Education

PhD Candidate in Feminist Studies with Global Studies Emphasis.

MPhil, MA, and BA from University of Delhi.

Bio

Maisnam Arnapal is a doctoral candidate in Feminist Studies with an interdisciplinary emphasis in Global Studies. He is a 2026 Yale University Sarah Pettit Dissertation Fellow and a recipient of UCSB Chancellor’s Doctoral Fellowship. Maisnam has worked as a Teaching Assistant and Instructor of Record in Feminist Studies, and as a Teaching Assistant in Sociology.

Maisnam is the recipient of the 2026 Dixon-Levy Service Award from UCSB Graduate Student Association, and the 2025 Distinguished Service Award from the Department of Feminist Studies.  Maisnam also received a fellowship from the UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center through which he serves as a Public Humanist Fellow with the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation. 

Research

Maisnam studies the politics of Indigenous gender and sexuality in the shadow of decades-old armed conflict and militarism with a particular focus on Manipur in the India-Myanmar borderland. His research is situated at the intersection of transnational feminisms, queer and trans studies, critical Indigenous studies, and peace and conflict studies. 

Maisnam received a fellowship from UCSB Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies through which he produced a documentary film, Manglaan. Filmed in 2023 during the peak of the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur, Manglaan (meaning dreams and desires in Meiteilon) follows the lives and work of Nupa Maanba (Indigenous transmen from Manipur) who coach conflict-affected children living in makeshift camps. The film portrays how Nupa Maanba negotiate gender norms while leveraging their soccer skills to provide collective care, foster community, and build peace in the face of precarity and uncertainty at this site of violence. Premiered at UC Santa Barbara, it was invited for screening at UC Berkeley and IIIT-Delhi. 
Watch Manglaan on YouTube.