Mining the Past to Illuminate the Present

Strongly interested in how today’s nations are shaped by their history, Amherst senior Shreya Joshi ’25(India, UWC Mahindra College) has put her curiosity to work in a number of archival research projects, both on campus and abroad. 

“In my first semester here, I managed to land a job as an archival assistant,” writes Shreya, a double major in history and political science who has helped three of her professors advance their research. “I have worked on over a dozen projects relating to a range of topics and materials, including the diaries of Sarah Archer Amherst, the wife of India’s Governor General from 1823-1828.” 

The summer after her sophomore year, Shreya and five fellow students did archival research in London and Birmingham on the experiences of Black nurses, most of them Commonwealth migrants, who worked within the UK’s National Health Service from 1960 to 1983. The students co-authored a journal article that has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication, on how nurses used friendship-centered strategies to navigate the NHS hierarchy.

Last summer Shreya traveled to New Delhi to do archival research for her thesis on the early 20th century rise of Hindu nationalism in her home nation. “Having spent most of my life in India,” she writes, “I have seen Narendra Modi’s rise to power over the last decade alongside the increase in hateful rhetoric and violence against minority groups. I recognize that India’s contemporary politics are a symptom of a much larger historical trajectory.”

Also passionate about photography, Shreya says she hopes to continue doing research in the future, “while also thinking of its applicability by working as a policy analyst or in the field of human rights/international law.” 

This profile is part of the “Undergraduates in Action” series from the 2025 Annual Report.