studies and the

Other Disciplines,” Northwestern University. May 7.

2008    “Barack OBollywood”: Afro-Asian Connections on the Viral Video Trail. Asian American

Media Week, April 28- May 2, In Media Res May 1.

2008    “Defining Desi Teen Culture: Teenage Girls, Class, and Cosmopolitanism in Silicon

Valley.” Colloquium on Girl Studies, Loyola University Chicago. April 12.

Conference Presentations

2015    Roundtable Presenter, “Transforming America, One Ethnography at a Time.” American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. November 21.

2015    Roundtable Organizer and Introduction, “Ferguson and Beyond: Extrajudicial Violence, Race, and the Role of Anthropology.” American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. November 21.

2015    Discussant, “Transforming Movements: Rethinking the Anthropology of Embodiment,

Circulation, and Transformation.” American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. November 21.

2015    Graduate Student Workshop Facilitator, “Considering Language and Discourse in

Sociocultural Anthropology.” American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. November 20.

2015    “Familiar Orthography, Strange Ontology: The Case of Spelling Bees.” American

Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. November 19.

2015    “Spelling as Sporting Spectacle: Producing South Asian American Elite Spellers for Media

Consumption.” Association for Asian American Studies Annual Meeting, Evanston, IL. April 22.

2014    “Producing Diversity: Creative and Intercultural Affect in Assemblages of American

Advertising.” American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Washington DC. December 4.

2013    “Entanglements of Expertise and Legacies of Racialized Capitalism in Asian American

Advertising.” Association for Asian American Studies Meetings, Seattle, WA, April 19.

2013    “Ethnoracial Expertise and Contests of Diversity in American Advertising.” American Ethnological Society Meetings, Chicago, IL, April 12.

2012    “Mobilizing Affect: South Asian American Cultural Production.” Discussant, Association for Asian American Studies Meetings, Washington DC, April 14.

2011    “Roundtable: Class in America.” Association for American Studies Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, October 21.

­2009    “Selling Expertise: Socioeconomic Challenges in Asian American Advertising.” Association for Asian American Studies Annual Meeting, Honolulu, HI, April 23.

2008    “Materializing Media: Producing Asian American Advertising.” Society for Linguistic Anthropology, American Anthropological Association 107th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 23.

2007    “South Asian American Youth in the Monoglot American High School.” Association for Asian American Studies Annual Meeting, New York, NY, April 5.

2006    “Curses! Desi teens and the Monoglot High School.” Society for Linguistic Anthropology, American Anthropological Association 105th Annual Meeting, San Jose, CA, November 18.

2005    “Linguistic Dimensions of Desi Identity and Subjectivity.” Association for Asian American Studies Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, April 23.                

2002    "Cheetos." American Anthropological Association 101st Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, November 23.

2000    "Performing Multicultural Day at Silicon Valley High Schools." Society for the Anthropology of North America, American Anthropological Association Annual 99th Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 15.

2000    “Taal se Taal Mila?” [Can you match my beat]? Multicultural Day at Silicon Valley High Schools." The 29th Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Oct. 21.

1999    “Why We Wear Colored Contact Lenses: Consumption Practices, Ethnicity and Gender among South Asian-American Youth.” The 28th Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin- Madison, October 23.

1999    “Reel Romance and Desi Desire: Teens Watch Hindi Films.” South Asia Pop Culture Conference, University of Victoria, British Columbia, May 31.

1998    “‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ [The Heart is Crazy]:  Negotiations of Romance, Gender and Style among South Asian Teenage Boys in Queens.” The 27th Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin- Madison, October 17.

OpEds

2015    “Better off Brown: Why Bobby Won’t Get Elected But Piyush Could.” Medium July 28.

2015    “Real Diversity is about Confronting Power.” The American Prospect, June 11.

2015    “Why Are Indian Americans Winning the National Spelling Bee?” Newsweek, June 7.

2015    “What does the spelling success of Indian American kids tell us?” The Conversation, June 4.

2015    “Brain Sports are Gaining Momentum.” Boston Globe, May 18.

2015    “Fifty years on, the overachiever stereotype is still hurting Asian Americans.” Quartz, April 6.

2015    “How do you spell S-T-E-R-E-O-T-Y-P-E? Asian American Spelling Bee Champions are

Real Americans.” Pacific Standard, April 6.

2015    “Asian Americans, They’re Just Like Us.” Pacific Standard, February 10.

2015    “A Super Bowl of Racial Candor?” Ms.Blog, February 1.

2014    “Our Racially Diverse Present (and Future) Deserves More Than Tokenism.” The Guardian,

December 30.

Media Interviews and Appearances

2015    CNN.com, Interviewed for “Why Indian-Americans win spelling bees: P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E.” June 3.

2015    BBC, News Hour, May 30.

2015    CNN, Brooke Baldwin, May 29.

2015    National Public Radio, Here and Now, May 29.

2015    Time, Interviewed for “Here’s a Theory About Why South Asian Americans Totally Rule the

Spelling Bee.” May 28.

2015    Canadian Broadcast Company, As it Happens, May 28.

2015    The Guardian, Interviewed for “Life after the Spelling Bee: 'It’s one of the most unique, odd

clubs you can be in'” May 27.

2015    Washington Post, Interviewed for “Indian Americans dominate the National Spelling Bee. Why

should they take abuse on social media for it?” May 25.

2015    “National Spelling Bee Champions Face Stereotypes.” New Hampshire Public Radio’s Word

of Mouth, April 16.

2014    Expert interview for CUNY TV’s Asian American Life, segment on spelling bees, Sept 7.

2012    Live television interview on race and advertising. Chicago Tonight, WTTW, Chicago, May 12.

Professional Affiliations And Service

2015    Working Group, Police Brutality and Extrajudical Violence, American Anthropological

Association (2015-2017).

2015    Co-Chair, Committee on Minority Issues in Anthropology, American Anthropological

Association (2015-2016).

2015    Board member (recalled to board), Society for Linguistic Anthropology, American

Anthropological Association (2015-2016).

2015    Site Committee Member, 2015 conference, Association for Asian American Studies,

Evanston, IL April 22-25.

2014    Councilor/ Elected Board Member, American Ethnological Association, American

Anthropological Association (2014-2019).

2012    Chair, Committee on Minority Issues in Anthropology, American Anthropological

Association (2012-2015).

2012    Board member (elected), Society for Linguistic Anthropology, American Anthropological

Association (2012-2014).

2012    Conference Program Committee, Association for Asian American Studies.

2010    Elected representative, Committee on Minority Issues in Anthropology, American

Anthropological Association (2010-2012).

2009    Member, Language & Social Justice Task Group, Committee for Human Rights, American

Anthropological Association.

2008    Panel Co-organizer, “Toward A New Semiotic Anthropology:  Social Theories of Meaning,

Movement and Subject Formation.” American Anthropological Association 107th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, November 23.

2008    Site Committee Member and Workshop Organizer, Association for Asian American Studies

Annual Conference, Chicago, IL April 16-20.

2008    Member, American Anthropological Association Society for the Anthropology of North

America, American Ethnological Society, and Society for Urban and Transnational

Anthropology.                                                                

Peer Reviews and Related Activities

2015    Manuscript reviewer, Stanford University Press, American Ethnologist, Journal of Asian American Studies, Anthropological Quarterly.

2014    Manuscript reviewer, Communication and Critical Cultural Studies, Anthropology and Education Quarterly.

2013-   Editorial Board member, University of Nebraska Press, Anthropology of North America Series.

2013    Book Award Selection Committee, Association for Asian American Studies, Social Science

category.

2013    Manuscript reviewer, Identities, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, Duke University Press, Anthropological Quarterly.

2012    Manuscript reviewer, Ethnos, Journal of Consumer Culture, University of Hawai’i Press.

2011    Manuscript reviewer, European Journal of Cultural Studies, Journal of Asian American Studies, Routledge Press.

2010    Manuscript reviewer, Routledge Press, South Asian Diaspora.

2009    Grant proposal reviewer, National Science Foundation.

2009    Manuscript reviewer, Cultural Anthropology, Identities, South Asian Diaspora, New York University Press, Routledge Press.

2008    Fulbright Interviewer, Northwestern University.

2008    Manuscript reviewer, Cultural Anthropology, Journal of Sociolinguistics, and Identities, Oxford University Press, Polity Press.

2007    Manuscript reviewer, Identities and Journal of Asian American Studies, Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Professional and Community Experience

2013-               Advisory Board Member, Race and Ethnicity in Advertising: 1890- present, Advertising Education Foundation in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institute.

2003-2007 Academic Consultant, Liberty Science Center Exhibit on “Communication.” Jersey City, New Jersey.

2002          Website and Content Editor, “Virtual Casebook "9/11 and Aftermath." Center for Media, Culture and History, NYU.

2000-01     Research Associate, Educational Development Center/Center for Children and Technology, NY. Conducted formative evaluation for nationwide educational technology program. Designed qualitative research plan, visited school districts, interviewed administrators, teachers, and students, and conducted in-class observations. Aided in design of quantitative research plan and instruments. Collected and analyzed evaluation data, synthesized quantitative and qualitative findings, supervised and co-wrote final report for client. Presented findings at national program meetings.

1997-99     Mentor and Tutor, SAYA! (South Asian Youth Action), Elmhurst, NY. Volunteered as a youth mentor on a weekly basis; involved with girls’ program, computer center and sports. Designed, implemented, and documented the construction of a youth website with eight South Asian youth; taught internet use, HTML authoring, graphic designtechniques and content development.

1996-99     Research Assistant, Education Development Center/ Center for Children and Technology, NY. Conducted ethnographic research on issues of technology access and design in underrepresented communities; conducted interviews, focus groups, and on-site technology observations; analyzed data and wrote project reports. 

1995-98     Literacy Trainer and Advocate, Sakhi for South Asian Women, NY. Volunteered as a literacy trainer teaching immigrant women English and job-related skills; served as peer advocate and counselor; built and maintained organization’s website, updated information about domestic violence, immigration and job training for clientele and volunteers.

 Languages

Hindi- Speaking/ Reading/ Writing (fluent), Punjabi- passive competence, Spanish- Speaking/ Reading/ Writing (limited), Tamil- Speaking (fluent)