Sonalini Sapra, PhD
Sonalini Sapra is a political scientist by training. Her research and teaching interests are in environmental and climate justice, forced migration and refugee resettlement, Dalit studies, gender and international development, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Dr. Sapra previously taught at Kenyon College, Saint Mary’s College, Saint Martin’s University, and Guilford College where she most recently served as an associate director for the Center for Principled Problem Solving and Excellence in Teaching (CPPSET). Her work at Guilford centered on supporting faculty and staff in developing anti-racist pedagogy, inclusive course design, experiential project-based learning, and community-engaged teaching.
Dr. Sapra maintains an active scholarship record authoring and co-authoring diverse forms of scholarship, including edited books, peer-reviewed journal articles, and other community-based publications. Her most recent publication is a co-authored, open-access resource guide titled the “AHLAN Manual” which offers step-by-step to-do lists for strengthening and expanding campus-community capacity for refugee welcome and inclusion.
Before starting graduate school in the United States, Dr. Sapra worked at a non-governmental labor rights organization in New Delhi doing research and advocacy on the impact trade liberalization had on India’s informal workers. She has also worked with several community organizations in the United States and currently serves as a research fellow for Every Campus a Refuge, an organization that supports and mobilizes U.S. colleges and universities to host refugees on campus grounds and assists them in their resettlement.
Education
- PhD, Political Science, Vanderbilt University
- MA, International Relations, University of Warwick
- BA, History, Lady Shri Ram College
