Researcher

My Expertise

India, Australia, Transgender People, Gender Diverse People, Gender and Sexuality, Gender-Based Violence, Disaster Management, Tamil Nadu, Sexuality Education, International Education, Transnational Education. 

 

Keywords

Fields of Research (FoR)

Transgender studies, Gender studies not elsewhere classified, Disaster and emergency management, Humanitarian disasters, conflict and peacebuilding

SEO tags

Biography

Estelle Keerthana Ramaswamy (she/they), is a Thirunangai (Tamil equivalent to a Trans Woman) from Chennai, India. She is the first Thirunangai to have been awarded an RTP Scholarship by the Australian Government and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney to pursue her PhD on gender-based violence (GBV) experiences of trans and gender diverse (TGD) people during disasters. She has a wealth of experience as a social worker, educator...view more

Estelle Keerthana Ramaswamy (she/they), is a Thirunangai (Tamil equivalent to a Trans Woman) from Chennai, India. She is the first Thirunangai to have been awarded an RTP Scholarship by the Australian Government and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney to pursue her PhD on gender-based violence (GBV) experiences of trans and gender diverse (TGD) people during disasters. She has a wealth of experience as a social worker, educator and in the space of international education. She is also the first trans woman researching on gender responsive disaster management. She is currently a member of the GBV student reference group (SRG), CoPQTI, SCON and the Board of the School of Social Sciences (Faculty of ADA) at UNSW Sydney and is an Associate with UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute and UNSW Institute for Climate Risk and Response. Estelle Keerthana has previously taught at Bharathidasan University (Tiruchirappalli, India) and Crown Institute of Higher Education (Sydney, Australia). Currently, she tutors and mentors (Convo Cafe) within the School of Social Sciences (SoSS) at the UNSW Sydney.  


My Qualifications

Estelle Keerthana holds the following qualifications:

- Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Psychology from the University of Madras - graduated in 2010

- Master of Arts (MA) in Development Policy and Practice from Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD) - graduated in 2018

Estelle Keerthana is currently pursuing the following qualifications:

- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Social Sciences at the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Art Design and Architecture (ADA), UNSW Sydney

- Master of Social Work (MSW) in Counselling at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi. 


My Awards

Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) International Scholarship - Feb 2025.


My Engagement


My Teaching

Courses that Estelle Keerthana tutors in T3 2026 are:

ARTS1753 Culture, Experience and Change 

ARTS1811 Contemporary Issues in Government and Global Politics

SRAP5102 Research in the Real World

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