PhD 
 

PhD Thesis Title: Reproductive Risk and the Archival Politics of Indigenous Knowledge

PhD Supervisor:  Aditya Bharadwaj

My PhD explores the intersection of Indigenous knowledge systems and reproductive health among the Lepcha and Sherpa communities in North Bengal. Through multi-sited ethnographic and archival research, I investigate how traditional epistemologies of reproductive care navigate, resist, and adapt to the dominance of biomedical frameworks, while interrogating the archival politics that marginalise these practices. My work aims to decolonize reproductive governance by centering Indigenous expertise and advocating for its recognition within contemporary healthcare systems.
 

Profile

Rayana is a PhD Researcher in Anthropology at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Her research investigates the intersections of reproductive health, global histories of medicine, and indigenous health systems, with a focus on oral histories, intergenerational subjectivities, and archival politics. She has extensive experience in ethnographic and qualitative research, previously holding positions at institutions such as UNFPA, where she contributed to policy analysis and advocacy for sexual and reproductive health rights. Rayana holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology and Sociology from the Geneva Graduate Institute, where her thesis explored reproductive health activism among sex workers in India and the queer moral geographies of disease and care. When not athropologis-ing, one can find her in cosy spaces reading about feminist body horror, musing about her love for cinema or enjoying matcha lattes under the sun. Connect with her on Twitter at @CalicoCatRay.
 

Research Interests
 

• Medical Anthropology
• Reproductive Risks and Vulnerabilities
• Indigenous Knowledge Systems
• Colonial and Post-Colonial Health Interventions
• Ethnomedical Archives
  
   

Publications and Works
 

• Ghosh, Rayana. Caring and Desiring as Sex Workers: Health Activism and the Queer Art of Resistance in Sonagachi, India. Master’s thesis, Geneva Graduate Institute, June 2024.
• Ghosh, Rayana. "Queer Disability, Resistance and Censorship: A Cyber Ethnography of Queer and Disabled Content Creators and Activists on Social Media." Young Sociologist, March 1, 2023.
   

Fellowships, Grants and Awards

The Graduate Institute (IHEID), Doctoral Academic Scholarship (2024)