Name: Bidisha Biswas
Position: Professor of Political Science
Education background:
M.A., Ph.D., Political Science, University of Maryland
B.A., Hindu College, Delhi University
Hometown: Kolkata, India
Classes you are teaching this quarter: International Relations, Applied Skills PLSC, and an Honors class
Claim to fame: In 2012-2013, Professor Biswas served as a policy adviser on South Asia to the United States Department of State. She co-authored “Finding Agency in the Margins: Lessons from Teaching as Immigrant Women of Color” with Shirin Deylami. as well as authoring books Indian Immigrant Women and Work (2016) and Managing Conflicts in India: Policies of Coercion and Accommodation (2014).
QUESTIONS:
What did you want to be when you grew up (as a kid)?
I wanted to be a spy for a long time. I wanted to be an international spy, so I feel like I did one half of that.
What song would you sing at a karaoke night?
I wouldn’t sing because I would drive everyone away. But if I was sufficiently passionate or drunk or something, I would sing Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da by the Beatles. It’s not one of their most melodic songs.
What are you reading right now/most recently? What’s it about?
I read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “We Were Eight Years in Power.” I just finished that yesterday. I liked it, it was a heavy read. I also just finished re-reading Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile”, to balance it out.
Aside from necessities, what are three things you could not go a day without?
A small slab of milk chocolate, tea, some time alone.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of love?
I don’t think I’ve ever done anything crazy in the name of love. I’ve done crazy things, but I don’t think I’ve done any in the name of love.
If you could join any past or current music group which would you want to join? Why?
Queen. Because I think Freddy Mercury was awesome. But also because I just read an interview with someone in his band who was an astrophysicist. And he was part of Queen… what a fun group of people!
What advice would you have given your college-undergrad self?
Maybe just be kind to yourself and to others.