Educator

Education

Stanford University | PhD International and Comparative Education

University of Chicago | BA/MA Public Policy

Courses

In 2014-15, I taught a Global Awareness course that took Agnes Scott first-year students to study gender and community development in Trinidad and Tobago. This teaching experience was the coming together of many of my lifelong interests and experiences in international and intercultural learning.  As an accident of birth and heritage, I am fortunate to be multilingual and multicultural. I was born in Tanzania and raised in Botswana in a family that immigrated to East Africa from North India. I spoke Hindi, Punjabi, and Kiswahili before I learned English, French, and Setswana in school.

I first came to the United States as an international student at the University of Chicago where I completed my undergraduate and Master’s work and pursued my doctorate in international education at Stanford University. I studied abroad and conducted fieldwork in France, India, South Africa, and Botswana. My most memorable travels have taken me throughout the Caribbean (Aruba, St. Martin, Jamaica, Turks, and Caicos) and Indian Ocean islands (Seychelles and Mauritius). I have yet to journey to South America. I have taught courses in education, international development, human rights, and women’s studies at Agnes Scott, Spelman College, and Stanford University. My two children and I relish learning about our worldwide connections through storytelling, travel, mandala coloring, and cooking. I aspire to be a chef of creative plant-based recipes that my children would enjoy.

ALT College

ALT College is a community for college-aged folks that emphasizes serving those who are most often marginalized by higher education to build an alternative understanding of what college can be. One that is a radically Authentic, Loving, and Transforming space for learning in solidarity. ALT stands for authenticity, love, and transformation.

Hands together_ALT

Gayatri, or Dr. Sethi, is an educator who has never stopped showing up for her students with love, mentorship, and a breath of fresh perspective. Now she and several of her former students/life comrades are building a platform to uplift one another.

Dear Dr. Sethi...

Summer

I admire your passion for life

In the Trinidad Journeys class you forced me to recognize and understand my privilege, you taught me how to travel as an open-minded student rather than a tourist.

Nannette

Revolutionary Love

You have taught me that it is not the place but the people-- the people are what make places and experiences memorable and impactful, and I am so thankful for this lesson.

Gianni

My Sister Comrade

I am forever grateful for your constant push for us all to slow down and *sigh* reflect, question everything around us, call out injustice, and be better to each other, as well as to ourselves.

Leila

#GratefullyOnTheJob

For those of you who did not have the pleasure of knowing and loving Dr. Sethi during her time at Agnes Scott College, let me attempt to illuminate the (em)power(ment) that comes from a truly revolutionary educator... She speaks out. She makes space. She empowers and she dares to hope in the face of everything. Without ever being in her classroom, this woman has taught me more about resilience and healing and joy in a few short months than any other person on that campus. I am thankful for having met you, Dr. Sethi... I am thankful for the lessons you have brought which transcend classrooms and academia. I am thankful for the hope you represented for so many of us.

Alexis

Dear Dr. Sethi

You made sure that I knew my voice was needed, no matter what that voice sounded like. You made me claim my education and my existence at this institution.

Idil

Thank you

At a school where more people of colour are service staff (not paid a living wage) than professors, you are so unbelievably needed. Students of colour need you. We need your transparency and your honesty. I'm so sorry for those who won't experience your presence.

Jamila

We got us

I am incredibly blessed to have Dr. Sethi as a mentor. Not only is she a dynamic and thoughtfully engaged educator, she is truly committed to the message of anti-racism. Among her many talents, her skillful perceptiveness and attention to empathy allows her to give such on-point consultations. I am thankful and cherish every opportunity I have to work with or be mentored by Dr. Sethi. She reminds me to remind myself of how capable and bright I am. Her guidance has been an immeasurable key to my growth as a learner.

Eman

#Claim Your Education

You were the first professor to really, truly care about, help, and inspire me. You offered me support, words of wisdom, and your time when I needed it most.

Chance

#Gratefully In The Classroom

You have touched many students at Agnes Scott, but your impact goes much further.

Huda

True and Genuine

You've provided me and students like me (students of color, with intersecting identities, Muslim, brown, etc) on campus with space to be our genuine vulnerable selves.

Esme

The Best Professor I Have Ever Had

You care about your students. I can't imagine how much time you have spent outside of class having one on one's with all of your students, and checking up on us make sure we are ok if we miss class, and organizing group outings to help students connect to the material and one another, and sending us messages of affirmation when we seem down. Finally, you aren't just talking about decolonizing the classroom, you are really doing it. As a white student and future teacher, you are the Professor I needed to open my eyes to the racism in education and you gave me so many tools with which to go about working on it.

Mahnoor

Forever Grateful

You didn't tread lightly on the surface of anything, but were instead ready to help us dig as deep as we needed to go....While you are teaching to transgress elsewhere, know that you have planted your seeds, and they have already taken root. We will continue to water them, and they will bloom.

Margaret

Thank You

Thank you for being the light through dark and turbulent times, thank you for your care and concern, your advice and advocacy. In short, thank you for caring for me and for your other students.