Dr Maya Parmar, BA (Leeds), MA (Leeds), PhD (Leeds)

Profile

As the daughter of British Indian East African twice migrants, I have an interest in minoritized identities, and in particular cultural narratives and representations of belonging amongst the South Asian diaspora. After completing my funded doctorate (2013) on what I call the ‘double diaspora’ – that community that have migrated from India to East Africa to Britain – I took up a research role at The Open University (2013 - 2021). Working first on the projects ‘Beyond the Frame: Indian British Connections’ and ‘At the Heart of the Nation: India in Britain’, and later on ‘Reading Communities: Connecting the Past and the Present’ and ‘READ-IT’ (Reading Europe Advanced Data Investigation Tool), I developed specialisms in cultural studies, diaspora and South Asian studies, digital humanities, oral history and reading studies.

In January 2023, I joined the project ‘Remaking Britain: South Asian Connections and Networks, 1830s to the present’ at Queen Mary University of London. The project is Arts Humanities Research Council funded, led by the University of Bristol and Queen Mary University of London, in partnership with the British Library.

Alongside my research roles, I lead Hadithi, which is dual stranded: it has a consultancy arm and the social enterprise division called Hadithi C.I.C. Hadithi C.I.C works in the heritage sector, with community groups, schools and cultural organisations, offering ways of remembering, learning and connecting.   

Research

Research Interests:

• South Asian diasporic cultural production, identity and memory making, especially relating to the Gujarati ‘double diaspora’
• Oral history methodologies, in particular intergenerational models, which reveal and preserve minoritized voices, as well as empower young people
• Articulations of loss and trauma amongst the South Asian diaspora
• Interdisciplinary-led methodologies, and literary close readings, of diverse forms of ‘texts’, including online forms of memorialisation and archives, performance-led practices such as dance or culinary practices

Recent and On-Going Research

I work primarily within the field of cultural and literary studies, intersecting with diaspora and postcolonial studies. I am a specialist in representations of the South Asian diaspora in Britain, and have a specific interest in cultural expressions of selfhood and community amongst the twice-displaced Gujarati East African diaspora in Britain. I published my monograph on this subject in 2019: Reading Cultural Representations of the Double Diaspora: Britain, East Africa, Gujarat (Palgrave Macmillan).

In recent years, I have developed a research interest in oral history, to explore cultural heritage, minoritized identities and belonging. In 2022 I led an intergenerational oral history project through Hadithi C.I.C, which was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Now, a research priority is the exploration of new methodologies in oral history interviewing that are relevant to serving the needs of public communities.

As Research Fellow to the project ‘Remaking Britain: South Asian Connections and Networks, 1830s to the present’ I will be leading the oral history work package. 'Remaking Britain' will reveal the significance of South Asian people and communities as agents of change to Britain's cultural, economic, political and social life from the period of empire in the 1830s to the present. Through the exploration of archival records and the capturing of oral histories, the project will produce a free, interactive and widely-accessible digital resource.

My research practice has been consistently interwoven with co-production with non-specialist audiences. Take a look at my Public Engagement profile tab above to learn more.

Publications

Public Engagement

Working with audiences beyond the academy is a longstanding personal passion, which began at the very inception of my academic studies. Whilst reading for my doctorate, I led the project ‘Expulsion: 40 Years On’, which marked the 40th anniversary, in August 2012, of the expulsion of the South Asian population from Uganda. It included a community day event in Leeds City Museum and three local school workshops. It was thus during my Ph.D that I began to explore how co-production with non-specialist stakeholders can impact and shape research, and vice versa.

Following my Ph.D studies, I joined ‘Beyond the Frame: Indian British Connections’ and ‘At the Heart of the Nation: India in Britain’ (The Open University). Both projects were collaborative, interdisciplinary and public engagement led. They highlighted the multiple ways in which South Asian migrants have significantly contributed -- culturally, intellectually and politically -- to Britain. Both produced public exhibitions and collaborated with cultural organisations.

Later I was a researcher on ‘Reading Communities: Connecting the Past and the Present’ (The Open University), which worked with community groups to connect contemporary readers with their historical counterparts. Engaging public audiences UK wide, the project investigated reading habits and preferences, via a series of outreach events and reading workshops. I led the oral history strand of the project, which examined contemporary reading habits.

Having developed a specialism in engaging non-specialist audiences in research, I most recently founded the social enterprise Hadithi C.I.C (2022). Meaning ‘story’ in Swahili, ‘Hadithi’ delivers heritage and cultural solutions, collaborating with community groups, schools and cultural organisations. In 2022, with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, through Hadithi C.I.C I directed Hidden Heritages Cambridgeshire, an intergenerational oral history project, with diverse South Asian communities in Cambridgeshire. The project commemorated two 2022 anniversaries: the 50th anniversary of South Asian expulsion from Uganda, and the 75th anniversary of partition and independence. Hidden Heritages trained young people in oral history techniques, empowering them to collect and preserve memories from their elders, on the themes of belonging, identity and migration. 

I am on the ITV Anglia Diversity Board, and have appeared in the media on several occasions, drawing on my research specialisms. Most recently, I have appeared in the following capacities:

• In August 2022, for ITV news I discussed the importance of a diverse curriculum that represents British South Asian history, with reference to the 70^th anniversary of partition and independence
• In June 2022, I featured on That's TV, on Freeview 7,  as well as in the Cambridge Independent, with regards to Hidden Heritages Cambridgeshire
• In May 2021, I appeared on Great British Railway Journeys (BBC2) with Michael Portillo, for the episode Hackney Wick to Oxford Circus. The interview oscillated around the subject of South Asian food culture in London during the interwar period, the British Empire Exhibition, and life in London for those coming from India in the 1920s and 1930s

I have written several blogs, including:

'Hidden Heritages Cambridgeshire: Who do you think you are?', Museum of Cambridge, June 2022

‘On the picket line: Jayaben Desai from East Africa to Grunwick’, Our Migration Story, co-authored A. Sundari, April 2017

‘Indian aristocrats and protest: the story of Sophia Duleep Singh’, Our Migration Story, co- authored S. Nasta, August 2016

‘Remembering Mahatma Gandhi: the first statue of an Indian unveiled in Parliament Square’, The Conversation, co-authored F. Stadtler, 16 March 2015

‘Picturing 400 Years of Asian Britain’, Untold lives, British Library, 11 October 2013