Meghna Dutta
meghnadutta@wayne.edu
2228 Faculty/Administration Building, 656 W. Kirby St., Detroit, MI 48202
Education
Ph.D. Sociology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI (Expected 2026)
- Dissertation: “They Saw a Dream, They Called Me a Witch”: A Gendered In-Depth Qualitative Study on Witch-Hunting among the Rabha Community in Assam, India
- Committee: Dr. Krista Brumley (Advisor), Dr. Michelle Jacobs, Dr. Khari Brown, Dr. Anne Duggan (External)
M.Sc. Comparative Social Change, Trinity College Dublin & University College Dublin
- Awarded Tuition Fee Scholarship
M.A. Social Work, Amity University, Delhi, India (2017)
B.A. (Honours) Sociology, University of Delhi, India (2015)
Research Interests
Gender-Based Violence | Feminist Theory | Witch-Hunting | Global & Transnational Sociology | Qualitative Methods | Social Movements | South Asia
Publications
Peer-Reviewed
Dutta, Meghna. 2025. Review “Dealing in Desire: Asian Ascendancy, Western Decline, and the Hidden Currencies of Global Sex Work”, Journal of Applied Social Science. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/19367244251361490
Dutta, Meghna. 2024. “Beacon of Hope: A Gendered Homage to the Iron-Willed Woman of Assam: Birubala Rabha.” Doing Sociology.
Dutta, Meghna. 2017. “A Campaign Against Witch-Hunting in Assam: Mission Birubala and Its Social Significance.” World Journal of Gender and Literature, Vol. 4(2).
Work in progress
Dutta, Meghna. 2025. “Echoes of the Hunt: Understanding the Consequences of Witch-Hunting on Women in Assam, India.” Under review at Violence Against Women.
Dutta, Meghna. 2025. “Myth or Reality: The Notion of Superstitious Belief Among the Indian People,” under review at the Michigan Sociological Review.
Conference Activities
Panel presentations
July 2025 — “Women and Witches: Triggers of Accusation in the Practice of Witch-Hunting among the Rabhas”, Society for the Study of Social Problems Annual Meeting, Chicago.
February 2024 — “The Good, the Bad, and the Evil: A Content Analysis on Witch-Hunting as a Gendered Phenomenon”, Graduate Research Symposium, Wayne State University.
January 2023 — Delegate, 67th Commission on the Status of Women, United Nations (NGO CSW Forum).
April 2022 — “Inequality and Violence Against Women: A Qualitative Study of Contemporary Witch-Hunting among the Rabha Community”, North Central Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Indianapolis.
January 2022 — “The War Against Women During COVID-19: Witch-Hunting in Assam, India”, Sociologists for Women in Society Annual Meeting (Virtual).
July 2017 — “Gender Discrimination: An Insight into Violence Against Women in India”, 15th International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, Imperial College London.
January 2017 — “A Study on Youth Crime in Delhi”, National Conference on Social Work, Amity University, India. (Selected for Top Student Paper Award).
Workshops and panels organized/invited
July 2025 — “Researcher Well-Being in Dealing with Sensitive Research”, University of York. Discussant: Dr. Laura Bainbridge, University of Leeds.
April 2024 — “On Publishing and Applied Sociology”, Wayne State University. Discussant: Dr. Khari Brown, Wayne State University.
July 2021 — “Navigating the World Through a Comparative Lens”, Trinity College Dublin. Discussant: Dr. Daniel Fass, Trinity College Dublin.
Awards
July 2025 — 1st Prize, 3-Minute Thesis Competition, Vulnerability and Policing Futures, University of York & University of Leeds, UK.
July 2024 — Dissertation Support Travel Award, Humanities Center, Wayne State University, for presentation of “Women and Witches.”
April 2022 — Conference Travel Award, Wayne State University Graduate School, for presentation of “Inequality and Violence Against Women: A Qualitative Study of Contemporary Witch-Hunting Among the Rabha Community.”
January 2017 — Best Graduate Student Paper Award, National Conference on Social Work, India, for “A Study on Youth Crime in Delhi.”
Fellowships and Grants
2025–2026 — Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, The Humanities Center, Wayne State University. Competitive university-wide award of $25,000 to support dissertation completion.
2025 — International PhD Summer School Travel Grant, University of York. Awarded £2,000 for travel and accommodation through a globally competitive selection process.
2024 — Summer Graduate Fellowship (Pre-Candidacy Award), Wayne State University Graduate School. $3,000 awarded for summer research.
2023–2024 — Thomas Rumble Fellowship, Wayne State University. Competitive fellowship providing $23,000 to pre-doctoral candidates across disciplines.
2019–2020 — Tuition Fee Scholarship, University College Dublin. Competitive award of €16,000 covering tuition for students from Global South countries.
Teaching and Mentorship
Instructor of Record, Wayne State University, Detroit
• Understanding Human Society – Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Summer 2023, Summer 2025
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Wayne State University
• Understanding Human Society – Fall 2021, Fall 2023, Winter 2024
• Social Statistics – Winter 2022
Guest Lectures
Department of Sociology, Tezpur University, Assam, India
Writing Fellow
Humanities Brown Bag, Wayne State University
High School Teaching
2017-2018 Sociology Educator, The Assam Valley School, Tezpur, Assam
Mentorship, Wayne State University, Detroit
2022-2024 Peer Mentor to First year international PhD incoming students
Research Pedagogy
Summer School International PhD Research Fellow, York University and Leeds University, Funded by Economic and Social Research Council, UK and hosted by Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre, UK (2025)
- Attended workshops on researcher well-being, theory and policies, media engagement, publications. Won a 3-Minute Thesis competition among 21 researchers around the globe.
Qualitative Researcher (Intern), The Humanities Centre, Wayne State University (2025)
- Policy documentation, data analysis, formulate Annual Report 2025, research and development
Research Assistant (Intern), Destined for Greatness, Detroit (2022)
- Recruited and interviewed participants for a qualitative project on empowering young women in Detroit. Conducted transcription, coding, and reporting.
Qualitative Researcher (Intern), Detroit-Hamtramck Coalition for Advancing Healthy Environments (2022)
- Conducted literature reviews, analyzed data, and prepared weekly research summaries.
University Services
Vice President, Graduate Student Union, Department of Sociology, Wayne State University (2022–2025)
Member, Humanities Brown Bag Series, The Humanities Centre, Wayne State University (2024-2025)
Volunteer, Royal Oak Senior Tech Fair (2022)
Languages
English, Assamese, Hindi, Bengali
Technical Skills
- NVivo
- MAXQDA
- SPSS
- Excel
- Qualtrics
Professional Memberships
- American Sociological Association (ASA)
- Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS)
- Indian Sociological Society (ISS)
- Society for the study of Social Problems (SSSP)
- Interdisciplinary Witches