Join us, on Wednesday May 24th at 10 AM PST, for a virtual screening of the documentary film, Caste on the Menu Card, which delves into the idea of food as a site of exclusion by focusing on beef-eating practices in Mumbai and portrays concerns related to livelihood, brahmanical social inclusion and human rights. Apart from tracing the mythological and historical roots of the meat-eating culture in India, the film also discusses the political economy of the leather and meat industries. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Atul Anand, one of the filmmakers, and Rajyashri Goody, moderated by Dr. Shaista Aziz Patel. 

Atul Anand is a documentary filmmaker, photographer, and writer, working on issues of caste, migration, labour, civil rights, and anti-caste culture. They hold an MA in Media and Cultural Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Their film Caste on the Menu Card has been showcased at numerous locations, both domestically and abroad. Atul will speak about their personal experience of creating the film, as well as stories about caste and food that emerged after the film's screenings. They will also share their ambitious proposal on how to dismantle the caste hierarchy.

Rajyashri Goody, a scholar and artist from Pune, India, currently based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, holds a BA in Sociology and an MA in Visual Anthropology. Her artistic practice is informed by her academic background and her Ambedkarite roots. She is interested in creating space and time for thinking through everyday instances of Dalit resistance, and incorporates reading, writing, ceramics, photography, printmaking, and installation in the hope that these mediums enable further conversations about caste and hierarchies. 

Sponsored by Decolonizing Humanism(?) Initiative at the Center for Ideas and Society, UCR Dance, UCR Religious Studies and Holstein Family and Community Endowed Chair, UCR Performing Difference Working Group, UCLA Center for India and South Asia, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, UCSD Department of Ethnic Studies, UCSD Department of History