Education

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, May 2024
Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology, School of Arts and Science
Certificates earned: Urban Studies, Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, and the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Comprehensive exams: Sociology of Climate Change & Environment and Labor & Migration.

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, May 2019
Masters in Sociology, School of Arts and Science

New York University, New York, NY, Bachelor of Arts, College of Arts and Science, May 2015
Majors: Sociology and Urban Design & Architecture Studies

Publications

Journal Articles

Castro, Brianna, and Raka Sen. 2022. “Everyday Adaptation: Theorizing Climate Change Adaptation in Daily Life.” Global Environmental Change 75:102555. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102555.

Cohen, Daniel Aldana, J. Mijin Cha, Nick Graetz, Aaryaman Singhal, and Raka Sen. 2022. “Securing Climate Justice Federally: A Political Economy Approach to Targeted Investments.” Environmental Justice env.2022.0047. doi: 10.1089/env.2022.0047.

Sen, Raka. 2023. “Salt in the Wound: Embodied Everyday Adaptations to Salinity Intrusion in the Sundarbans.” Ecology and Society 28(2). doi: 10.5751/ES-14037-280210.

Manuscripts in preparation: 

Sen, Raka. Under Review. “Adaptation Labor: Gender, Work, and Climate Change in the Sundarbans.” 

Falzon, Danielle, Raka Sen, Rawnak Jahan Ranon and Douwe van Schie. Under Review. “Adaptation Dynamics: The Rolling Waves Caused by Development Timelines on the Ground” Climate and Development

Book Reviews

Sen, Raka. 2022. “Book Reviews: The Human Planet: How We Created the Anthropocene.” Environment and Society 13(1):175–94. doi: 10.3167/ares.2022.130111.

Sen, Raka. 2019. “Book Review: Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future.” Communication and the Public 4(1):84–86. doi: 10.1177/2057047319836920.

Editorial

Sen, Raka. 2019. “Hungry Tides, Salty Lives.” Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved July 31, 2023 (https://archive.dhakatribune.com/climate-change/2019/07/30/hungry-tides-salty-lives).

Sen, Raka. 2018. “The Hungry Tides in Gabura.” Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved July 31, 2023 (https://archive.dhakatribune.com/tribune-supplements/tribune-climate/2018/07/19/the-hungry-tides-in-gabura).

Teaching Experience

Fellowships and Awards

2023-24 Center for Advanced Study of India Sobti Family Fellow

2022-23 Teece Research Fellowship Award

2021 Center for Advanced Study of India Summer Research Fellowship

2021 Gertrude and Otto Pollak Summer Research Fellowship

2020-21 EnviroLab Coordinator

2020-21 Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Fellowship

2019-20 Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Academic Year Fellowship

2019 Center for Advanced Study of India Summer Research Fellowship

2019 #ResearchforChange Grant, MAXQDA

2019 Gertrude and Otto Pollak Summer Research Fellowship

2019 Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Summer Fellowship

2017-2018 Lynne & Michael Tarnopol Graduate Fellow

2018 Gertrude and Otto Pollak Summer Research Fellowship

2018 Visiting Researcher, Global Change Programme, Jadavpur University

2018 International Centre for Climate Change and Development Visiting Researcher

Presentations

August 2023 Salt in the Wound, American Sociological Association

February 2023 Everyday Adaptations: Provocations on Salinity Intrusion, Eastern Sociological Society

October 2022 Solving Climate Change, The Problem Solving Workshop at Northwestern University

October 2022 Transboundary Issues in the Sundarbans, The 5th annual CSD Conference on Sustainable Development at the Bangladeshi Center for Sustainable Development

May 2022 Everyday Adaptations and Ethnographic Research in the Sundarbans, Ramakrishna Mission University Kolkata

October 2021 Everyday Adaptations, Penn Center for Advanced Study of India

August 2021 Everyday Adaptations, American Sociological Association, with Brianna Castro

July 2021 Global Environmental Justice, Penn Social Justice Research Academy

June 2021 Adaptation Labor, SDI Workshop on Everyday Adaptations to Climate Change

May 2021 Climate Change & The Carceral State, Arts + Environmental Justice Symposium by Mural Arts, with Emma Glasser, Elsa Wefes-Potter, & Jane Robbins Mize

March 2021, Adaptation Labor, EnviroLab Conference on Placing, Graduate Student Conference (Organizer and conference participant)

September 2020 Climate Change & The Carceral State, Penn Climate Week, with Emma Glasser, Elsa Wefes-Potter, & Jane Robbins Mize

August 2020 Adaptation Labor, American Sociological Association, San Francisco (cancelled due to COVID 19)

February 2020 Adaptation Labor, Miniconference on Care, Eastern Sociology Society

January 2020 Adaptation Labor, The Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Colloquium

October 2019 Adaptation Labor, Culture, Ethnography, Inequality Workshop, University of Pennsylvania

October 2019 Adaptation Labor, Sociology of Development Conference, Notre Dame

October 2019 Adaptation Labor, South Asia Conference, University of Wisconsin Madison

July 2018 Special Presenter, Global Change Programme, Jadavpur University

April 2018 Theorizing Wetlands, Graduate Research Symposium in Penn Anthropology             

December 2017 H O L D I N G | a practice in wetness, Design in the Terrain of Water, Fall Exhibition hosted by Anuradha Mathur

Work Experience

Research Assistant at the Socio-Spatial Climate Collaborative, November 2020-June 2021
- Assisting with conducting interviews, background research and writing a white a paper about the 2019 New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). This project investigates how the state can and should deliver benefits to frontline communities in ways that ensure climate stabilization, while deconstructing existing inequalities.

Research Assistant for Rebuild by Design at NYU, June 2015- July 2017
- Monitored the implementation of all seven Hurricane Sandy Design Competition infrastructure projects, by attending community meetings, managing relationships with the implementing agencies for the projects, and writing updates about each project for a monthly newsletter
- Gave presentations, creating reports, and writing papers that extract lessons learned from the seven projects
- Assisted on research and interviewing surrounding the implementation phase of the competition
- Developed a series of programming to help the public access and conceptualize the design concepts in their entirety

Research Assistant for the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU, May 2014- June 2015
- Conducted ethnographic research in neighborhoods to learn about their reaction to the buyout process and how it impacted lives.
- Created a literature review of academic articles related to post disaster, relocation and climate change research methodologies.
- Designed and implemented background research on neighborhood demographics, sandy experience, buyouts and other resiliency efforts.
- Consistently monitored media to stay current with the neighborhoods of observation.

Tree Preservation Intern, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, May 2014- August 2014
- Created a manual encompassing the full responsibilities and tasks that are required for best practices of the urban forest in the ever-changing New York City streetscape. Part of NYC Parks Forestry Division, tree preservation is involved in multiple projects regarding long-term tree care for NYC's massive urban forest. Forestry, Permitting and Plan Review works on preserving, installing, and removing trees with respect to development in New York City.

Planning Intern Coordinator, American Planning Association, May 2014- July 2014
Coordinated and ran a summer program with the help of the Youth Planning Group to teach high school aged students about what a career in Urban Planning would look like.

Associate Producer/Graphic Designer, NYdidi, September 2013 - September 2016
- Administrating day-to-day tasks to bring a play to stage. Including email communications, background research, etc.
- Creative director and graphic designer. Designed logo, one pager, business cards and merchandise.
- Manager of Social Media- LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter.

Editorial Intern, Complex Magazine: Art + Design, June 2013 – January 2014
- Wrote articles and did photo research for complex.com website. (http://www.complex.com/author/raka-sen)
- Day-to-day administrative task to learn how a magazine functions and excels. Includes analyzing readership numbers.

Photo Gallery Aid, Mark Lakin Photography, June 2013 – August, 2013
- Production (printing and framing), sales, curation, event planning & hosting, interacting with clients (direct consumers, art collector, charities, interior designers), meeting with press and other day-to-day gallery tasks.
-Worked to expand the reach of the Mark Lakin brand through social media and email campaigns.

Office Assistant and Tour Guide, Villa La Pietra, Florence, Italy, January 2013 - May 2013
- Gave tours of the house museum collection and the gardens. Memorized the historical background of the museum.
- Implemented marketing strategies to promote student interest in tours.

Tutor, America Reads, New York, NY, August 2012 – August 2013
- Assisted 30 2nd through 5th grade students who were falling behind to catch up with the class.
- Worked with students one-on-one or groups as needed in a case-by-case basis.
-Emphasized instilling bigger academic goals by being a role model to ensure ongoing future success.

Summer School Teacher, Boys Hope Girls Hope, Denver, CO, May 2012- August 2012
- Developed fun and academic curriculums to keep students engaged during the summer months.
- Assisted highly motivated students coming from risk backgrounds (ages 10-15)
- Developed and implemented personal plans for each to fill gaps in their education.
- Finished the summer with all students achieving significant improvements, averaging 15-20% improvements on a post-test.

Marketing and Research Intern, Popbar, New York, NY, March 2012- April 2012
- Created press releases, newsletters and other communication strategy including Popbar’s second birthday celebration.
- Designed in-store signage for spring promotion, which remains live in the store.

President, ZenMango/Restaurant Marketing Group Teen Division, May 2007- August 2011
- Recognized as “Top 40 Marketing Executive” worldwide by Advertising Age magazine in 2006. Featured on Martino TV.
- Led team of teens to successfully complete paid projects for national clients with quick turnaround.
- Developed and implemented Teen-Oriented research, resulting in increased company profitability through means of restaurant marketing and demonstrated abilities to create and present exceptional professional level presentations, lead a team of 3-5 peers, and manage the influx and outflux of projects.
Brands including: Chipotle, Quiznos, Boston Market, California Tortilla and Village Inn.