Gender & Development in Northeast India

This program situates gender within Northeast India’s complex socio-cultural and political landscape.

Students explore matrilineal systems, ethnic governance, informal markets, and public service access. Seminars introduce intersectionality in multi-ethnic societies, customary law systems, and decentralization structures.

Field engagement includes cooperative networks, market access studies, mobility and safety inquiry, and gender audits of local service institutions. Guest lectures from regional scholars contextualize governance diversity and postcolonial state formation.

The final phase focuses on a policy brief addressing gendered service access or market constraints within the region.

Students will:

Apply intersectional gender analysis within ethnically diverse contexts.
Map gendered access to education, markets, and mobility.
Conduct participatory audits of public service delivery.
Evaluate decentralization and institutional responsiveness.
Produce a regionally grounded policy memo.

Anthropology

Political Science

Development Studies

Sociology

Public Policy

Human Rights

Guwahati

Rural Assam/Meghalaya Communities

Day	Location	Academic Engagement	Learning Emphasis
1	Guwahati	Seminar: Gender & Ethnicity in Northeast India	Context setting
2	Guwahati	Workshop: Participatory Gender Audit Methods	Toolkit
3	Guwahati	Guest lecture: Matrilineal Systems & Governance	Institutional diversity
4	Rural Field	Market access mapping	Economic systems
5	Rural Field	Service delivery audit	Institutional analysis
6	Rural Field	Cooperative leadership dialogues	Agency
7	Rural Field	Mobility & safety inquiry	Structural dynamics
8	Rural Field	Data consolidation & reflection	Integration
9	Rural Field	Community presentation session	Reciprocity
10	Guwahati	Systems synthesis seminar	Linking theory
11	Guwahati	Policy memo drafting lab	Translation
12	Guwahati	Peer critique	Refinement
13	Guwahati	Presentations & departure	Closure