Amitava Chowdhury 

Assistant Professor
Caribbean and World History, Indian Ocean South Asian Diaspora

E-mail: a.chowdhury@queensu.ca
Phone: 613-533-6000, ext: 74368
Fax: 613-533-6298
Office: Watson Hall 231

---

Education

Ph.D., Washington State University, 2008
M.A., Deccan College Research Institute, 2000
B.A., Jadavpur University, 1998

About

Amitava Chowdhury's research focuses on identity formation processes of the South Asian indentured labor diaspora in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. His previous research includes historical archaeology of maroon slave sites and indentured labor sites in Mauritius. His archaeological site, the Aapravasi Ghat, an indentured labor immigration depot in Mauritius, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. In July 2008, his archaeological site, Le Morne Brabant, a fugitive slave site in Mauritius, was also inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Courses: 2008-09

HIST 303: History of the Caribbean in a global perspective
HIST 342: World History: Theory and Methodology

Publications

Aapravasi Ghat: Past and Present: Archaeological Investigations. (Port Louis, Mauritius: Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund, 2003)

"The symbolic and archaeological significance of Le Morne Brabant: A fugitive slave site of Mauritius." Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology 3 (2006): 50-61.

"Theoretical Reflections on Maroon Archaeology in Mauritius." Revi Kiltir Kreol 3 (2003): 55-59.

"Indentured labor" in Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World, Volume 3, 93-95.

"Coolie Trade" in Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World, Volume 2, 339-341.

"Diasporas: An overview" in Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World, Volume 2, 510-13.

Several encyclopedia articles and book reviews in Itinerario and World History Connected.