2019 - 2020

The Department was inaugurated in the month of September 2019. Dr. Allan Pallana was the Guest Speaker on the occasion.

On August 12th 2019, the Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Universitas Hindu Indonesia, in Bali, Indonesia for the period from August 2019 – May 2020.

The MoU includes:
I. Universitas Hindu Indonesia, Bali International Conference- 15th February 2020
II. Research Book project: “The State and Marginalized/ Minoritized Communities in India and Indonesia”, 2020
III. FDPs and workshops for students and faculty at the host institution.



On 30th September 2019 the MA English Department in association with the Department of M.Sc. Psychology inaugurated the Bishop Cotton Women’s Christian College Guest Lecture Series, with a lecture by Dr. Christopher Key Chappele, Loyola Mary Mount University, Los Angeles, California, on the subject: “American Transcendentalism and Vedic Philosophy: Wellness at the Intersections”. On September 16th and 17th 2019, a two day International Film Festival: “Point de Vue” was organized by the department and curated by Mr. Prashanth Parvatneni a researcher at The Kabir Project and the Brown Study Project.

On 22nd January 2020 the MA English Department in association with the UG English Department hosted Prof. Bronwyn Fredricks, Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Queensland, Australia and Dr. Anita Heiss, Fiction and Non Fiction Writer, University of Queensland, Australia to an interactive session with our PG and UG students and faculty. This program was organized in collaboration with the Australian Embassy of India.



Dr. Amitha Santiago, Dean Research Papers Published:
“Bayit ze Isha: Housing the Body of Women through Spatializing Metaphors”, in Culture, Religion and Home-Making in and Beyond South Asia. Editor, Dr. James Ponniah. Fortress Press International. Minneapolis, USA. ISBN.9781506439921. 2020.

“Homes and Spaces under Transformation”, Co Authors: Amitha Santiago and James Ponniah. Introduction to Culture, Religion and Home-Making in and Beyond South Asia Editor, Dr James Ponniah. Fortress Press Interna- tional. Minneapolis, USA. ISBN. 9781506439921.

2020.
Book Review of ‘Mirage’ (Kanal in Tamil). By K Daniel. Translated by Subramaniam Jebanesan. Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies: Vol.31, Article 33. 2019. Butler University Libraries, USA. Available at https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs/vol31/i ss1/33/

Nurturing Abstractions of the Nation in Religio-cultural Identity Assertions and Spaces of Generosity in Sufi Darghas of Karnataka.e-ISSN: 2654-2706 International Journal of Interreligious and Intercultural Studies (IJIIS). Published by Universitas Hindu Indonesia. 2019. https://www.neliti.com/journals/ijiis

“Wither Gender Theory?A Trajectory of Responses from India, Indonesia and Australia.”Plenary Speaker at the International Conference on Gendering Literature in Australia, India and Asia Pacific. January 2020.




If Truth be Told - Violence, the Body and Freedom in Fanon, Gandhi and Ambedkar”. International Conference on Rethinking Satyagraha in the 20th Century. Delhi. October 2019.

“In Search of the “Unexpected” in Spaces of Encounter: Menstruating Women and Religious Sites in India and China” ICI Conference - Indo China Indonesia Asian Senior Research Fellowship. August 2019. Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Indonesian Centre for Religion and Society, ICRS.

Moderator and Discussant:
“Nurturing the Abstract in the Face of Religious Fundamentalism: A Study of Sufi Dharghas in Karnataka.” Paper presented at Fortress Press South Asia Theology Study Project Writer’s Workshop on “Interrogating and Reconstructing Theology in South Asia". A two year Research Study Project (2017-2019).

Membership:
Doctoral Conclave Chairperson. Reva University. School of Humanities. 2019.

Resource Person for workshops/panel discussions/consultancy:
Resource Person: “Feminism, Theology and Literature”. Guest Lecture. The Mennonite Theological College and Theologies of Life Summer Institute. May 2019.
Chairperson of the Doctoral Conclave, Reva University, School of Humanities. May 2019.

Resource Person, Madras University, Department of Christian Studies, Chennai. Ongoing.
Consultant and Core Group Member of Columbia University Planning Committee for the International Empire Studies Conference, Southeast Asia Chapter. 2016-2019.

Society for Biblical Literature 2019 Conference Interdisciplinary Planning Committee Core Group Member.2014-19. Guest Speaker.St Anne’s Degree College for Women. “The Training of the Imagination: Critical Approaches to the Reading of Literature.” March 2020.

Research Project:
The Fortress Press Research Study Project: A Study of Sufi Darghas in Karnataka: Spaces of Grace and Interfaith Generosity” 2018-2020