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