Bidisha Biswas

Professor, WWU Faculty Legislative Liaison

About

I earned my BA from the University of New Delhi and received my PhD from the Department of Government and Politics at University of Maryland, College Park.  I joined the Department of Political Science at Western Washington University in 2006. In Fall 2019, I was a a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. In 2012-2013,  I had the opportunity to serve as a Franklin Fellow policy advisor on South Asia to the United States Department of State. 

My research interests include international security, conflict, immigration and diaspora politics. Much of my research has a policy orientation, and I have previously worked with Women in International Security, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (South Asia Division) and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. I have authored  numerous publications and have presented at several national and international settings. Please see my CV for more information.

At Western, I teach courses on International Relations, Transnational Terrorism, American Foreign Policy, International Intervention in Civil Wars, Conflict Processes & Conflict Resolution, the Politics of South Asia, and Applied Methods.   I also serve as faculty advisor for the Political Science department’s Honors program.  Qualified students should contact me for more information about program qualifications and requirements. In my teaching, I am passionate about applying theoretical rigor to policy questions.  I was featured in the 2016-2017 WWU Innovative Teaching Showcase on Critical Thinking.  Students should expect lots of discussion and debates about current events as well as a strong emphasis on clear and concise writing. 

Research Interests

  • Diaspora Politics, Refugee Governance Mechanisms, International Security, Conflict,

Current Courses

Fall 2023

  • PLSC 271 - Intro to International Relations
  • PLSC 434 - Senior Seminar - International Relations - WP3

Spring 2024

  • PLSCC 315 - Why We Fight - WP2
  • PLSC 399 - Politics of Democratization

Selected Publications

For full list of publications, please see my CV.

REFEREED PUBLICATIONS (SELECTIVE LIST)

 “Hindu Radicalization and Implications for India.” Book chapter for Terrorism, Security and Development in South Asia: National, Regional and Global Implications, edited by Raymond Izarali and Dalbir Ahlawat. New York: Routledge.

International Norms of Asylum and Burden-Sharing: A Case Study of Bangladesh and the Rohingya Refugee Population. 2020. Journal of Refugee Studies.

"Radicalizing Female Empowerment: Gender, Agency, and Affective Appeals in Islamic State Propaganda”. 2019. Small Wars & Insurgencies30(6-7): 1193-1213. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2019.1649831.

“Who Protests? An Exploration of the Class Dimensions of Anti-Corruption Mobilization” (with Ramya M. Vijaya). 2019. Governance,  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12395 .

“What Can I Do with This Class? Building Employment-Related Skills in International Relations Courses” (with Virginia Haufler).2018. Journal of Political Science Education, DOI: 10.1080/15512169.2018.1515634.

“From Aruna Shanbaug to Jyoti Singh: A Tale of Policy Change as Told Through Landmark Rape Cases in India.” 2017.  In New Feminisms in South Asia: Disrupting the Discourse Through Social Media, Film and Literature, edited by Sonora Jha and Alka Kurian. New York: Routledge: pp.42-59.

Just Say No: Explaining the Lack of International Mediation in Kashmir.” 2017.  International Negotiation 22(3): 499-520.

“Finding Agency in the Margins: Lessons from Teaching as Immigrant Women of Color.” (Co-authored with Shirin Deylami). PS: Political Science and Politics 50(4): 1011-1014. 

Indian Immigrant Women and Work. 2016. NY: Routledge. (Co-authored with Ramya Vijaya)

Teaching Theory, Writing Policy: Integrating Lessons from Foggy Bottom into the Classroom.” (co-authored with  Agnieszka Paczynska) 2015. PS: Political Science and Politics 48(1): 157-161.

Managing Conflicts in India: Policies of Coercion and Accommodation. 2014. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS (SELECTIVE LIST)

New Survey Shows Many Indians Preach Respect but Don’t Practice It (with Nikhil Mandalaparthy). 2021. Foreign Policy.

Narendra Modi’s Soft-Power Diplomatic Efforts Abroad Are Being Undone by Hardline Politics at Home (with Anish Goel). 2020. The Scroll.

 India’s Citizenship Policies Find Parallels in Neighboring Myanmar (with Srobana Bhattacharya). 2020. Political Violence at a Glance.

As Seattle City Council Condemns CAA, US and India's Shared Moral History Continues. 2020. The Wire.

Indian Americans Disillusioned with Hindutva Can Still Give Moral Oxygen to CAA Protesters. 2020. The Print .

Challenging Hegemony, Building Bridges: Pedagogical Tools to Mediate Campus Polarization. 2019.  ASIANetwork Exchange 26(1): 26–32.

"This Is Why Indian Immigrants Won’t Benefit from Trump’s Immigration Plan" (with Ramya M. Vijaya). 2018. Washington Post.

“In Kashmir, They Disappear: Civilians, Militants, and Democracy.” (with Anish Goel).  2014. Foreign Policy: The South Asia Channel.