Alumni Profile

“I long for another break such as that possible with IASACT…” Bonita ALEAZ Professor and Head of the Department of Political Science University of Calcutta (India) IASACT 2004

Professor Bonita Aleaz is head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Calcutta.

“Since participating in IASACT, I have tried to bring in a multidisciplinary focus, primarily at the M.Phil level and to some extent in the postgraduate optional courses as well. I emphasize the interrelationship of religion and politics, women and religion and, as a whole, the inextricable linkage between religion and the daily lives of people at the experiential level in South Asia. Earlier, this focus was totally missing in the curricula.

“I was a reader/associate professor in the political science department when I was at IASACT in 2004. Now, I am professor and head of the department, which has 450 postgraduate students, 15 M.Phil students and about 30 doctoral candidates – my hands are indeed full! Yet I still have managed to publish three articles in refereed journals this year. I long for another break such as that possible with IASACT, where one can truly, truly be productive in the environment.”