Tuesday, 24 June - 18:00 (UK)
This event is free and open to the public.
In our June event, Rahul Rao (India & Balliol 2001), in conversation with Iman Iftikhar (Pakistan & Balliol 2024) and Samu/elle Striewski (Germany & Wadham 2024), will discuss his book The Psychic Lives of Statues: Reckoning with the Rubble of Empire.
Rahul Rao is a Reader in International Political Thought at the University of St Andrews and Professorial Research Associate at SOAS University of London, where he taught from 2008–21. Prior to this, he was a Fixed Term Fellow in Politics at University College, Oxford. He has a BA, LLB (Hons) from the National Law School of India University and read for a DPhil in International Relations at Balliol College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar. He is the author of three books – The Psychic Lives of Statues: Reckoning with the Rubble of Empire (Pluto, 2025), Out of Time: The Queer Politics of Postcoloniality (Oxford, 2020), and Third World Protest: Between Home and the World (Oxford, 2010). His writing has appeared in numerous academic journals as well as in The Caravan and Himal Southasian. He is a member of the Radical Philosophy editorial collective.
Iman Iftikhar (she/hers) is a first year MPhil in Political Theory at the DPIR at Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar from Pakistan, Iman did her undergraduate degrees in History and Philosophy from Yale University before joining Oxford. As an MPhil student, Iman works on critical theory, history of political thought, and postcolonial feminism(s) with a focus on South Asia. She is also interested in Phenomenology and Affect Theory, as well as learning languages (including German and Arabic).
Samu/elle Striewski (they/them) is reading for the MPhil in Political Theory at the University of Oxford. The first non-binary German to win a Rhodes Scholarship, they studied social philosophy, comparative literature, and mathematics in Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, and New York City prior to joining Oxford. They are interested in critical theories (particularly in the post-Foucauldian and Frankfurt School tradition) as well as queer and trans* studies. Currently, they are co-editing a volume on the contemporary drag scene in Germany.
Q & A:
Please feel free to submit any questions in advance to alumni@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk or you can use the Q&A function within Zoom to ask questions directly during the live event.
Part of the Lifelong Fellowship portfolio, The Scholars’ Library is a monthly book talk series, where Rhodes alumni can come together to present, discover and debate their literary works. If you’re interested in getting involved, please reach out to Nayana Niji at alumni@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk