Dr. Kini received his PhD in Literature (Cultural Studies) from UC San Diego in 2016. His dissertation is titled: “Racial Encounters: Queer Affiliations in Black and South Asian Diasporas”. He also holds a M.A., English (Certificate in Gender and Women’s Studies) and a B.A. English, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is currently at work on a book manuscript that examines diasporic Black and South Asian literature and cinema to explore queer and feminist models of affiliation and coalition attentive to nonequivalent histories of colonialism and gendered racialization. His work has appeared in South Asian Review and The Journal of Intercultural Studies.