Sarika Doppalapudi

Born and raised in Chicago, Sarika is in her senior year at Gallatin. Her concentration focuses on how disenfranchised communities respond to, remember, and archive events. These interests derive from her research on the 2013 school closings in Chicago, as well as her own experiences as a student in the Chicago public school system. Sarika also utilizes textile practices as part of her research methodologies, including lace-making, knitting, and quilting.

Past research of hers has included an oral history case study on a school in Chicago that closed oral histories with textile artists which culminated in a series of nine mini-quilts that included embroidered quotes, as well as research on experimental musical plastic textiles. She is grateful to have been the recipient of the Gallatin Undergraduate Research Fund, Dean’s Award for Summer Research, and Horn Family Fund for Environmental Research, which have allowed her to pursue her research interests.

During her time at Gallatin, she has worked as a gallery assistant at the Gallatin WetLab and with the Virtual Volcano Observatory, both on Governors Island. Some of her most influential classes have been “Women’s (Text)iles” with  Myisha Priest, as well as “Oral History: Theory and Practice” with Sara Franklin.