Academic CV — Hannah Carlan, PhD

Professional Profile

I am an anthropologist with 10 years of experience conducting independent and collaborative ethnographic research in Asia and the U.S. I use qualitative methods to generate a deep understanding of context, experience, and people. Seasoned at analyzing large data sets, I enjoy identifying patterns in human behavior that tell actionable stories about people’s habits, values, and desires. I thrive in cross-cultural, cross-functional teams, while also offering perspectives grounded in anthropological expertise.

For more than a decade, my research has been driven by my passion for studying language and culture in South Asia. I have conducted linguistic and ethnographic research on: how second generation South Asian social workers in Queen, NY use humor to craft identity; how social media users in India debate the relationship between culture and violence online; how women in rural India use diverse languages to access social services; and how colonial language surveys in British India have shaped contemporary understandings of language, race, caste, and identity.

I have intensively studied four Indian languages - Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, and Kangri - and am an all-around language nerd.

Expertise

Skills

Professional Experience

Senior UX Researcher | August 2022 - present
Elevance Health, via Ascendum Solutions

Human Experience (HX) research lead on end-to-end projects that align business goals with consumer values using human-centered design
Provide strategic leadership in building HCD capacities, practices, and resources across multiple stakeholder groups
Collaborate cross-functionally with strategists, designers, and business stakeholders to generate concepts that address consumer pain points across their journey
Leverage insights from primary and secondary user research through in depth interviews, surveys, focus groups, diary studies, and more
Translate research insights into tangible recommendations that drive business impact across multiple lines of business and areas of focus

UX Researcher | May - October 2022
Hack for LA, Remote

Conducted foundational research informing the development of a design system for all Hack for LA projects
Collaborated across cross-functional team of UX Researchers, Designers, Writers, and PM to deliver insights for product development
Performed qualitative analysis and coding of interviews and usability studies in Figma
Synthesized findings into actionable recommendations

Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology | July 2021 - July 2022
Rollins College, Winter Park, FL
Researcher and qualitative methods expert

Designed and taught 6 courses specializing in in ethnographic research methods, qualitative data analysis, coding, interviewing, and discourse analysis to 120+ anthropology students
Oversaw 100+ short-term research projects on language and culture and trained students to craft clear and compelling stories about results
Mentored senior anthropology student through successful applications for Fulbright Scholarship and Critical Language Scholarship

PhD Researcher | Sept 2014 - June 2021
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA and Dharamshala India
Lead researcher on ethnographic study of language and rural development in India

Conducted ethnographic study on the impact of multilingualism on community access to development services in India
Performed semi-structured and open-ended interviews with 100+ research participants and collected and analyzed 130+ hours of video ethnography
Trained and managed two full-time research assistants
Received over $150,000 in competitive national and intramural funding from Social Science Research Council, Wenner-Gren Foundation, Fulbright Program, Critical Language Scholarship, UCLA Affiliates Scholarship, UCLA International Institute, and UCLA Anthropology Department.
Published peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and presented results at 13 conferences in the U.S. and abroad
Received international award for best graduate research in 2020 from Society for Linguistic Anthropology
Received Charles E. and Sue K. Young Graduate Award for outstanding research, teaching, and service to the university by UCLA Graduate Division in 2017.

Graduate Research Assistant | Jan 2015 - July 2017
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Research assistant to anthropologist Alessandro Duranti

Transcribed and analyzed qualitative and linguistic data from Dr. Duranti’s research on language and politics
Synthesized and organized Dr. Duranti’s teaching materials for courses on phenomenology and linguistic anthropology
Trained and mentored Dr. Duranti’s undergraduate research assistant

Writing Consultant and Fellowship Specialist | Sept 2019 - June 2021
UCLA Graduate Writing Center, Los Angeles, CA
Graduate peer writing consultant offering expert feedback on PhD-level writing

Provided one-on-one insights for clients on how to conceptualize, craft, and revise proposals for nationally competitive research grants and fellowships, theses and dissertations, personal statements, and job applications.
Clients have been awarded funding from the Ford Foundation, Fulbright Program, and Wenner-Gren Foundation, among others.

Teaching Associate and Instructor of Record | Sept 2015 - Aug 2020
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Taught anthropology courses independently and on collaborative teams

Designed and taught course Language and Identity in Summer 2020 through synchronous online learning with 17 students
Led discussion sections with 200+ undergraduates over four quarters.
Trained 75+ students in conducting independent ethnographic research projects.

Volunteer Experience

Co-Founder, Researcher, and Web Designer | Dec 2017 - present
South Asia Solidarity Interpreting Collective, India and U.S.

Co-founded collective of researchers, activists, and academics committed to advancing language justice in social movement spaces in India
Secured funding to create applied research and training modules on multilingual solidarity interpreting in India from U.S. State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship Alumni Development Fund
Conducted background research on multilingualism in India and wrote policy reports and resources on interpreting in India for training website
Designed website providing training resources for solidarity interpreters working in grassroots, cross-movement, multilingual organizations in India

Ethnographer and Filmmaker | Oct 2017 - June 2021
Jagori Rural Charitable Trust, Rakkar, India
Researcher and project documentation expert

Conducted ethnographic interviews with social workers, women, and adolescent girls on their experiences with empowerment initiatives
Wrote project reports documenting evidence of program progress
Produced two ethnographic films documenting participant experiences used to communicate project success to stakeholders
Built relationships across teams of fieldworkers, managers, community partners, and project participants

Research Intern | Aug - Sept 2015
Centre for Social Research, New Delhi, India
Researcher and project documentation expert

Contributed to Facebook-funded project “Social Surfing” on online safety and privacy in India
Wrote policy analysis on violence against women in online spaces in India for public resource blog, Gender Matters
Created presentations of research findings and delivered results to audiences of 200+ stakeholders from colleges in New Delhi

Research Intern and Case Aide | June - Dec 2011
Center for the Integration and Advancement of New Americans, Astoria, NY
Researcher and assistant on casework with new Americans from South Asia

Conducted six-month ethnographic study of second-generation Asian-American social workers using participant observation, qualitative interviews, and analysis of everyday interaction.
Observed and analyzed in-office interactions, home visits to clients, and office meetings to understand how social workers conceptualized their identity vis-a-vis their clients from similar backgrounds.
Contributed to case documentation and project reporting.
Authored research thesis and presented based on findings on the importance of humor and satire as resources for identity construction amidst stressful working conditions.

Education

PhD, Anthropology | 2021
University of California, Los Angeles

MPhil, Social Anthropology | 2014
University of Cambridge

BA, Anthropology and Linguistics | 2012
New York University

Languages

English | native
Hindi | full working proficiency
Urdu | full working proficiency
Punjabi | limited working proficiency

Research Portfolio

Access my research portfolio here.

Academic Publications

Download my academic publications here.

Carlan, Hannah. 2022. “Grammars of Difference: Language, Literature, and Racialization in the Linguistic Survey of India.” In The Colonial State and Forms of Knowledge: The British in India, edited by Vinay Lal, 168–209. New Delhi: Primus.
Carlan, Hannah. 2021. “The Racial Language of Fatphobia.” Anthropology News (blog). August 2, 2021. https://www.anthropology-news.org/articles/the-racial-language-of-fatphobia/.

Carlan, Hannah. 2021. “Producing Prosperity: Language and the Labor of Development in India’s Western Himalayas.” PhD Dissertation, Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles. View here.
Carlan, Hannah. 2021. “‘No One Is Poor in Himachal’: Cultivating Stateless Agency in an Indian Village Assembly.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 31 (1): 64–96. https://doi.org/10.1111/jola.12299.
Carlan, Hannah. 2020. “Book Review: Everyday Creativity: Singing Goddesses in the Himalayan Foothills, by Kirin Narayan.” European Bulletin of Himalayan Research 54: 137–41.
Carlan, Hannah. 2020. “Book Review: Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia, by Sabrina Strings.” UCLA Center for the Study of Women Blog. https://csw.ucla.edu/2020/11/23/fearing-the-black-body-the-racial-origins-of-fat-phobia-by-sabrina-strings-nyu-press-2019/.
Mankekar, Purnima, and Hannah Carlan. 2019. “The Remediation of Nationalism: Viscerality, Virality, and Digital Affect.” In Global Digital Cultures: Perspectives from South Asia, edited by Aswin Punathambekar and Sriram Mohan, 203–22. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Carlan, Hannah. 2018. “‘In the Mouth of an Aborigine’: Language Ideologies and Logics of Racialization in the Linguistic Survey of India.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2018 (252): 97–123. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2018-0016.
Carlan, Hannah. 2016. “Gender Violence, Neoliberal Institutions, and Digital Activism in India.” In Proceedings of Thinking Gender. UCLA Center for the Study of Women. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/67v4830j.
Carlan, Hannah. 2015. “‘Dented, Painted, and Proud’: Satire on Indian Social Media after the 2012 Delhi Gang Rape.” Texas Linguistic Forum: Proceedings of the 23rd Symposium about Language and Society 58: 11–22.
Carlan, Hannah. 2014. “Debating Rape as ‘Culture’: Interacting Virtually on Social Media in India.” MPhil Dissertation, Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge.

Grants and Awards

Find more details on my awards here.

Gumperz Graduate Research Prize for best graduate student research | Society for Linguistic Anthropology | 2020
Dissertation Year Fellowship | UCLA Graduate Division | 2020-21
Jean Stone Dissertation Research Fellowship | UCLA Center for the Study of Women | 2020
Dissertation Fieldwork Grant | Wenner-Gren Foundation | 2019
International Dissertation Research Grant | Social Science Research Council | 2018
Fulbright Student Research Grant, India | US State Department | 2017-18
Charles E. and Sue K. Young Award for Best Graduate Social Science Research and Outstanding Service to the University | UCLA Graduate Division | 2017
Critical Language Scholarship, Punjabi | US State Department | 2017
UCLA Affiliates Scholarship | 2017
Dean’s Scholar Award | UCLA Graduate Division | 2014
Bill and Melinda Gates Cambridge Scholarship | Gates Foundation | 2014 - 15
Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, India | US State Department | 2012-13

Professional Service

Peer Reviewer, American Ethnologist, 2022
Fulbright Interviewer, Rollins College, 2021
Co-Founder and Lead Organizer, Annual Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference on South Asia, UCLA, 2016

Professional Memberships