Building Dalit Scholarship, USA.

Dalit Scholarship in the US Academia 

For centuries, caste has decided who may learn, who may teach and whose knowledge counts. Dalits were denied education for generations, and that exclusion did not end at India’s borders. In U.S. universities, caste was long barely acknowledged as a subject of study, and Dalit scholars who chose to research it often faced dismissal and invisibility. Today, Dalit students still report hiding their identity on campus, and many institutions still leave caste out of their anti-discrimination policies.

Representation changes this. When Dalit scholars stand at the podium, Dalit lives become sources of knowledge rather than subjects of study. Their research names caste where it has been denied and connects it to race, gender, labor and colonialism. It also gives educators, employers and policymakers the evidence they need to recognize and end caste discrimination in America. Anticaste research is not a niche interest. It is essential to understanding inequality in the United States.

DSF is committed to ensuring that young Dalit scholars are heard in national forums. At the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA), we helped bring about:

• The first-ever all-Dalit panel (2023)
• The first-ever all-Dalit women’s panel (2026), featuring Aatika Singh (Stanford University), Priyanshi Madhukar (Howard University), Swagata Biswas (University at Buffalo) and Roja Singh (St. John Fisher University)
• The first-ever roundtable at NWSA on a Dalit-authored book: Roja Singh’s Spotted Goddesses

Dalit scholars have also presented at the American Association of Geographers, the Caste Studies conferences at Brandeis University, the Ambedkar King Study Circle Annual Conference, the National Association of African American Studies and Affiliates Regional Conference, South Asia Coalition Conference, and the Boston Study Group seminars.

Each panel opens a door for the next scholar. By supporting Dalit researchers, DSF is building a new generation of thinkers who will help make caste visible, and ultimately make it a thing of the past.

EDUCATION, INDIA: 

Education: The Path to Dignity

For centuries, caste barred Dalits from classrooms. Knowledge was guarded as the privilege of the dominant castes, and Dalits were kept in poverty and forced labor. India’s Constitution now guarantees the right to education, but caste still follows Dalit children into school. Many face discrimination from teachers and classmates, are pressured to leave school early to earn for their families, or simply cannot afford books, fees or safe housing. Dalit girls carry a double burden of caste and gender.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the Dalit leader who framed India’s Constitution, urged his people to “educate, agitate, organize.” He knew education was the foundation of freedom. An educated Dalit child can break the cycle of poverty, claim their rights, and lift up their family and community.

For more than 25 years, DSF has worked with local partners in Tamil Nadu to make that possible. We helped build a school for Dalit children in Kothapallimitta and Pravaham Ashram for Dalit girls in Vellore. We also founded Thaai, a boarding home in Pudukkottai that supported Dalit girls from kindergarten through college. Currently we are working with the  Safai Karmachari Andolan to ensure high quality college education for Dalit Youth in Tamil Nadu. 

Your support puts books in hands, keeps girls in school, and builds a generation of Dalit leaders.