While caste has been invisibilized in the Indian curriculum, it is practised strongly in a pedagogical sense which maintains hierarchy in higher education. There exists a mutually reinforced relationship of absence (of caste in curriculum) and presence (of caste in pedagogy). The current study aims at assessing inclusivity in academic curriculum and pedagogy with regards to the question of caste in papers related to gender/women’s rights/feminism at the University of Delhi. The curriculum of gender-related papers provided by six departments at the University of Delhi for undergraduate students is assessed. Along with textual analysis, in depth phenomenological interviews were conducted with 20 respondents coming from diverse caste backgrounds. Professors and students who either taught or studied any paper related to gender/women’s rights at undergraduate level of the University of Delhi were interviewed. The results of the study highlight several mutually reinforcing relations between ‘caste-less curriculum’, ‘sacred teacher’ and methods of evaluation, which can be seen as an explanation of how invisibilization of caste in curriculum aids caste as a pedagogical practice.
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