About CIHS

OUTLINE

The CIHS is an independent research platform focused on the systematic study of human behavior, culture, embodiment, sexuality, and social organization through inductive and interpretive methods. It supports unbiased, intellectual freedom, unconventional ideas, historically under-represented scholarship, and interdisciplinary inquiry. Research conducted under CIHS are primarily explored without the constraints of bureaucratic or funding-driven agendas inherent in traditional academia. This autonomy allows for questioning established dogma and challenging prevailing paradigms which can lead to transformative breakthroughs. CIHS prioritizes methodological transparency, traceability of interpretation, and archival continuity. The Open Science Framework is used as an organizational and documentation infrastructure to make research processes, materials, and analytic decisions publicly accessible. In essence independent research at the CIHS enhances scholarly landscape by creating new spaces for dialogue, innovation and public engagement.
RESEARCH QUESTION: How does culture and politics influence the evolution of human social and sexual attitudes, perceptions, behaviors and artistic expressions in post-colonial societies?

STATEMENT FROM CIHS

The Center for Interdisciplinary Human Studies (CIHS) is founded by Nishita Rao, an independent interdisciplinary researcher. Nishita holds a Master of Science in Neuroscience with a focus on Behavioral Neuroendocrinology and a Bachelor of Engineering in Biotechnology, specializing in Brain-Computer Interfaces and Biochemistry. Her extensive academic and professional training spans a wide array of fields, including Sexual Sciences, Neuroscience, Anthropology, Molecular Biology, Behavioral Sciences, Political Science, Linguistics, Critical Studies, Dance Ethnography, Ethnomusicology, and Paleoclimatology.

Nishita’s work is driven by a commitment to challenge colonial architectures in knowledge production and dissemination. Through CIHS, she aims to create a space for research that is decolonial, anti-carceral, and anti-diagnostic, centering marginalized voices and perspectives. Her research philosophy is grounded in transdisciplinary synthesis, embodied inquiry, and anarchical resistance to traditional institutional frameworks.

CIHS employs a transdisciplinary and mixed-methods approach to research, reflecting the complexity of human behavior. The center does not adhere to a single methodological framework, instead drawing from a variety of qualitative and quantitative approaches as appropriate for the research question at hand. These may include, but are not limited to:

• Qualitative Methods: Discourse analysis, focus groups, surveys and in-depth interviews.
• Quantitative Methods: Data Mining, Statistical analysis and modeling.
• Archival and Textual Analysis: Philological examination of historical texts, critical discourse analysis, and genealogical tracing of concepts across languages and time periods.
• Meta-Analysis and Literature Synthesis: Systematic review and integration of existing research across neuroscience, molecular biology, and behavioral sciences to identify patterns and generate new theoretical frameworks.
• Ethnographic and Cultural Analysis: Examination of cultural records (rituals, art, sculpture, epigraphs, poetry, plays, dances and music) through ethnographic methods, hermeneutics, comparative cultural analysis, and art historical inquiry.
• Historical and Political Contextualization: Situating human behavior within specific historical moments, political structures, and post-colonial contexts to understand how power shapes experience.
• Embodied and Somatic: Through phenomenological inquiry, centering lived experience and somatic practices
• Epistemological Critique: Interrogating how knowledge is produced, validated, and disseminated, with particular attention to challenging Western-centric and dominant Caste/Class/Race frameworks
• Interdisciplinary Correlation: Drawing connections between seemingly disparate fields (e.g., paleoclimatology, archaeology, molecular biology, neuroscience and political science) to generate novel insights.

This methodological flexibility allows for a nuanced and contextual understanding of Human behavior.

DISCLAIMER

• Independent Status: The Center for Interdisciplinary Human Studies (CIHS) is an independent research initiative and is not affiliated with any university, institution, or funding body.
• Non-Clinical Nature: CIHS is a research platform and does not provide any clinical, therapeutic, or diagnostic services

HOW TO CITE

To cite the Center for Interdisciplinary Human Studies (CIHS) as an initiative, please use the following format:

| Rao, N. (2026). Center for Interdisciplinary Human Studies. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/SDNMC

For specific projects, please refer to the citation information provided on the individual project pages.