Srinivas Wins Grant to Study Impact of South Asian Groceries

Tulasi Srinivas, professor emerita in the Marlboro Institute of Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies, was awarded a research assistance grant from the Urban Communication Foundation for her proposal, “A Goods World: Space and Consumption in Boston’s South Asian Community.”

She was awarded the grant alongside Professor Lakshmi Srinivas of University of Massachusetts Boston, a scholar of consumption and leisure studies among Indian- Americans.

Their project will examine how South Asian grocery stores create vital cultural hubs in Boston’s suburbs, and are actively reshaping the suburban landscape through unique sensory, commercial, and social practices. Tulasi Srinivas, who retired from Emerson last spring, submitted the grant application during her tenure as an active faculty member.

One of the goals of the Urban Communication Foundation is to promote the concept of “urban communication” as the combining of technology, human behavior, and social interaction in city populations for future development.

The research entails active engagement in photography, mapping, and scholarly analysis of South Asian grocery storefronts, with the aim of contributing to the foundation’s work and broader discourse in urban studies.

It also addresses intersecting issues, such as immigration, gentrification, cultural assimilation, and cultural geography within the greater Boston community. She observed that these local storefronts not only challenge conventional American foodscapes, but also serve as spaces that foster community, preserve cultural continuity, and contribute to urban transformation.

By Leah Shostick ’25, MFA ’26 for the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship