Vatsal Naresh is a Lecturer in Social Studies at Harvard. Vatsal’s research interests span democratic theory, political violence, realism, and constitutionalism in 19th and 20th century South Asian, Afro-modern, and European political thought. His current book project, Democracy’s Violence, offers a new interpretation of Alexis de Tocqueville, W. E. B. Du Bois, B. R. Ambedkar, and Hannah Arendt’s writings on majorities, identities, and collective violence. Vatsal’s publications include Negotiating Democracy and Religious Pluralism: India, Pakistan, and Turkey (OUP 2021) and Constituent Assemblies (CUP 2018). Before completing his PhD in Political Science at Yale in 2022, Vatsal studied History at Delhi University and Political Science at Columbia University; and worked as a graduate researcher at the Center for Democracy, Toleration, and Religion, in New York City.

2023-24 Courses
Social Studies 10a: Introduction to Social Studies (Fall)
Social Studies 10b: Introduction to Social Studies (Spring)
Social Studies 98vr: Difference and Democracy (Spring)