SIAS faculty members, Dr Sayantan Mandal, Assistant Professor, Psychology and Dr Rakesh Sengupta, Assistant Professor, Psychology were invited to deliver two special guest lectures representing Krea University at EFL University, Hyderabad. In addition to the talks, they had the opportunity to discuss the state of Cognitive Science in India and showcase the research being done here at Krea with the EFLU faculty and student body.
An investigative report co-authored by Sayantan Datta, Assistant Professor of Practice, Krea-CWP has been longlisted in the prestigious One World Media Awards 2026 (Print category). Last year, Sayantan and queerbeat staff reporter Ekta Sonawane investigated what happens to transgender people in India after their deaths. The duo’s investigation, which lasted for about six months, revealed the mechanisms through which transgender people are denied dignity in death. The report was published in queerbeat in October 2025 to wide critical acclaim. The report is titled A trans person’s struggle for dignity doesn’t stop even when they die.
Now, the report has been longlisted for the One World Media Awards 2026 in the Print category, becoming the only entry from India in the category. The UK-based One World Media Awards recognises the best media coverage from and about the global south. This year, the Awards received over 500 submissions from 140 countries.
Krea-CWP faculty members, Meghna Bohidar, Faculty Teaching Associate; Neha Mishra, Assistant Professor of Practice; and Sayantan Datta, Assistant Professor of Practice were invited by the Department of English, University of Kashmir, to conduct a week-long reading-writing workshop for their MA students and PhD scholars. The workshop was titled ‘Developing Communication Skills in the Age of AI’ and was held from 30 March to 3 April 2026.
About the Workshop
Especially now, in the age of AI, it is important for students to strengthen their abilities that will make their work distinctive and enjoyable. Addressing largely students of literature and the social sciences, this hands-on workshop invites you to read different types of texts attentively and to get into the nitty gritty of some essential aspects of research and its communication, both within academia and in the fields of publishing and journalism.
Professor Jayaram Ramakrishnan, Professor of Practice, Finance, IFMR GSB, recently presented a webinar on ‘Pricing for Profits – B2B Perspective’ to the members of The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) on behalf of the MSME and Start up Promotion Board (MSPB) of The Institute of Cost Accountants of India on the 26 March 2026. The same was attended by over 500 plus professionals of ICAI and was presided by the Chairman MSME Board and Central Council member of ICAI.
Dr Salwa Yahya, Post-Doctoral Fellow, ‘Moturi Satyanarayana Centre for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, delivered a talk titled “Lower-caste Muslim activism and the post-colonial Indian state: Issues and evolving trajectories’ at Presidency University, Kolkata on 30 March 2026.
Dr Joya John, Assistant Professor, Literature, SIAS, has written an article titled ‘How social media reels about the LPG shortage obscure a harsh truth’ in Scroll.in.
The article critically analyses the gap between viral representations of LPG shortages and the underlying socio-economic challenges.
Sayantan Datta, Assistant Professor of Practice, Centre for Writing and Pedagogy, delivered a plenary talk at the symposium Beyond Access: A Symposium on Reimagining Student Support in Indian Higher Education, organised by Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, on 27 March 2026. The talk was titled ‘It Helped Me Speak English Without Thinking Twice: Insights from a Peer-Driven, Immersion-Based Approach to English-Language Support’.
About the Talk
In this presentation, Sayantan Datta highlighted the Centre for Writing & Pedagogy’s Conversation Partner Programme (CPP). Started in 2021 as a part of the Centre’s peer-support initiatives, the CPP recruits senior undergraduate student volunteers (“Conversation Partners”) who are trained to create a safe and judgement-free space for students and staff to practise speaking, listening, and reading in English. Instead of teaching grammar and spoken English, Conversation Partners facilitate engagement with the language through participatory and embodied reading, listening, and speaking exercises. Sayantan demonstrated some exercises developed and implemented by Conversation Partners. Then, drawing upon student feedback from four iterations of the Programme, Sayanted showed how the CPP helps L2 learners not only tide over their anxiety around English proficiency and inculcate confidence, but also fosters a larger culture of peer support in the University. Sayantan argued that peer-driven immersion-based approaches to English-language support, like the CPP, recentre care and joy in language learning while helping L2 learners form durable support networks that extend beyond language learning.
Dr Anannya Dasgupta, Director, Centre for Writing & Pedagogy and Associate Professor, Literature, SIAS, delivered the keynote address at the symposium Beyond Access: A Symposium on Reimagining Student Support in Indian Higher Education, organised by Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, on 27–28 March 2026. Her lecture was titled ‘Effective Writing Support in an Unequal Playing Field’.
Professor Jayaram Ramakrishnan, Professor of Practice, IFMR GSB, has co-authored an article titled ‘Costing Approach Adopted for MSP Fixation: A Practitioner’s Perspective’ with Dr Lakshmi Padmakumari, Assistant Professor, Finance and Accounting, Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). The article has been published in Agri Bulletin, the quarterly flagship journal of the Agriculture Cost Management Board of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI), in its March 2026 edition (Volume 4).
Dr Suchika Chopra, Assistant Professor, Economics, SIAS, and Dr Sabah Siddiqui, Assistant Professor, Psychology, SIAS, have authored an opinion piece in The Hindu titled ‘India must use the AYUSH opportunity’. The article argues that India should strategically scale AYUSH globally by leveraging policy momentum and trade opportunities, while strengthening scientific validation, regulation, and credibility for sustained global acceptance.
