Debamita Guha

Graduate Professional Assistant

Sociology: Gender and sexuality studies, Queer studies, Activism, Urban spaces, Neoliberalism, Globalization, Development, Qualitative research methods.

Debamita Guha is a PhD student in Sociology and a Graduate Professional Assistant at the Women and Gender Studies Center. Her research focuses on the impact of neoliberalism and globalization on queer activism in India through a critique of development perspective. She explores activist praxes in queer spaces and rights organizations in urban India using qualitative research methods. She has previously served as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Global South Research Hub, Center for Social Science Research, and as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Instructor of Record at the Department of Communication. Before joining Mason, she completed a Master's in Sociology and an M.Phil. in Development Studies from India.

Grants and Fellowships

Summer Research Award 2026, Center for Humanities Research, George Mason University.

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) Scholarship for the Sociology program, 2026-27, George Mason University.

Summer Doctoral Fellowship 2025, Center for Humanities Research, George Mason University.

Sustainability Summer Fellowship 2023, Institute for a Sustainable Earth, George Mason University.

Courses Taught

Instructor of Record, COMM 101 - Fundamentals of Communication (2022-2024).

Selected Publications

Book Review

Guha, D. (2026). ‘New’ Women: Trans Women, Hijras and the Remaking of Inequality in India: by Liz Mount, Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press, 2025, 197 pp., US$101.00, cloth; US$87.00, ebook, ISBN 9781009639965. Pacific Affairs, 1–2.

https://doi.org/10.1080/0030851X.2026.2697656

Education

Ph.D. in Sociology, George Mason University (In progress).

M.Phil. in Development Studies with specialization in Sociology, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK), India.

M.A. in Sociology, Presidency University, Kolkata, India.

B.A. in Sociology, St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, India.