Suraj Lakshminarasimhan

Lecturer

Bio

Suraj is a Lecturer in the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University. He teaches courses on Indian history, particularly focusing on the construction of Indian national identity, post-independence history, and the rise of contemporary Hindu nationalism.

 
Suraj earned his PhD with distinction from the University of Akron in 2024. He has previously taught courses on world history and colonialism at the University of Akron and Duquesne University. His research centers on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, how this government body defined Indian national identity after independence to promote and foster unity within a country marked by religious, linguistic, economic, regional, and caste diversity. Additionally, Suraj specializes in Indian food history, foreign policy, and the Indian subcontinent in global context past and present.

 
Education

Ph.D (with distinction): University of Akron, 2024
B.A.: University of Pittsburgh

 
Course Taught

• Intro to Indian History from Mughals to Modi
• Hinduism: History, Religion, and the BJP