About
Scholarly Trajectory
Her academic journey reflects the interdisciplinary nature of her work. Beginning with field research in child development and nutrition education in rural Gujarat, India, she pursued doctoral training in applied developmental psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Her career has spanned positions in psychology departments (Indiana State University) and interdisciplinary programs (Diaspora and Transnational Studies at the University of Toronto, and Human Development and Family Studies at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India), allowing her to bridge psychological science with humanities scholarship.
Her training in applied developmental psychology, with a concentration in contexts of development, provides the foundation for her interdisciplinary approach towards studying Indian immigrants in the USA and Canada and, more recently, Pakistani immigrants in Canada. This psychological grounding allows her to examine individual and family development while engaging with broader questions of culture, power, and social justice that emerge from humanities perspectives.
Publications and Impact
Her scholarship appears in psychology journals, interdisciplinary volumes, and humanities publications, reflecting her commitment to speaking across disciplinary boundaries. This includes work on cultural conceptions of childhood, the psychology of parents and parenting, South Asian women’s experiences of displacement and authenticity, and the psychological dynamics of intercultural relationships. She has served as President of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research, convened its 45th annual meeting, and maintains editorial roles that bridge psychology and diaspora studies. She is also the Director of the Centre for South Asian Critical Humanities at the University of Toronto Mississauga.
Photo by Manav
Approach and Impact
Dr. Ganapathy-Coleman brings both psychological training and deep cultural competencies to her research, including fluency in multiple South Asian languages. This positions her to engage meaningfully with the communities she studies while contributing to scholarly conversations that span developmental science, cultural psychology, and humanities. Her work demonstrates how psychological insights can illuminate broader questions of migration, identity, and social justice. As a scholar shaped by her Indian descent, she feels privileged to be at the University of Toronto Mississauga, where she collaborates with an exceptionally dedicated and talented team of students from diverse South Asian backgrounds.
