Dr. Roja Suganthy-Singh

Dr. Roja Suganthy-Singh was born in Vellore, Tamil Nadu and moved to the US in 1990 pursuing higher education. With a PhD from Rutgers University, New Jersey, she is now Assistant Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Gender and Sexuality Studies, at St. John Fisher University, Rochester, NY where she currently resides. Singh widely contributes to building a multicultural and equality in based culture in the Rochester community and University campus through antiracism, anticaste and interfaith leadership work. She brings together leaders from the Rochester community addressing and implementing refugee students’ education and initiatives.  As a South Asian Dalit feminist scholar, Roja Singh’s ongoing activism, research and writings are primarily based among grass roots Dalit women leaders and Dalit communities in rural Tamil Nadu, India. Her scholarship focuses on the intersections of race, class, caste, indigeneity, religion and gender using critical caste lens, post-colonial and transnational feminist frameworks.  

Roja is co-founder and co-leader of Dalit Solidarity Forum in the USA, established in 1999, one of the oldest Dalit rights organizations in the USA. She serves on the Executive council and Board of India Civil Watch International. Providing a global humanism outlook, Singh provides lectures and dialogues on a wide range of subjects including Dalit Feminism, earthy humanness, race, gender, caste, religion, class, sexuality, cross cultural interactions, world cultures, indigenous cultural studies, and global gender studies. Working closely with US based South Asian diaspora organizations she advocates for democratic principles along with anti-caste and for-compassion and equality initiatives. She continues to be deeply involved in human rights work in Tamil Nadu, India, and in the US promoting right to education for girls and youth from minority communities. Along with a team, Roja has developed curriculum and workshop materials for college, high-school and other communities for teaching about the dangers of caste practices and to foster a vision for an alternate universe free of caste. She works with young Dalit, Bahujan, and all marginalized scholars, and aspiring writers to edit, enhance and hone their writing for scholarly publishing. Her book, Spotted Goddesses: Dalit Women’s agency-narratives on caste and gender violence, is widely recognized and used in universities and activism circles in the US, UK, Australia, and India.