Please share a little about your background and what brought you to the field of Anthropology.

Karippal: I was born and brought up in the south India state of Kerala. Although I was inclined to the social sciences, I didn’t know about a discipline called ‘Anthropology’ until my Master’s in Development Studies. There, I was taught by Professor Atreyee Majumder who was an anthropologist. When she taught, it felt as though something is being revealed to my deeper self. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t keep the pen down. I wrote as if the words would be lost if I don’t write them down. I knew then and there, that this is a path I am meant to take.

Your PhD research explores human-elephant interactions in South Asia. Can you tell us more about this work? What drew you to this topic?

Karippal: I was surrounded my animals as much as humans during my childhood in Kerala. As I returned home in school bus, I would look keenly at the elephants passing by with their handlers. As I got older, I realized that elephants are quintessential to the socio-cultural identity of Kerala. And to make it even more interesting, South Asia has had a long history of elephant taming and training, all in the absence of conventional sense of domestication/breeding. This drew me to study the topic of human-elephant socialization.

What challenges or surprises have you encountered in your research so far?

Karippal: One of the major challenges that I have encountered thus far is the gendered nature of elephant handling that shapes all kinds of interactions that I am part of. Mahouting is a male-centered occupation, and the elephant is mostly surrounded my male mahouts and their male friends. Given the social make-up of Kerala and gendered divisions in social interactions, this limits how far I can participate in some activities or conversations. Men are hesitant, I am uncomfortable, and all of us maneuver through the expected social codes of interactions. These challenges are also generative, in the sense that they reveal the social codes that govern interaction and social order in Kerala that would otherwise go unseen.

What was your journey like in deciding to study in the U.S., and how did you choose UVA for your PhD?

Karippal: After my Master’s at the Geneva Graduate Institute, I had applied for PhD programs in the USA and the UK. I decided to go with the US as the country holds exceptional standards in terms of PhD supervision, fieldwork grants, and teaching opportunities. And UK can get a bit gloomy with the rain.

UVa was the only institution in the US that I was accepted into with full funding, so that was a huge factor in my decision. Besides, the department of Anthropology was very welcoming of my study topic, we have many linguistic anthropologists here, and I immediately connected with my supervisor Dr Eve Danziger.

You were a 2023-24 International Student Citizen Leader Fellow. Tell us about your fellowship project and how this program impacted your experience as an international student.

Karippal: I joined the fellowship because I had myself struggled in the US during my first year. In my project, I explored first-year experiences of international graduate students and how they found a sense of belonging eventually. It could be a place, a tree, or a person that they felt at home with. Sharing stories is a healing social experience where we find threads of connection that bind us together. On one hand, I was able to position my experience amidst other students’ stories. On the other hand, I learnt about many places at UVa that drew students to a sense of belonging. I even had a dream of making a ‘UVa map of Belonging’.

What advice or insights would you share with international students pursuing graduate studies at UVA?

Karippal: There is no better way of being in the world than nourishing the human curiosity to know and understand. If you feel that your heart is in it, go for it and do it with sincerity. In academia, there is so much pressure to network and build contacts. I would advise to stay away from the rush of it, but connect only when you truly wish to. Otherwise, be consistent and faithful in your work, and you will eventually find people who see your value and who wish to see you thrive.

Is there anything else you'd like people to know about you or your work?

Karippal: I believe that we are all manifestations of the divine: humans, animals, trees, water, everything. Whatever we do, we must try to do it well – so that the energy is channeled appropriately and everyone gets to soak in it. Studying about human-elephant communication and writing about it—it is all about that creative pursuit for me.