Betsy Jose
Jose2@indiana.edu
Admitted: 2007

BA 1993 - University of Delhi
Major: Sociology
MA 1995 - Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Major: Sociology

Betsy Jose graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in 1995 with a Masters degree in Sociology. As an international student hailing from India, she has extensive work experience in the NGO as well as the media sector. While in India, Betsy worked with organizations like TARSHI (Talking About Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues) and the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) of Delhi. She has also volunteered with Sangini (India) Trust. Betsy worked in the media sector in radio, TV and film in various capacities including radio show host, TV Producer, TV host, associate director, scriptwriter and voiceover artiste to mention a few. Her interests revolve around media and its repercussions on the shaping of perceptions about gender and sexuality. Betsy strongly believes in the power of film as a vehicle of creating discourses to counter hegemonic ideologies. In the course of pursuing her PhD along with a minor in Telecommunications, Betsy has already produced a couple of shorts on the Kinsey Institute here on campus. One of them is featured on Kinsey Institute’s website.
(URL: http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/services/video.html). Betsy’s research interests revolve around the changing landscape of alternative sexualities in non-western cultures and the impact of media mechanisms, particularly film, on this phenomenon.

A documentary film “Beyond Boundaries” produced and directed by third-year doctoral student Betsy Jose has been selected for the IndyLGBT Film Festival to be held in November this year. The 26+ minute film takes a close look at the lives of immigrants in USA with diverse sexualities. It deals with how various aspects of their identities intersect and interact in making their experiences distinct, as well as similar in many ways. This film, produced for broadcast on WTIU, has been made by a documentary class that Betsy pursued in Spring 2009.