On receiving the #ICA21 Aubrey Fisher Mentorship Award

This is one recognition that is the closest to my heart, and I cherish it dearly. 

The award citation states:

"We are pleased to present this year’s B. Aubrey Fisher Mentorship Award to Dr. Mohan J. Dutta. The multitude of voices represented in his nomination praised his mentorship as characterized by a selfless spirit, a principle of committed care, a nurturing approach to working with his students, and a deep commitment to social justice. These voices conveyed genuine appreciation for helping them navigate the obstacles and hierarchies frequently encountered in the academy, and they expressed gratitude for his gentle guidance in helping them see the importance of their work in helping those in communities outside of academics. As his nomination states, “The discipline is more inclusive today, to a large part because of Mohan’s tireless advocacy. Mohan’s courage in questioning consistently disciplinary #Whiteness is one of most powerful testimonies to his mentorship. This mentorship role extends much beyond us, his advisees, as he inspires students of colour across the discipline and works to make space for them.”

Feeling grateful to all those of you who have journeyed with me, shaping who I am as a mentor today!
Acknowledging the many mentors who have shaped my own journey. When I struggled as a graduate student in agricultural engineering because an Indian Hindu conservative advisor was displeased with my rebellious lifestyle, Professor Robert Littlefield came up with a quarter-time assistantship in the middle of the semester that I could use to sustain myself. This allowed me to keep my dignity as I put in my resignation letter to the Indian Professor espousing Hindutva.

Professor Douglas Hindman supported me with a teaching assistantship that sustained me throughout the graduate program. At the University of Minnesota, Professor William D. Wells , a giant in Advertising gently guided me, engaging with my Marxist epistemology with kindness and humor. Professor Ron Faber taught the rigor of method with his patience.

When I started my first job as an Assistant Professor at Purdue among many giants of the discipline, my then colleagues sustained, nurtured and encouraged me. Professor Patrice Buzzanell looked through drafts of manuscripts. Professor Steve Wilson filled up manuscripts in progress with his comments. Professor Josh Boyd taught what it is to be a good teacher. Professor Stacey Connaughton served on so many of my students' committees, with her gentle and steady support. Professors Bart Collins and Titilayo Okoror collaborated on one of the earliest large-scale culture-centered interventions funded by the Agency for HealthCare Research and Quality (AHRQ), mentoring together an entire generation of scholars of the culture-centered approach (CCA). Professor Beverly Davenport served as a steadfast champion of my scholarship and academic journey. Professor Howard Sypher showed what it is to be a supporting leader, opening up so many possibilities for a beginning Assistant Professor, and making space for my activism.

Outside of Purdue, Teri Thompson, Gary Kreps, and Barbara Sharf championed my scholarship, nurtured it, and made room for it in the discipline. Rob Logan taught me the value of putting scholarship in conversation with policy. Arvind Singhal supported so many of my advisees with his advocacy. Debashish Munshi, Priya Kurian, Sudeshna Roy, Eddah Matua, Ahmet Atay, Anjali Vats, Brian McCann, Bernadette Calafell, Sarah Amira, Walid Afifi, so many colleagues have offered vital anchors for conversations. Shiv Ganesh and Heather Zoller served as interlocutors, shaping so much of the CCA and its many conversational registers. Shiv championed my work and the work of the CARE collective in so many ways. Elaine Hsieh, Jeff Peterson and Evelyn Ho dialogued on so many of the key features of the CCA, giving so much of their time to my advisees in their own journey. T T Sreekumar, Vinod Pavarala, Usha Raman, Arbind Sinha, thank you for the many amazing conversations. Mary Beth Oliver, Chenjerai Kumanyika, Meghan Sanders, Walid Afifi and Srivi Ramasubramanian have shown the power of building inclusive infrastructures. Srivi Ramasubramanian has served as source of strength, authentic allyship, and collaboration to dismantle the unequal structures. Devika Chawla has served as a voice of critical introspection and sustained transformation.

At the National University of Singapore, the support of Ananth Thambyah, Kenneth Paul Tan, and Cherian George were essential to sustaining an ethic of commitment in mentorship. They show everyday how you maintain your spine when the seductions to sell off are normatively instituted in the academe by an authoritarian regime.

Debalina's labour, often invisible, sustained so much of my mentorship. She spent time taking care of the children as I spent weekends with my students and communities. She opened up our home so we could care for my students and advisees, and build the registers for dialogue. Throughout the hardships that we had to bear as a family for my advocacy work, she stood steadfast by me, believing in me.
My extended family of teachers, my eldest uncle jethumoni and my union organizer uncle Godaikaka taught me with their examples the lifetime commitment of mentorship. My parents, Ma and Baba, have taught me the value of standing by your beliefs amidst hardships. My brother and his family have served as eternal sources of strength. My large extended whānau in Dutta Bari has anchored the ethic of care.

So many community organizers and activist collaborators have mentored me in powerful ways, teaching me through their struggles the processes of creating voice infrastructures. Thank you Indranil Mondal, Ramprasad Das, Pankaj Baskey, James Gomez, Braema Mathi, Jolovan Wham, Kokila Annamalai, Gayle Moana Jackson, Jasmine Pai, Sue Bradford, Teanau Tuiono, Sapna Samant, Murdoch Stephens, Tame Iti, Marise Lant, Rahul Banerjee for teaching me about the power of communication in transformative change.

Most of all, I see this award as a recognition of my many advisees who have taught me, loved me, and transformed me. You have individually and collectively shaped my mentorship journey, holding me in care with your commitment. Devalina Mookerjee, Rebecca DeSouza, Mahuya Pal, Ambar Basu, Iccha Basnyat, Induk Kim, Nadine Yehya, Lala Acharya, Raihan Jamil, Raven Pfister, Vicki Ortiz, Uttaran Dutta, Sydney Dillard, Shaunak Sastry, Ban Zhuo, Rati Kumar, Soumitro Sen, Agaptus Anaele, Rahul Rastogi, Anuradha Rao, Dazzelyn Zapata, Ee Lyn Tan, Satveer Kaur, Paulin Luk, Somrita Ganchoudhuri, Ashwini Falnikar, Augustus Latosa, Christine Elers, Pooja Jayan, Mahbubur Rahman, Andee Zorn, Samiksha Pattanaik, this award is recognition of the labour of sustained camaraderie that has shaped and held up our collective. You have agitated and struggled together to decolonize the discipline, actually building spaces that are inclusive and invitational. You show the pathways for that which is possible.

The postdoctoral fellows I have had the opportunity to work with Jagadish Thaker, Kang Sun, Asha Pandi, Dyah Pitaloka, Terri Te Tau, Phoebe Elers, Thank you. To the undergraduate interns who have spent time with us at CARE, Johan Gonzalez, Sohinee Bera, Richa Sharma, you show the possibilities for the future. Amidst the most powerful challenges from structures, you have co-created the foundations for structural transformation.

Mentorship journeys are collective journeys that are built up by communities of people who come to love, care for each other, and imagine a better world together. I am forever in gratitude for the many webs of support that have held me up.