Deepthi Bathala

Deepthi Bathala is a PhD candidate in Architecture. She is interested in questions related to the translation of knowledge into practice. Her dissertation research titled “Botanical Failures” is an architectural history of the botanical gardens in colonial South Asia exploring the intersections of climate, colonialism, and the environment. It examines the conflicts between botanical science and the sociocultural realities on the ground in the construction of the imaginary tropics. Her research has been supported by the Graham Foundation Chicago, Oak Spring Garden Foundation Upperville, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art London, Society of Architectural Historians, and several fellowships from the Rackham Graduate School.

She currently serves as a doctoral intern fellow with the Public Engagement and Research Impacts (PE+RI) team at the U-M Office of Research. Deepthi also has a certificate in Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, MS Arch History and Theory from the University of Washington, Seattle, and B. Arch from College of Engineering Trivandrum, University of Kerala.

Fellowships, Grants, and Awards

• Indian Alumni International Student Fellowship 2024 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Rackham One-term Dissertation Writing Award 2023 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Carter Manny Award Citation of Special Recognition 2023 | Graham Foundation, Chicago
• Interdisciplinary Fellowship 2023 | Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Virginia
• Sweetland/Rackham Dissertation Writing Institute Fellowship, 2023 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Paul Mellon Center Junior Fellowship 2022-2023 | Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London
• Rackham International Research Award 2022 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• The Scott Opler Graduate Scholar Fellowship 2022 | Society of Architectural Historians
• Paul Mellon Center Research Support Grant 2021 | Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London
• Rackham Language Training Award 2020 for study in Seville, Spain | University of
• Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Thesis Citation for MS Arch History/Theory Thesis 2019-2020 | CBE University of Washington, Seattle
• John Morse Graduate Fellowship Endowment for International Travel to Perú 2019 | University
• of Washington, Seattle