Sambit Sardar is a PhD student under the Moturi Satyanarayan PhD Fellowship in Indian History at Krea University. Before joining Krea, he completed M.Phil. in Social Sciences from the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta (CSSSC). His M.Phil. dissertation focused on the politics of relief and rehabilitation during the Bengal Famine of 1943-44. He holds a B.A. and M.A.  in History from Jadavpur University. His broad research interests focus on colonial and postcolonial South Asian history, the History of Science and Technology, and the environment, as well as the politics of humanitarianism. He is particularly interested in exploring the entangled histories of climate, colonialism, and empire by focusing on the complex dynamics between colonial climatic governance and imperial practices of scientific knowledge making through the development of colonial weather science, during the period between the mid-19th century to the early decades of the twentieth century in colonial India.

Work Experience

RESEARCH ASSISTANT to DR. MUSHTAQ BILAL- (April 2023 – July 2023) University of Southern Denmark

• Translated Hans Christian Anderson’s Bangla translated stories published by Calcutta School Book Society and Vernacular Literature Society’s Press into English.
•   Conducted archival research on historical documents related to the Calcutta Vernacular Literature Society, Calcutta School Book Society.

RESEARCH INTERN Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur – (April 2020 – June 2020)

•   Researched language change and identity negotiations within Calcutta’s Chinese community
•   Conducted a comprehensive review of secondary literature and audio- visual archives of the Chinese communities in Calcutta.

Conferences and Publications

•  Politics Over Relief and Rehabilitation: Revisiting the Bengal Famine of 1943-44 – May 2023, Remote, India, The Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London, History Lab Conference
•   Colonialism, Imperial Politics and the Violence of Starvation: Revisiting the Bengal Famine of 1943-44 – November 2022, NIT, Meghalaya, Genocides and Oppression: Interpretations, Intersections, and Interstices Conference.

Personal Interests

Outside of his research, Sambit spends his time exploring new places and practising photography. He also has a keen interest in cinema and enjoys watching movies in his spare time

Education and Certifications

• THE CENTRE FOR STUDIES IN SOCIAL SCIENCES, CALCUTTA (June 2021 – June 2023) Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Social Sciences
• Dissertation: Famine, Politics and Communalism: Exploring Socio-Political Dynamics of Late Colonial Bengal (Committee: Dr Asha Singh, Dr Debdatta Chowdhury)
• DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY – (June 2018 – Oct 2020) Master of Arts (M.A.) in History