MALASREE NEEPA ACHARYA
1325 Ridgeway Rd. Brookfield, WI 53045
+1 650 353 7767
neepa.acharya@alumni.stanford.edu
:: entrepreneurship :: migration :: diaspora :: policy :: global south ::
CV
Malasree Neepa Acharya is an academic researcher and consultant, with a focus on the global mobility of diaspora entrepreneurs of Indian origin, and the development of ecosystems in the emerging Global South. She is currently a researcher in the Migration, Diversity and Human Rights cluster at the Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and a member of the teaching team of the Program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Stanford Center for Professional Development, Stanford University. Neepa’s research investigates the mobility and circulation of diaspora entrepreneurs of Indian origin and their impact on emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems in Global South technological hubs. Her research interests are interdisciplinary--combining qualitative ethnographic inquiry with quantitative analysis to investigate policy issues at local and global levels.
Her dissertation project, 'Brain-Gain' Return of India's High Skilled Entrepreneurs: Home, Transformation and Power in the Cosmopolitan Global South, was co-funded by the ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius 'Settling into Motion' Ph.D. Fellowship in Migration Studies, financing 25 months of dissertation research, writing and fieldwork across Bangalore (India), Silicon Valley (USA) and London (UK). Neepa has also held fellowships as an international scholar from the Belgian American Education Foundation, and the Vlaamse Overheid.
In her position at Stanford, Neepa is working towards optimizing the real-world application of particular aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation. She is part of the teaching team for the courses, Scaling Excellence, Strategy Driven Innovation, and Cultivating the Entrepreneurial Mindset. At the VUB, Neepa has given a course in the Political Science department on Political Structures in Developing Countries with a focus on Cities and Development. She has also taught at the Ecole Supérieure de Communication in Brussels and frequently gives guest lectures around the world, espousing the cosmopolitan attitudes she enjoys researching.
Applying research to policy and public service is of particular importance to Neepa. She currently serves as a member of the High Level Working Group on Diaspora for the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD), organized by the World Bank and Migration Policy Institute, and regularly consults on migration, diaspora, and innovation policy. Her early research at Stanford on analyzing incentives for Alaska Native takeup of welfare and public assistance received the Robyn R. Noll Prize for Outstanding Policy Thesis as well as the CTL-URP Award for Best Thesis Presentation, and she served as a research analyst at the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. She has also worked for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), with a fellowship from the Indian American Center for Political Awareness.
Neepa arrived in Belgium in 2007 to pursue her dual career in baroque violin performance through her study of historically informed performance practice at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel with world-renowned musical pedagogue, Sigiswald Kuijken. She is currently focused on combining her composition work on aleatoric improvisation with academic theory on migration, the city, and womanism in the South, to explore mixed-media connections with sound, space, movement, and voice. Her current projects, {interventions} and Poporo!, explore these themes while collaborating with a variety of dancers, designers and mask artists, and musicians from around the world.
Neepa holds degrees from Stanford University (California, USA), in Anthropology (M.A., 2007), Public Policy and Music (B.A. Hons., 2006), and the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (Brussels, Belgium) in Historical Music (B.A. 2009, M.A. expected).
In her free time, Neepa enjoys cooking, gardening, meditation, spending time with friends and family throughout the world, taking care of her cats, practicing Bach, Biber and Berio, and entering spaces full of sound.
Activities
circulation and return migration of diaspora elites, global governance of diaspora migration, entrepreneurship and innovation across diaspora networks, ecosystem development in Global South technological hubs, cosmopolitanism, 'Cinema of Prayoga' Indian contemporary film theory, sound art and the city, sound anthropology and color, and public service in academic research.
Engagements
:: FORTHCOMING ENGAGEMENTS 2016
+European Union in International Affairs Conference, Brussels Belgium, May 2016
+Zeit-Stiftung Bucerius Foundation Meeting, History-Migration-Transformation, Warsaw, Poland, June 2016
+"Grounding Social Policy as ‘South’ Development Strategy: The Impact of Diaspora Mobility on Emerging Technological Hubs of the Indian +Welfare State," RC19 International Studies Association Conference "Expansion and Retrenchment," San Pedro, Costa Rica, August 2016
+American Anthropological Association Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, November 2016
:: INVITED LECTURES
2015
The Self in Para-Ethnography: Engaging Multi-Sited, Multi-Disciplinary Research With High-Skilled Diaspora Migrants, Methodology Seminars at CeMIS, University of Antwerp, March 2015
2014
Doing Community-Engaged Scholarship, Haas Center for Public Service ‘Public Service Scholars Program 20th Anniversary,’ Stanford University, October 2014
Key Issues and Challenges of a Mobilized Diaspora—Measuring the Impacts of Global Circulation of Returning Diaspora Members to the Global South, World Bank and Migration Policy Institute, KNOMAD Expert Working Group Meeting, Eschborn, Germany, June 2014
2013
Dissertation Presentation, Institute for European Studies ‘IES Research Colloquiums’ Brussels, Belgium, October 2013
Respondent for Keynote Address David Hollinger ‘Thoughts on the Future of Education City,’ Bucerius Law School ‘Parlando,’ Hamburg, June 2013
2012
Dissertation Presentation, Institute for European Studies ‘IES Research Colloquiums’ Brussels, Belgium, October 2012
2011
Perceptions of Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs of Returning ‘Home’ to India’s Cosmopolitan Cities, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, July Perceptions of Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs of Returning ‘Home’ to India’s Cosmopolitan Cities, United Nations University, UNU-CRIS, Brugge, Belgium, ‘GRESI Migration Seminars’ May 2011
2010
Dissertation Presentation, Institute for European Studies ‘IES Research Colloquiums’Brussels, Belgium, November 2010
Why is Global Governance in Migration Issues Necessary?, Institute for European Studies, ‘Global Governance in Migration Issues: the Role of the European Union’ Brussels, Belgium, October 2010.
Reconstituting Banality, Stanford University, sponsored by the Center for South Asia and the department of Modern Thought and Literature 'Post- Structuralist Theory Machine’ lecture series, California, USA, May 2010.
2008
Reconstituting Banality, Instytut Historii, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza, Poznan, Poland, January 2008.
2007
The Economic Significance and Impact of a Marginal Change in Health Aide Staffing:’ Tutorial on Using the Virtual Model, presented at the Alaska Native American Tribal Health Consortium, Anchorage, Alaska, September 2007.
The Nostalgic City: Subjectivity and Imagination in Jibanmukhi Gaan in Calcutta (1974-1994), Stanford University, Berkeley-Stanford CityGroup III, California, USA, March 2007
:: CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS
2015
Zeit-Stiftung Bucerius Foundation International Alumni Meeting, Riga, Latvia June 2015
Reconciling Tantra across the ‘Plateaux’-The Realm of the Spiritual in ‘Cinema of Prayoga,’ Festival du Film d’Asie du Sud Transgressif (FFAST), Inalco, Paris, France, January 2015
2014
'Go Home' and 'Come Back' Subverting Migration Policy Dualisms in the UK, American Anthropological Association Conference, Washington, D.C., December 2014
Dissertation Presentation on Ecosystems at the Fellows Conference, Bucerius Settling into Motion Fellowship, Berlin, Germany, June 2013
Zeit-Stiftung Bucerius Foundation Meeting, History - Migration -Urban Studies, Istanbul, Turkey June 2014
Dissertation Presentation on Theory at the IMISCOE 3CI Doctoral Conference, Antwerp, Belgium January 2014
2013
Mobility Keyword: Cosmopolitanism, American Anthropological Association Conference,Chicago, USA, November 2013
Entrepreneurs as Social Actors, THEMIS Migration Conference, Oxford University, Oxford, UK, September, 2013
IOM-IDM Diaspora Ministerial Conference, International Organization on Migration, Geneva, Switzerland, June 2013
Dissertation Presentation on Methodology at the Fellows Conference, Bucerius Settling into Motion Fellowship, Hamburg, Germany, June 2013
2012
Disseration Presentation at the Fellows Conference, Bucerius Settling into Motion Fellowship, Hamburg, Germany, April 2012
Prabasi Bharatiya Divas, Ministery of Overseas Indian Affairs, Jaipur, India, January 2012.
2011
TiE Global Asia Conference, The Indus Entrepreneurs, Bangalore, India, December 2011
Dissertation Presentation, presented at the Transatlantic Policy Workshop, Bucerius Settling into Motion, New York, Washington, D.C., October 2011
India Focus Open Doors, Locarno International Film Festival, Locarno, Switzerland, July 2011.
Postcolonizing Hospitality, presented at the Postcolonial Studies Conference, Frankfurt University, Frankfurt, Germany, June 2011
Perceptions of Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs of Returning ‘Home’ to India’s Cosmopolitan Cities, Circulations et cultures sud-asiatiques en diaspora: approches transdisciplinaires, CLIMAS/ADES, Bordeaux, France, March 2011
Toward a North-South Global Interface of India's Elite Knowledge Workers: Migration Trends and Governance Implications in the Global North, EUSA Conference, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, March 2011
2010
Postcolonizing Hospitality, American Anthropological Association Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, November 2010.
Postcolonizing Hospitality, Mid-Atlantic Region Asian American Studies Conference, PennState University, Pennsylvania, USA, October 2010
Dissertation Presentation, Ethnographies of Migration Conference, London School of Economics, London, UK, June 2010.
The High-Skilled Other: Institutional Newcomers in Brussels, Panel Chair for Newcomers and the City Conference, Cities and Migration Network, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium, June 2010
Publications
:: Dissertation and Theses
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2016. "'Brain-Gain' Return of India's High-Skilled Entrepreneurs: Home Transformation and Power Politicas in the Global South." PhD dissertation, Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (forthcoming)
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2007. "The Nostalgic City: Subjectivity and Imagination in Jibanmukhi Gaan in Calcutta (1974-1994)." M.A. Thesis, Cutural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2006. "Welfare Reform and the Alaska Native: Analyzing the Incentives for Alaska Natives to Participate in Welfare and Public Assistance Programs." B.A. Honors Thesis, Program in Public Policy, Stanford University
:: Peer Reviewed Articles
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2014. Perceptions of Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs of Indian Origin Returning ‘Home’ to India’s Cosmopolitan Cities, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (forthcoming)
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2014. Postcolonial Music: Pastoral Nostalgia and Urban Imagination in Jibanmukhi gaan in Calcutta (1974-1994), South Asian Journal of Popular Culture (forthcoming)
:: Chapters
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2016 (forthcoming June 2016). Cosmopolitanism, in Salazar, Noel B. and Kiran Jayaram (eds), Keywords of Mobility: Critical Engagements, New York: Berghahn Books, p. 49-80.
:: Conference Papers
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2015. Reconciling Tantra across the Plateaux – The Realm of the Spiritual in 'Cinema of Prayoga,' paper Expérimentation(s) : comment définir et faire exister une scène transgressive en Asie du Sud ?, Le Festival du Film d’Asie du Sud Transgressif, Paris, January 2015
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2014. ‘Go Home’ and ‘Come Back’: Subverting Migration Policy Dualisms in the UK, paper presented at the 113th Annual American Anthropological Association Meeting, Washington, D.C., USA, 6 December 2014
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2014. Key Issues and Challenges of a Mobilized Diaspora—Measuring the Impacts of Global Circulation of Returning Diaspora Members to the Global South, paper presented at the KNOMAD Expert Working Group on Mobilizing Diaspora Resources, Eschborn, 16 June 2014
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2013. Keyword of Mobility: Cosmopolitanism, paper presented at the 112th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, 22 November 2013
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2013. Entrepreneurs as Social Actors in Circulation: Brain-Gain Transformations of Home and Power Politics in the Global South, paper presented at the THEMIS Migration Dynamics Conference, Oxford University, Oxford, UK, 26 September 2013
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2011. Perceptions of Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs of Returning ‘Home’ to India’s Cosmopolitan Cities, presented at the symposium Circulations et cultures sud-asiatiques en diaspora: approches transdisciplinaires, CLIMAS/ADES, Bordeaux, France, 15 October 2011
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2011. Toward a North-South Global Interface of India's Elite Knowledge Workers: Migration Trends and Governance Implications in the Global North, paper presented at the 12th Biennial European Union Studies Association Conference, Boston, USA, 5 March 2011
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2010. Post-Colonizing Hospitality: Cycling the Returning Guest Transnational Migrant Guest in a Global Context, paper presented at the 109th Annual American Anthropological Association Meeting, New Orleans, USA, 20 November 2010
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2008. Reconstituting Banality: Ritual Sacrifice and Collective Identity in Ashish Avikunthak's Kalighat Fetish, paper presented at the Instytut Historii, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza, Poznan, Poland, 10 January 2008
:: Articles, Essays & Reviews
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2012. There and Back Again..., Ashish Avikunthak, Exhibition Catalogue, AICON Gallery, New York, p. 5-7
:: Commissioned Research & Policy Work
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2007. The Economic Impacts of Paraprofessional Health Aide Programs on the Village and Regional Economies Model, Technical Report, Medicaid Template And User Guide in Haley, Sharman and Saylor, Brian, eds., A Compendium of ViP Program Analysis Reports, Prepared for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, The Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), University of Alaska-Anchorage
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2007. Red Dog TANF Work Program Summary and Proposal in Haley, Sharman, ed., An Analysis of Economic Significance and Impact in Red Dog Mines Alaska, Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska-Anchorage
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2007. Postcolonial Music: Pastoral Nostalgia and Urban Imagination in 'Jibanmukhi gaan' in Calcutta (1974-1994), Master Thesis, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University
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ACHARYA, Malasree Neepa. 2006. Welfare Reform and the Alaska Native: Analyzing the Incentives for Alaska Natives to Participate in Welfare and Public Assistance Programs, Honors Thesis, Program in Public Policy, Stanford University