Shreya Khaund
Research
PhD project title:
Mapping Fossil Colonialism in Asia, c. 1810–1914
I am a PhD researcher funded by the AHRC-Collaborative Doctoral Partnership at the University of Warwick and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London. My research explores the history of coal mining industries in the British empire, focusing on how fossil fuel resources were understood, extracted, and managed in the Northeast frontier regions of India and the uplands of Southeast Asia between 1810 and 1914.
By integrating environmental history and new imperial history approaches, I examine the social, ecological, and scientific dimensions of energy systems. My work draws on various scientific tools—including maps, surveys, and visual materials—to investigate the multi-scalar developments of colonial mining industries and their lasting impacts.
Contact: shreya.khaund@warwick.ac.uk
Supervisors: University of Warwick: Dr Thomas Simpson and Dr James Poskett
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG): Dr Sarah Evans and Dr Catherine Souch
Research Experiences
Research Assistant in History of Modern World, ETH Zurich. Project title:
Making Modern Citizens at the Margins: Physical Education and Training Programmes for Children in South Asia (c.1900-1965)
Master of Studies: Global and Imperial History. University of Oxford. Dissertation title -
The war fought outside the Bengal Delta: Role of Sylheti migrants in East London during the Bangladesh Liberation War (c. 1970)
Master of Arts: Women's Studies. TISS, Mumbai. Dissertation title -
Becoming a peer: An exploratory study on gender-conforming persons seeking to understand gender non-conformity
Zubaan-Sasakawa Peace Foundation Young Researcher Fellowship Programme
Exploring gender and public spaces in Northeast India.Publications and Conferences
Peer-Reviewed Publication:
Khaund, Shreya. “Building Solidarity through Digital Activism in Assam.” Zubaan (2020): 1-33. (accessible here)
Blog Publication:Hope of the health system, daughter-in-law of the community: Reflections on India's community health worker programme. (The George Institute for Global Health, India 2019).
Conference:
Leviathan and after - a celebration of the history of science, its field and its future. UCL, Department of Science and Technology and the Science Museum, London. (May 2025) [Upcoming conference paper presentation]Cambridge Graduate Conference in Political Thought: Political by Nature: Political Thought Through the Lens of the Anthropocene (2023) - Presented paper titled “Migrant Experiences in Climate Crisis: Assam in the Mid-Twentieth Century.”