Minakshi has actively participated in national and international conferences, presenting research and engaging in dialogues at the intersections of death studies, traditional healing, gender, and social anthropology.
Her work has been featured at prestigious platforms such as the American Anthropological Association (Tampa), the Death, Dying and Disposal International Conference (Utrecht), and Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi), among others.
Through papers, panel discussions, and invited talks, she brings anethnographic lens to complex questions of ritual, care, caste, and cultural meanings of death and healing. Her participation in these forums reflects an ongoing commitment to bridging academic research with lived experiences and public understanding.
Invited to speak on a panel exploring Thanatography: Authoring Absence, where I shared insights from my research for The Final Farewell. The discussion traced emrging themes in contemporary death narratives, including shifts in women’s participation in ritual spaces, lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of India’s death industry, the integration of technology into mourning practices, and the growing phenomenon of digital afterlife and immortality.
Presented a paper titled Caste Dynamics in Last Rites and Rituals at the Death, Dying and Disposal (DDD17) International Conference in Utrecht, Netherlands. The paper draws from her book, The Final Farewell: Understanding The Last Rites and Rituals of India’s Major Faiths, HarperCollins India, and examines how caste continues to shape practices and access around death rituals in contemporary India.
Invited as an expert from the India chapter to participate in an international workshop on Digital Im(mortality), co-hosted by the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge and Ashoka University in New Delhi. The workshop convened leading voices to examine how diverse cultures interpret digital immortality in relation to death and afterlife traditions. Together, participants explored ethical frameworks and envisioned culturally grounded futures for AI-driven technologies and digital afterlife practices.
Presented a paper titled Making Sense of the World Amidst Death: Learnings from the Covid-19 Pandemic at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting in Tampa. The presentation drew on research from her book, The Final Farewell: Understanding the Last Rites and Rituals of India’s Major Faiths, HarperCollins India, examining how communities in India navigated loss, mourning, and ritual transformation during the pandemic.
Served as a panel discussant for insightful papers during the three-day International Death and Grief Conference, hosted by Shiv Nadar University.
Served as a discussant panellist in a workshop examining traditional healing practices and patterns of health care utilisation among women and children. The event fostered dialogue on the intersections of indigenous knowledge, community health, and gendered experiences of care.
Presented the paper Ethics, Morality and Healing: A Bhil Perspective based on my PhD research, exploring indigenous healing traditions within the Bhil community, highlighting ethical dimensions, moral frameworks, and the challenges of recognising and mainstreaming tribal health practices.
Presented the paper Chronic Pain and Health Seeking Among the Bhils of Udaipur District at Samvaad, a national tribal cultural conclave organised by Tata Steel CSR. The presentation explored indigenous understandings of chronic pain and the health-seeking practices of Bhil communities in Rajasthan, contributing to broader conversations on tribal health, resilience, and culturally rooted care systems.