Katia Chaterji

Dr. Katia Chaterji earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in history at the University of Washington, and her B.A. in anthropology at the University of Chicago. She is an interdisciplinary scholar of maritime Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean World, and she researches the shared histories between Islam and the performing arts in Sumatra, Indonesia. Her doctoral research was supported by Fulbright, among others, and contributed to understandings of mystical Islam in Sumatra and to ongoing debates around gender, piety, and performance. Prior to her doctoral research, Katia worked in archaeology and the historic preservation field in India and in the United States.

As a teacher and scholar, Katia is enthusiastic about mixed-method approaches to research questions. She engages oral history and performance ethnography in her work, and is an active dancer and musician. She is currently revising her dissertation for publication.