Arunima Datta

History

Associate Professor

WH 264

British History, British Empire, Women's History, Labor History, Food History, Migration History, South and Southeast Asian History

DR. ARUNIMA DATTA is a multi-award winning author and Associate Professor at the Department of History, University of North Texas, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of the UK(an honor and recognition she received for her valuable contribution to the field of history). She is a historian of Britain and the British Empire and explores themes of labor migration histories, women's history, food and emotions.

She is the author of the multiple award-winning book Fleeting Agencies: A Social History of Indian Coolie Women in British Malaya (Cambridge University Press, 2021), which received the Sara A. Whaley Award from the National Women’s Studies Association, the Gita Chaudhuri Award from the Western Association of Women Historians and the Stansky Award from the North American Conference of British Studies.

Her recent book, Waiting on Empire: History of Indian Travelling Ayahs in Britain (Oxford University Press, 2023) explores the history of travelling ayahs in Britain. Research from this book has also won the Carol Gold Award for best article in history published in 2021 and an honorable mention for the Walter D. Love Prize for best article in British History published in 2022. Based on the research for Waiting on Empire, she co-curated with the Museum of the Home (UK) a permanent exhibition displaying the influences of travelling ayahs in Britain and British homes. This exhibition won the second place UK 2025 national award for museums and permanent exhibitions showcasing heritage.

She has served as an associate editor of Gender & History, as an Associate Editor of Britain and the World, and as the Associate Review Editor of the American Historical Review. Currently she serves as a section editor of Britain and its Empire in History Compass.

Her works have appeared in several scholarly journals, public history journals and magazines, and on BBC4.

Waiting on Empire: A History of Indian Traveling Ayahs in Britain, Oxford University Press (2023)

Based on this book Dr. Datta co-curated a permanent exhibition with the Museum of the Home, London to reflect the role and influence of travelling ayahs in British houses in nineteenth century Britain (2023 and 2024). This exhibition has been awarded second place National Heritage Award (UK)2025.

Based on this book Dr. Datta co-curated with the Sheffield City Archives and Dig Where you Stand Program to lead an archival healing workshops for South Asians in Sheffield who are coping with archival violence towards their ancestors.

Research included in this book has received:

- - North American Conference of British Studies, Walter D. Love Prize- Honorable Mention
  - Coordinating Council of Women in History, Carol Gold Article Award

Fleeting Agencies: A Social History of Indian Coolie Women in British Malaya, Cambridge University Press (2021)*

Winner of: the NWSA Whaley Book Award (2021);

Winner of: the WAWH Chaudhuri Prize (2022);

Winner of: the NACBS Stansky Award (2022)

2026 "Imperial surveillance of marital distress: the Tute divorce case and the British Raj," The History of the Family, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/1081602X.2026.2675521

2026 “Moving Bodies,” in Frances Steel (ed), A Cultural History of Transport & Mobility in the Age of Steam (Bloomsbury, 2026 -forthcoming).

2026 “Food and Migration,” in Modern Global Migration, Edited by Cynthia Pope-Portelinha (expected publication in 2026 by Bloomsbury Press).

2025 “Entertaining the Metropole: Vagrancy, repatriation and Indian performers in Britain” Immigrants and Minorities, 43:3 (2025): 530-560.

2024 “Intimate Lives on Rubber Plantations: The textures of Indian coolie relations in British Malaya,” in Crispin Bates (ed), Beyond Indenture: Gender, Agency and Resistance (Cambridge University Press, 2024), 201-215.

2023 “Stranded: Indian Travelling Ayahs Negotiating Waiting and Repatriation,” Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 30:1(2023): 33-54.

2022 “Becoming Visible: Travel Documents and Travelling Ayahs in the British Empire,” South Asian Studies, 38: 2 (2022): 141-160.

Honorable mention, North American Conference of British Studies Walter D. Love Prize, 2023

2022 “Pony Up!: Managing Destitution among British Grooms from Australia in Nineteenth Century India,” Journal of Labour History, 122:1 (2022): 155–179.

2022 “Race, Anxiety and Shopping in the Australian Outback: Indian Hawkers and Victoria's 1884 Smallpox Outbreak,” in Ajaya Sahoo (ed), Routledge Handbook of Asian Transnationalism (Routledge, 2022), 281-293.

2021 “Responses to Traveling Indian Ayahs in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Britain,” Journal of Historical Geography, 71 (2021): 94-103.

Winner of Coordinating Council of Women in History, Carol Gold Award, 2022 (for the best article published in 2021 in any field of history)

2020 “Knocker Ups: A Social History of Waking up in Victorian Britain’s Industrial Towns,” Journal of Victorian Culture, 25:3 (2020): 331–348.

Selected as JVC Editor’s Choice Article, Summer 2020

2018 ““Immorality”, Nationalism and the Colonial State in British Malaya: Indian ‘coolie’ women’s intimate lives as ideological battleground,” in Barbara Bush and June Purvis, eds., Connecting Women's Histories: The local and the global (Routledge, 2018), 91-108 (previously published as article in Women’s History Review).

2017 “Negotiating Gendered Spaces in Colonial Press: Wives of European Planters in British Malaya,”Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 18:3 (2017).

2016 "“Immorality", Nationalism and the Colonial State in British Malaya: Indian ‘coolie’ women’s intimate lives as ideological battleground,” Journal of Women’s History Review, 25:4 (2016): 584-601.

2015 “Social Memory and Indian Women from Malaya and Singapore in the Rani of Jhansi Regiment,”Journal of Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 88:2 (2015): 77-103.

2022 North American Conference of British Studies, Stansky Book Award (for Fleeting Agencies)

2022 Western Association for Women Historians, Gita Chaudhuri Book Prize Award (for Fleeting Agencies)

2021 National Women's Studies Association, Sarah A. Whaley Book Prize Award (for Fleeting Agencies)

2023 North American Conference of British Studies, Walter D. Love Prize- Honorable Mention (for Becoming Visible: Travel Documents and Travelling Ayahs in the British Empire)

2022 Coordinating Council of Women in History, Carol Gold Article Award (for Responses to Traveling Indian Ayahs in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Britain)

2020 Journal of Victorian Culture, Editor's Choice Article (for Knocker Ups: A Social History of Waking up in Victorian Britain's Industrial Towns)

2024 UNT History Department Award for Outstanding Research

2022 Idaho State University Outstanding Researcher for 2021-2022

2021 Woman of Influence in Education Award, East Idaho Women of Influence Awards, 2021

2021 Elected Fellow, Royal Historical Society of UK (since September 2021)

2017 Don Provencher Award, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore Board, Association for Asian Studies, 2017 (for my paper presented at the conference)

2026: Robnett Grant for South Asian Food Histories

2026: Dean's Momentum Grant for North Texas Food Truck Histories (Co-PI with Prof. Andrew Nelson)

2025-26 Fund for Innovation in Texas History (FITH), UNT (for 2025): Co-PI with Prof. Todd Moye

2025-26 UNT Research Grant (Department of History)

2025 UNT Small Grant for Conference Travel, Fall 2025

2025 Faculty Success Conference Support Award, UNT, Summer 2025

2024-25 Visiting Fellowship, Queen Mary University of London (March, 2025)

2024 UNT Global Venture Fund (Spring 2025)-for organizing an international workshop Feb 2025

2024 Royal Historical Society Workshop Grant (2024-2025)

2024 UNT CREATE (Creative and Research Enhancement Activity Time for Engagement) Grant

2024 UNT Large Grant for Conference Travel

2024 Visiting Fellow in History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen’s University at Belfast (Spring 2024)

2023 Idaho State University Research and Creative Activity Grant (for 2023)

2022 Idaho State University Course Release Grant, 2022 (for Spring 2023)

2022 Idaho State University Travel Grant 2022-2023 (awarded in November 2022)

2022 Idaho State University Cultural Events Grant

2021 Idaho State University Course Release Grant, 2021 (for Spring 2022)

2021 Idaho State University Travel Grant, 2021-22 (awarded in November 2021)

2021 Idaho Humanities Council Grant (sponsored by National Endowment for the Humanities)

2020 Idaho State University Travel Grant, 2019-20 (awarded October 2019)

2017 Asia Research Fieldwork/Archive Grant, NUS, March 2017

2017 NUS, Academic Event/Conference Grant, July 2016 (for convening an international conference

2016 Asia Research Fieldwork/ Archive Grant, NUS, March 2016 (for completing my book manuscript)

2014 President’s Graduate Fellowship Award, NUS, Singapore, January-August 2014

2012 Graduate Research Support Scheme Award for research fieldwork (in Malaysia, London and India),

2012 NUS, Singapore, January 2012-January 2013

2012 Visiting Fellowship at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, London, UK, from May-July 2012

2011 Southeast Asian Studies Department Student’s Project Fund (awarded to hold preliminary archival research at Delhi and Kolkata, India) NUS, Singapore June-July 2011

2010 NUS Research Scholarship, NUS, Singapore, August 2010-August 2014 (declined last term of the scholarship as I was awarded with the President’s Graduate Fellowship)

2009 Research Fellowship for South and Southeast Asian Studies Project at The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, India, granted by the Ministry of Culture, Union Government of India, March 2009-May 2010

2025 “Waiting on Empire: Travelling Ayahs in Britain and a history of migration, labor and counterflows of Empire,” American Historical Association-Pacific branch Conference Luncheon (sponsored by Western Association of Women Historians and American Historical Association), 1 August 2025

2024 “(Re)Visioning Homes in British Empire Histories: Histories of Travelling Ayahs from India,” Keynote for Reframing Home, Race, Art and Empire Conference (hosted by Queen Mary University London, and the Museum of the Home) 7 November 2024

2024 “Waiting on Empire: Indian Travelling Ayahs in Britain,” Plenary lecture for Southern Conference of British Studies (in association with Southern Historical Association) 26 October 2024

2017 “Making of “Coolie” Identities: Indian Plantation Communities in Malaysian History,” Annual Public Lecture for Malaysian Branch of Asiatic Society (Annual Meeting in Singapore), 30 September 2017

2025 “Travelling Ayahs in Britain”: contributed an entry and resources to South Asian Britain: Connecting Histories, a groundbreaking new digital hub featuring over 750 entries, digitised archival materials, oral histories, and educational resources.

2024 “Reading Silenced Identities through Visual Archives: Indian Travelling Ayahs in Service of the British Empire,” Critical Collective, 23 January 2024 (https://criticalcollective.in/SearchResult.aspx?search=arunima%20datta)

2022 “Managing horses on the High Seas: Horse Grooms in the Service of the British Empire,” Radical Currents, Labour Histories, Summer, no. 2 (2022): 11-13

"Curry tales of the Empire," https://jvc.oup.com/2021/05/27/curry-tales-of-the-empire/ Journal of Victorian Culture Online (online platform of the Journal of Victorian Culture), May 2021.

"Women in the business of waking up industrial Britain," http://jvc.oup.com/2020/06/12/waking-up-industrial-britain/ Journal of Victorian Culture Online (online platform of the Journal of Victorian Culture), 12 June 2020.

"Shampoo Empire," https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/shampoo-empire History Today, Vol. 70, Issue 3, March 2020.

"Punkhawallahs: Keeping British India Cool," https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/keeping-india-cool History Today, Volume 69, Issue 9, September 2019.

2026 NBC5 interview on History of Football Chants - aired on 26 May 2026 (https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/chants-anthems-and-organized-chaos-the-art-of-the-international-soccer-fan/4028407/)

2024 BBC Radio -Sheffield: Episode on Chai and Chat with Rav. Appeared to talk about my research on ayahs, the women’s day workshop I am hosting with the Sheffield Archives on 8 March 2024 and talk about how my life inspired my work, 26 February 2024 (8PM GMT)

2024 “Race, Anxiety and Shopping in the Australian Outback: Indian Hawkers and Victoria's 1884 Smallpox Outbreak,” Indian Ocean World Podcast, January 2024 (https://www.appraisingrisk.com/2024/01/24/arunima-datta-race-anxiety-and-shopping-in-the-australian-outback-indian-hawkers-and-victorias-1884-smallpox-outbreak/)

2023 “Waiting on Empire: A History of Indian Travelling Ayahs in Britain,” New Books Network Podcast in Women’s History, 7 October 2023 (https://newbooksnetwork.com/waiting-on-empire)

2023 “The Misrepresentation of coolie women in nationalist discourses,” The Swaddle, 23 January 2023 (https://www.theswaddle.com/the-misrepresentation-of-indian-coolie-women-with-arunima-datta )

2021 BBC 4: “South Asians in Britain: Sake Deen Mohamad and introduction of Shampoo in Britain,” BBC4 Radio, You are Dead to Me, 1 October 2021 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09xcyhg )

2021 “Author Interview: Q & A with Dr Arunima Datta on Fleeting Agencies: A Social History of Indian Coolie Women in British Malaya,” ARIScope, 10 June 2021 (https://ari.nus.edu.sg/ariscope/author-interview-q-a-with-dr-arunima-datta-on-fleeting-agencies-a-social-history-of-indian-coolie-women-in-british-malaya/)

2021 “Fleeting Agencies: A Social History of Indian Coolie Women in British Malaya,” New Books Network Podcast in India Ocean World, 27 March 2021 (https://newbooksnetwork.com/fleeting-agencies)

"South Asians in Britain: Sake Deen Mohamad and introduction of Shampoo in Britain," https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09xcyhg BBC4 Radio, You're Dead to Me (aired 1 October 2021).

"Fleeting Agencies," https://newbooksnetwork.com/fleeting-agencies New Books Network Podcast in India Ocean World, 27 March 2021

2025 Led two Curator Tours for public audience. The tour was on the history of “Ayahs in a Victorian townhome” (permanent exhibition at the Museum of the Home (won second place for UK National Museum and Heritage Awards for 2025- permanent exhibitions category), 27 March 2025

2025 Led school learning sessions for school children from Hackney, London came to the museum to engage with the exhibition. I co-curated lesson plans and activities for the students to engage with the history of migration, identity and patterns in everyday life (through the history of travelling ayahs in Britain), 25 March 2025

2024 Led Community Workshop (in collaboration with Sheffield Archives) on Travelling ayahs in Britain and how to get closures when encountered with archival violence and archival silence. Special Women’s Day Event at Sheffield City Archive, 8 March 2024 (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/travelling-ayahs-in-britain-ordinary-women-in-extraordinary-circumstances-tickets-826891884887?aff=ebdssbdestsearch)

2023-2024 List of events led by Dr. Datta through the day:

Public Talk: Delivered a Talk on Travelling ayahs in Britain and specifically in Sheffield
Archival Healing Workshop: Led a communal healing workshop for community members who had encountered archival violence in the archives while engaging with family history in archives
Archives training: Led a hands-on training on how to “make silences speak in archives”

Curating exhibition and public educational videos about South Asians in Sheffield in collaboration with Sheffield Archives and Dig Where You Stand, Sheffield, United Kingdom (final events in March, and June, 2024)

Created write ups: for the paintings of travelling ayahs, which the Sheffield
Created and recorded community educational videos: for South Asian residents Archive discovered recently from the local community in Sheffield and how they can explore their pasts in archives.

2023-2024: Curated a permanent period room exhibition based on Waiting on Empire with the Museum of the Home, London, UK.

Consumption Politics: Coolies and Empire in Malaya (manuscript in preparation)

Intimacies in Empire (manuscript in preparation)