Mentorship

Dr. Sonali Gupta is an anthropological archaeologist and a lawyer. She went on to earn her BA and MA in history from Hansraj College followed by a law degree from the University of Delhi. She practiced criminal law for six years after which she gave it all up for the love of archaeology. Dr. Gupta joined the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles to pursue her studies in Egyptian Archaeology. Her doctoral thesis looked at the ways in which knowledge and skill get transferred from generation to generation. She simultaneously evolved as a researcher and practitioner of South Asian and Southeast Asian anthropological archaeology focusing on various aspects of cultural transmission both tangible and intangible.

After her Ph.D., Dr. Gupta earned a pedagogical fellowship at UCLA teaching seminars for the department of Anthropology. She then joined the Cotsen Institute as Director of Public Programs.  After a period of two years as a director, she was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at the Cotsen where she researched the Iban Textiles of Borneo. She has taught at the National Museum Institute and at HICHS bridging the gap between virtuality and reality.

Dr. Sonali Gupta started the first ever non- invasive archaeological field school in India and set up the Himalayan Institute of Cultural and Heritage Studies in the beautiful and picturesque Kullu valley in the Himalayas. The Institute has become a place where the academic meets the non-academic with workshop retreats, short term, and long-term workshops. She has collaborative projects with the Flinders University, Institute of Field Research, Archaeological Survey of India, and University of Delhi focusing on exploration and survey. She is actively engaged in research on Shamanism in the Western Himalayas and the role of ancient scriptures in her Himalayan Myth and Reality, and Materiality and Memory project.

Active learning and the transfer of knowledge are central to her teaching philosophy. Her research focus is on knowledge transfer, and she is passionate about teaching the social sciences and humanities. As an instructor, Dr. Gupta has endeavored to keep pace with latest technologies, using digital platforms and tools. She has been part of UCLA’s ‘Dean’s task force’ to find methods for dissemination and interest in social research and studies where teaching techniques, articles and books relating to the semantics of pedagogy were discussed. It is her goal to make students appreciate the relevance of the past and the present for a better future. She has used virtual space as an accessible venue for students to brainstorm and exchange ideas with their mentor, therefore, interaction with her is more personalized, and less didactic.

Her education and approach towards teaching, reflects an interdisciplinary, diverse, and adaptable nature. Her wide experience of teaching various courses at UCLA and elsewhere has made her resolute in having a mentorship program that first and foremost engages students with critical thinking and situatedness.

Her guidance and expertise include:

• Career choice
• Student and Parent Counseling
• Writing and research methodologies
• Presentation of research
• Grant & application writing
• Lesson Planning for academicians
• Confidence and focus
• Public speaking