Please join us for the 2023 Alice Cook-Lois Gray Distinguished Lecture. Our honored speaker is Amrita Basu, Amherst College's Domenic J. Paino 1955 Professor of Political Science, and Sexuality, Women's and Gender Studies. This year's lecture will be held in 423 King-Shaw Hall, ILR Conference Center, and live on Zoom.

Amrita Basu

We hear many stories about Muslim women’s subservience as a result of victimization by Muslim men. Less common are stories of Muslim women’s resistance, as a result of exclusionary state policies. This talk, on Muslim women in Shaheen Bagh, New Delhi, in 2019, tells a story about how marginalization can inspire demands for inclusive, secular, democratic citizenship rights.

This lecture is co-sponsored by: Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Center for the Study of Inequality, Cornell Center for the Social Sciences, Cornell Population Center, Brooks School of Public Policy and the South Asia Program.

This October 28th, Asha Cornell is hosting the world’s first and premier South Asian a cappella group, Penn Masala, for a benefit concert, nearly 10 years after their first Cornell performance (also hosted by Asha!)

Hailing from the University of Pennsylvania, and known for its viral fusions of Western music and classic Bollywood hits, the group has gained nearly 125,000 Instagram followers, 146,000 Facebook followers, and 30 million YouTube views since its founding in 1996. In 2009, Penn Masala performed for President Barack Obama as part of the White House Diwali Celebration. In 2015, Masala performed as the only collegiate a cappella group in the award-winning movie—and soundtrack—Pitch Perfect Two. After returning from their India-wide tour earlier this year, they also performed for President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In addition to our main group, we will also feature guest performances from Cornell student organizations! Join us for an evening of music, dance, and fun!

Asha Cornell will donate all proceeds from the concert to our partner schools in India, to fund the education of children from impoverished and underprivileged communities. If you are able, we are grateful for additional donations to our cause. Your contributions will go directly to fund teachers' salaries, textbooks, specialized equipment for children with disabilities, schoolhouse rebuilding following natural disasters, and more. You can choose to donate along with your ticket purchase, or on Asha Cornell's website at https://cornell.ashanet.org/