Isabel Huacuja Alonso

ih2377@columbia.edu

Hello,

I am a historian of media and modern South Asia and an assistant professor in the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) at Columbia University. I write and teach about the role of media in the making and unmaking of borders.

My book Radio for the Millions: Hindi-Urdu Broadcasting Across Borders (Columbia University Press, 2023) follows radio stations in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Germany and parts of Southeast Asia as it argues for a new geography of radio based on language groups rather than national or regional borders. The book won three awards: the 2024 Columbia University Press Distinguished Book Award, the 2024 Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for South Asian Studies, Modern Language Association and the 2023 American Institute of Pakistan Studies Book Award.

At Columbia, I teach courses on South Asian history from an interdisciplinary perspective and on sound and media studies. I also as teach Contemporary Civilization I and II in the university’s core curriculum.

Some Personal Connections:

I recently discovered my family also has an important connection to radio. My great-grandfather, Manuel de León, owned a radio shop in Mexico City called “Casa de León”. The picture on the left features one of the radios he sold. It still has the original “Casa de León” plaque.

Recent Publications:

Rethinking the Second World War in South Asia, Modern Asian Studies

Radio for the Millions: Hindu Urdu Broadcasting Across Borders, (Columbia University Press, 2023).