I appreciate the shout out and the NEH's 2024 investment in a project that allowed @jeanettepatrick.bsky.social and me, with the support of Mills Kelly, to bring together over 50 scholars and voice actors from 7 countries to explore a revolutionary world far more complicated than many may realize.

I wrote about Karan Johar’s and Manish Malhotra’s capes at The Met Gala 2026 and what that means for Indian art history and artisanal labor. www.deepthimurali.com/textiles-talk/2026/5/making-labor-visible-wearing-india-loudly-craft-capital-and-contradiction-at-the-met-gala-2026 #metgala2026 #india

Best part of my Friday already is hearing the awesome @brettbobley.bsky.social keynote at the Brown Digital Scholarship Lab conference. Cherry on top: hearing him confirm that the “DOGE Boys” who canceled all the NEH grants are as douchey in real life as we all expected them to be.

Cannons, kettledrums, crosses, and Tamil inscriptions—carved in stone at Udayagiri Fort. New post on European military epitaphs and what they tell us about service and sovereignty in 18th-c. Travancore. www.deepthimurali.com/kerala/2026/2/the-epitaph-of-de-lannoy-in-eighteenth-century-travancore

Happy holidays everyone! Early declaration of one of my 2026 resolutions … being that I will post more over here. So question for y’all - what do we talk about on here mostly? #academics #history

Next Tuesday, on the 250th anniversary of her birth, the search for Jane Austen begins. Join @annefertig.bsky.social on a journey to find the Jane you only thought you knew. Follow "Finding Jane Austen" on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Had a short but amazing visit to Chicago for the #SSHA conference. @rrchnm.bsky.social had a full panel on mapping for the public put together by our wonderful PhD student Alexandra Miller. Also met my dissertation committee members & friends from the PhD program. And did the Chriskindl market run!

Had a wonderful conference panel experience at #NCABS2025 in Montreal. We talked about textiles in the Indian Ocean World broadly and de-centering Europe in the discussion of British empire material culture. (Also tried poutine for the first time!) #arthistory #histoty #textiles

Check out @deepthimurali.bsky.social's recent appearance on the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture Digital Projects Coffeehouse where she presented "Connecting Threads: Indian Madras and Afro-Caribbean Consumers" youtu.be/whi8KY3Vwdg?...

I wrote about "disciplining" of "deceitful" Indian textile workers in the 17th century. And about the use of morality and affective language as ways of ordering colonial trade. www.deepthimurali.com/textiles-tal... #indianhistory #textilehistory #britishempire #history

A rare glimpse into the lives of 18th century weavers: a father, 2 sons, & 2 grandsons all weavers, around the First Carnatic War. And how the brothers “Narryn” & “Chinnatomby” founded the Chintadripet region of Chennai India: www.deepthimurali.com/all-about-te... #chennai #textilehistory #madras

Tomorrow! We’ll journey from South Asia to the Caribbean to explore the colorful world of the textile trade by Connecting Threads with @deepthimurali.bsky.social. Register to join us!

Speaking at @oieahc.bsky.social Digital Coffeehouse series tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct 14, 12pm EST) about my project Connecting Threads: Fashioning Madras in the Caribbean. I am talking about 18th-19th century Indian textiles & Caribbean dress/identity. Sign-up: omohundro.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/o...

Wrote a brief intro about the 2 Sati Stones at the Archaeological Museum in Thrissur, Kerala. Curious to see how this tradition developed on the Malabar Coast. In other parts of peninsular India they became quite elaborate in narrative structure. www.deepthimurali.com/kerala/2025/... #art #kerala

The @oieahc.bsky.social Digital Projects Coffeehouse Series returns October 14th! We're kicking things off with @deepthimurali.bsky.social, co-director of Connecting Threads: Fashioning Madras in India and the Caribbean Sign up now to join the conversation. oieahc.wm.edu/events-overv...

Talking about Indian textiles, colonialism and 18th-19th century dress and identity in India and the Caribbean. Friday. Online and in-person at @georgemasonu.bsky.social

Getting back into the habit of blogging about research. Here’s a rather random account of tea and handkerchief smuggling on board an East Indiaman. Doors were broken. www.deepthimurali.com/thieves-in-t... #history #eastindiacompany #tea

"One of many!" How did the East India Company get its start on the Indian sub-continent? Contributing expert @deepthimurali.bsky.social of George Mason University takes us back to the reign of Elizabeth I in this clip from Episode 16: The Tea.

The #NEHfunded @deepthimurali.bsky.social 's Connecting Threads project focused on the global history of fashion. It connects small museums & archives to places with larger collections through a queryable database connectingthreads.co.uk

Our NEH grant for the Connecting Threads project was terminated along with many others. With little pomp and no warning. Also not sure if we will ever have any grants to apply for at the NEH. This is a big hit on grants-based, collaborative and digital humanities research in the US.

The Dept of Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke University is hiring an Analyst, IT - Digital Humanities Specialist. Position works primarily with fac/staff/students in our Digital Art History and Visual Culture Research Lab and related programs. Posting: careers.duke.edu/job/Durham-A...

Postdoctoral position in critical caste studies at the university of Chicago- still accepting applications! apply.interfolio.com/157701

We end the semester with presentations on nationalism in Bengali plays, materiality of Partition, and some well-deserved samosas and pani puri. #teachinghistory

Thanks to Dr. Neilesh Bose for putting together this colloquium at University of Victoria (BC). This was such a productive experience. I finally shared research I have been sitting on, on these beautiful ivory tankards from Travancore. Tankard featured: early 20th century at Napier Museum, Kerala.

Slowly posting about Connecting Threads project launch/symposium at V&A Museum last month. This is a digital public history project and the website is now live at: connectingthreads.co.uk The whole day was incredible! #connectingthreads #academicsky #digitalhistory #indianhistory #caribbeanhistory

At University of Victoria for the Global South Asia Colloquium. We discussed Indian Ocean World history and book projects for two very productive days. Thanks to Prof. Neilesh Bose for putting this together and the CAPI team for being wonderful hosts.

Victoria BC has the loveliest little Chinatown. The Fan Tan Alley has a little museum on the history of Chinese-Canadians. It’s the second oldest Chinatown in North America and the oldest in Canada.

Our project was featured in the @georgemasonu.bsky.social news site! www.gmu.edu/news/2024-11... There's a bit of both me and @jasonheppler.org talking about the project on there.

We are excited that two RRCHNM projects have been awarded grants by the NEH! This funding will support the work of @deepthimurali.bsky.social and @jasonheppler.org on the digital project Connecting Threads, and @amandamadden.bsky.social translating La sefra (The World). www.neh.gov/news/NEH-gra...

We are approaching our thirtieth anniversary! To honor that occasion, Roy Rosenzweig's pioneering work and work being done now, we are hosting an open-house event, hors d'oeuvres included, on November 11 from 4 pm to 5:30 pm. Register today and join us! alumni.gmu.edu/s/1564/GID2/...