Prahelika Deka

Profile

I am a Postgraduate student studying towards a PhD in Human Geography with a focus on the humanities and social dimensions of climate change. My PhD research aims to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the futures of climate. 

Prior to starting my PhD in October, 2023, I completed an MA in Social Research (Interdisciplinary) at the University of Leeds as part of my 1+3 studentship from the ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). For my MA dissertation, I explored how climate futures are imagined and produced through (visual) arts in activism in a case study of Extinction Rebellion.  

I am also a Priestley Climate Scholar at the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures wherein I engage in interdisciplinary climate reserach. 

Research interests

My PhD research explores the climate futures of flood prone areas, focusing on Majuli Island in Assam, India. The study addresses how affective ties between people and their environments influence their futures/future making in the face of climate change. Through an intersectional lens, it investigates social imaginaries of placemaking by employing creative methodologies. By highlighting the importance of participant-led research, the study aims to reveal how lived experiences shape futures of climate, places and spaces. Investigating the everyday lives of climate change survivors by widening the methodological approaches reflects the co-existence of individual acceptance and denial about the climate. It effectively contributes to the collective understanding of the global climate future-making.

Qualifications

• MA Social Research (Interdisciplinary), University of Leeds
• MA Geography, University of Delhi
• BA (Hons) Geography, University of Delhi

Research groups and institutes

• Social Justice, Cities, Citizenship