Janaki Phillips is part of the University of Michigan Graduate Student Cohort of the Summer 2021 U-M/UPR Curriculum Design Program. Learn more about Phillips and why she chose to apply to this year’s program below!
Janaki Phillips
Janaki Phillips is a 6th year PhD candidate in sociocultural anthropology. After her original dissertation research was interrupted by the pandemic in 2020, she made the difficult decision to switch her dissertation research topic to a comparative project on the digital practices of tarot readers in Mumbai and Los Angeles. She is interested in how tarot is being used as a divinatory tool, what other forms of spiritual and social practices it is embedded in, and how people negotiate their futures and uncertainty through the medium of tarot. Her new project is being supported by a Rackham Humanities Research Fellowship.
She is grateful for the opportunity to participate in the UM-UPR curriculum design program for the second time, and is excited about connecting High School teachers in Puerto Rico with innovative teaching materials.