Amrapali Maitra | Women, Violence, and Hope in Kolkata

Based on 18 months of ethnography in Kolkata, India, this work explores patterns and expressions of violence in a Bengali context, highlighting the broader point that definitions of and responses to domestic violence are not universal. Where do women draw the line, and how do they endure? How do domestic and structural violence intersect? In vignettes from the clinic, the court, and the slum neighborhood, this talk sketches the emotional landscapes of marriage, abuse, labor, and bodily striving in Kolkata—and shows how women kindle hope despite violence, through motherhood.

About the Speaker

Amrapali Maitra is a writer, anthropologist, and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Stanford. She received her BA in History and Literature from Harvard College and her MD and PhD in Anthropology from Stanford University. Amrapali completed internal medical residency and fellowship in hospital medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Her research explores cross-cultural perspectives on violence, care, and gender, and has received grants from the Soros Foundation, National Science Foundation, Wenner-Gren Foundation, and American Institute of Indian Studies, among other places. She is working on her first book.