Sociology Professor to Be Guest Scholar at College de France

Dr. Vinay Bahl, an associate professor of sociology at Pennsylvania College of Technology, has been invited to serve as a guest scholar at College de France in Paris.

Dr. Bahl's yearlong appointment begins Sept. 1. She will be one of just eight educators chosen for the prestigious honor. The faculty at the state-operated institution selects the guest scholars based on the merit of their proposals.

While at College de France, Dr. Bahl will work on a long-term research project: a comparative history of the large-scale steel industry in imperial Russia, colonial India, Great Britain and the United States at the turn of the 19th century. She will present four papers based on research conducted during her stay at the institution.

Dr. Bahl earned a Ph.D. in sociology from State University of New York Binghamton. She holds master's degrees in history, political science and sociology and a master's of philosophy (pre-Ph.D.) in modern Indian history.

Her first book, published in 1995, was "The Making of the Indian Working Class: A Case of the Tata Iron and Steel Company, 1880-1946." A second co-edited book, "History After the Three Worlds: Post Eurocentric Historiographies," was published in 2000.