Aleena Sebastian

Aleena Sebastian
Assistant Professor
Phone
080-22185161
E-mail
aleena.sebastian@nias.res.in
Room no
F-33
Department
IRINS

Dr. Sebastian is a social anthropologist by training, and she holds a keen interest in carrying out interdisciplinary research. Her broader areas of research interest include kinship and gender, sexuality studies, urban sociology, decolonial theories, and city, health, and social policy. 

Dr. Sebastian's ethnographic interests are in South and Southeast Asia. Her study of matrilineal kinship practices in Malabar (Southwest India) and West Sumatra (Indonesia) offers a seminal contribution to the field of kinship, gender, and religion. This ethnography on matriliny is also informed by an analysis of the transformation of kinship practices and gender relations through socio-religious and legal reforms in colonial and post-colonial contexts. An analysis of various archival resources such as colonial commercial diaries, legislations, and litigations related to property disputes is undertaken to enrich her ethnography. 

Dr. Sebastian is also engaged in social policy-oriented research, drawing from a range of research methods such as quantitative and mixed-methods research. She is the recipient of the ICMR- International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) Young Investigator Award 2021 for a research project titled, 'Influence of minority and COVID-19 stressors on HIV risk and access to services among MSM and Transgender Women: A longitudinal observational cohort (S3-Plus) study in Chennai’.

Dr. Sebastian secured her doctoral degree in Sociology from the University of Hyderabad in 2019 and it was funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi (Junior Research Fellowship). She was a Postdoctoral Fellow in a DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Senior Research Fellowship research project with The Humsafar Trust, Mumbai. Dr. Sebastian's collaborations with community-based organizations in India have enabled varied policy-oriented research and community-based interactions with national and international agencies (such as the EdelGive Foundation, Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives, American World Services, American Jewish World Service, and Centre for World Solidarity) in the field of gender, health, and economic empowerment through skill training for women in urban slums. 

Courses teaching: 
Gender and society- Contemporary perspectives (August-December 2021)
Urban sociology (January-April 2022)

Awards: 
Young Investigator Award for research project by ICMR-International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) in August 2021
UGC Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) in June 2011

Educational background:
Postdoctoral Research- The Humsafar Trust, Mumbai, India
Ph.D.- University of Hyderabad, India
MPhil- University of Hyderabad, India
MA- University of Hyderabad, India

Publications
Women and the invisible gender terrain of armed resistance in India Aleena Sebastian
Urban and Mobility Studies
Women and the invisible gender terrain of armed resistance in India
In: Maoist Insurgency, State and People: Overlooked Issues and Unaddressed Grievances (Edited by Anshuman Behera ). Routledge. ISBN 9781032454252
2023
State and legal reform: A study of matrilineal Mappila Muslims of Malabar Aleena Sebastian
Urban and Mobility Studies
State and legal reform: A study of matrilineal Mappila Muslims of Malabar
Orient Blackswan, 2020
2020
Matrilineal Minangkabau: A critique of the universal theory of kinship and gender relations Aleena Sebastian
Urban and Mobility Studies
Matrilineal Minangkabau: A critique of the universal theory of kinship and gender relations
Rawat Publications, 2018
2018
Matrilineal practices among Muslims Aleena Sebastian
Urban and Mobility Studies
Matrilineal practices among Muslims: An ethnographic study of the Minangkabau of West Sumatra
Ethnography (Sage)
27 December 2022
Journal Articles
Matriliny, Merchandise and Islam: A Study of the Keyis in the Coastal Belt of Tellicherry, North Malabar Aleena Sebastian
Urban and Mobility Studies
Matriliny, Merchandise and Islam: A Study of the Keyis in the Coastal Belt of Tellicherry, North Malabar
Coastal Studies and Society (Sage),
20 December 2022
Journal Articles
Mental health, economic well-being and health care access amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Aleena Sebastian
co-authored
Urban and Mobility Studies
Mental health, economic well-being and health care access amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed methods study among urban men who have sex with men in India
Co-authored with Venkatesan Chakrapani, Peter A Newman, Shruta Rawat, Sandeep Mittal, Vanita Gupta, and Manmeet Kaur. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, Vol. 30 (1)
7 December 2022
Journal Articles
The impact of COVID-19 on economic well-being and health outcomes among transgender women in India. Transgender Health Aleena Sebastian
co-authored
Urban and Mobility Studies
The impact of COVID-19 on economic well-being and health outcomes among transgender women in India. Transgender Health
28 June 2021
Journal Articles
Matrilineal practices along the coasts of Malabar Aleena Sebastian
Urban and Mobility Studies
Matrilineal practices along the coasts of Malabar
28 June 2016
Journal Articles
Matrilineal practices among Koyas of Kozhikode Aleena Sebastian
Urban and Mobility Studies
Matrilineal practices among Koyas of Kozhikode
28 June 2013
Journal Articles
Influence of gender identity stigma and COVID-19 economic stressors on mental health and HIV risk of transgender women in South India: Findings from mediation analyses Aleena Sebastian, R. Nelson, J. Kaur, M. Shunmugam et.al
Influence of gender identity stigma and COVID-19 economic stressors on mental health and HIV risk of transgender women in South India: Findings from mediation analyses
International AIDS Society (IAS), July 2024
28 July 2024
Other Publications
The relationship between recent condomless anal sex and willingness to use injectable PrEP among transgender women and MSM in India: testing the mediating role of risk perception Aleena Sebastian, V. Chakrapani, R. Nelson1, J. Kaur et.al
The relationship between recent condomless anal sex and willingness to use injectable PrEP among transgender women and MSM in India: testing the mediating role of risk perception
International AIDS Society (IAS), July 2024
28 July 2024
Other Publications
IAS Aleena Sebastian, V. Chakrapani, R. Nelson, M. Shanmugam et.al
Synergy among multiple stigmas in predicting psychosocial conditions and condomless anal sex among transgender women in India: findings from a longitudinal S3 (stigma, syndemics and sex) cohort study
International AIDS Society (IAS), July 2024
28 July 2024
Associations between sexual stigma, COVID-19 economic stressors, psychosocial syndemic conditions, and condom use among men who have sex with men in India Aleena Sebastian, R. Nelson, J. Kaur, M. Shunmugam et.al
Associations between sexual stigma, COVID-19 economic stressors, psychosocial syndemic conditions, and condom use among men who have sex with men in India
International AIDS Society (IAS), July 2024
28 July 2024
Other Publications
Impact of COVID-19 on economic well-being, mental health and HIV risk among MSM: A mixed methods study in a north Indian city Aleena Sebastian, Venkatesan Chakrapani, Peter A Newman
Impact of COVID-19 on economic well-being, mental health and HIV risk among MSM: A mixed methods study in a north Indian city
International AIDS Society (IAS), July 2022
28 July 2022
Other Publications
Aleena Sebastian
Lecture on “Right to Information Act, 2005: Genesis, evolution and implications for Indian democracy”, Department of Political Science, University of Calicut, Kerala
2 December 2021
Lectures
Opinion: "Change and continuity in the matrilineal practices among the Koyas of Kozhikode" Aleena Sebastian
Urban and Mobility Studies
Opinion: "Change and continuity in the matrilineal practices among the Koyas of Kozhikode"
28 September 2021
NIAS Comments
Aleena Sebastian
Lecture on “Doing ethnography in social sciences: Methods & ethics”, Department of Political Science, University of Calicut, Kerala 15 September 2021
15 September 2021
Lectures
Contributions to Indian Sociology Aleena Sebastian
Urban and Mobility Studies
Book Review: Hem Borker, Madrasas and the making of Islamic womanhood
Oxford University Press, 2018
28 June 2019
Other Publications