Prof Sarabjeet D. Natesan selected for Tata Trusts – Partition Archive Research Grant

Prof Sarabjeet D. Natesan, Associate Professor of Economics at Krea University, has been selected for the Tata Trusts – Partition Archive Research Grant. The Tata Grant is an immersive research residency grant program for academic researchers. It provides an opportunity for those who seek to explore and study The Archive’s complete oral history collections including over 9,400 oral history accounts on video.

In addition to Prof Natesan’s ongoing research interests in the implementation of public policy, her current interwoven research focuses on ‘Bazaars of 1947-Micro Stories of Businesses in Post Partition India’. It explores migration and its economic aftermath through the stories of refugees from the newly carved country of Pakistan to India in 1947. The overarching objective of this work is to piece together a narrative of personal stories of economic despair and challenges, of economic despair and fortitude in small pockets, and to document the contribution of small businesses in rebuilding lives, relationships, communities, and a country.

Student Spotlight: The ‘Her Campus’ Krea Chapter

The Voice of the Youth with ‘Her Campus’

A magazine that has students expressing themselves, relating to other students, and taking the discussion forward about gender, equality, and all the other elements that go into making a level playing field. A handful of students leading this movement, one blogpost and Instagram reel at a time. Whether you want to learn the basics of sewing a button into your shirt, how to socialise while social distancing, or learn hacks to saving money as a college student — the Her Campus Krea chapter is all this and more, with articles, posts, reels and digital content reiterating the belief that the future, indeed, is bright.

HerCampus.com is recognised as the number one global community for college students, written and contributed by student writers from around the world. Started by three college women in 2009, Her Campus is now a massive community with 400 chapters, across 11 countries, on all social media platforms, and raring to cover all topics under the sun with the intent of filling a huge gap in the media market — an online magazine, for and by the youth.

Members of the Her Campus Krea chapter share in great detail about who they are, what they do, and how their contributions help take the voice of the youth to the world.

Who are the founding members of the Her Campus Krea chapter?

The four main people who pushed to launch this initiative out of sheer interest were Akshaya,

Manasa, Gopika, and Ruchika from the Krea Undergraduate cohort of 2022. While looking for members to initially recruit to the core team, we sought to include students who possessed the skill sets their roles necessitated as well as an interest in the initiative itself. In this process, we found out that Irene Sarah and Reyna Eapen were also inclined towards and aware of the initiative.

Akshaya and Manasa took on the role of Campus Correspondents due to prior experience with leadership. Ruchika took on the role of Senior Editor due to prior experience with editing. Gopika took up the position of Marketing and Publicity Director from prior experience with public relations. The same went for Reyna, Social Media Director, who has had experience working with social media design, and Irene, Events Director, who has had plenty of experience in organising and hosting events. For the other members of the chapter, an application form was sent out and students from both cohorts have been selected. 

The Her Campus Krea Executive Board members include:

  1. Akshaya Shankar (Cohort of 2022): Major – Psychology / Minor – Literature
  2. Manasa Krishnan (Cohort of 2022): Major – Economics / Minor – Business Studies
  3. Ruchika Gupta (Cohort of 2022): Major: Economics / Minor – Psychology
  4. Gopika Krishna C (Cohort of 2022): Major – Biological Sciences / Minor – Psychology
  5. Reyna Eapen (Cohort of 2022): Major – Mathematics / Concentration – Psychology and Computer Science
  6. Irene Sarah (Cohort of 2022): Major – Economics / Minor – Business Studies

How did you hear about Her Campus?

We got to know about this initiative through Akshaya’s sister and we were inspired by Her Campus Ashoka. We had heard of the kind of work that was being initiated by Her Campus which drew us towards it. The initiative takes place in a very corporate setting – with chapter members reporting back to their respective executives, who in turn report to the campus correspondents. The campus correspondents then communicate on everyone’s behalf with the Her Campus Media team at Boston. It has been launched at Krea because the initiative itself stands for inclusivity and interesting cultural as well as artistic interactions. We look to be more than just a simple online magazine. While the emphasis is placed on digital content, we also plan on hosting events and fundraisers with our larger aim being community-building.

What kind of submissions have you made thus far?

We have made submissions along the vertices of wellness, beauty, lifestyle, entertainment, sex and relationships, literature, friendship, career, money, and lots more!

This website has links to all the articles that have been published on HC Krea’s website.

Who comes up with the story ideas/topics? What is the writing process like?

All the writers are given the opportunity and freedom to pick topics and pitch ideas that appeal to them. Once the article ideas are approved (which is pretty much always), the content writers go on to write it and then send it in for editing. The writing process as such encapsulates each

writer’s own style and subjective takes on where they see the articles going. The idea is for every writer to have the creative freedom to shape articles the way they envision them!

Do only regular writers contribute to Her Campus?

For the most part, they are regular writers. This is because we hope for it to be a learning and growing experience for them as well, which requires time. Given that they are regular writers, they have the opportunity to explore a variety of topics and really showcase their skills over a range of categories and articles. However, we also encourage writers who are eager to say something to send in their articles on a case by case basis!

How has the experience been so far?

The experience has truly been a very enriching one. In this short time, we have learnt a lot more about team management, team building, writing, etc.

What is the Krea chapter’s plan, in terms of impactful messaging?

The intent is to cover exciting, trendy, and current topics. HC as a platform is extremely inclusive and open, always welcoming all sorts of informed opinions and views. This way, HC also creates a space for writers to be heard and make room for topics of substance to be discussed. The aim is to curate content that differs from a typical college magazine – and by giving writers the agency to write about almost any topic under the sun, HC does offer an element of freedom when it comes to written content.

Ultimately, we aim to make all chapter members feel like they belong here and build a space where they feel comfortable voicing their opinions.

Vasudha Katju presents paper on women’s movements in India at the ‘Conceptualizing Difference Conference’

Vasudha Katju, Faculty Associate – Centre for Writing and Pedagogy at Krea University, presented her paper titled ‘Difference in Indian Feminist Activism: Caste and Sexuality in the Autonomous Women’s Movement’, as part of the panel on political activism at the ‘Conceptualizing Difference Conference’. Organised by The Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society, Rule of Law at the University of Aberdeen, the conference features speakers, scholars and researchers from all over the world, sharing their work on “difference” as a political category.

‘Modern Mushaira’ – a student podcast series on Deccani history and art

‘Modern Mushaira’ is a new podcast series presented by Krea students studying Arts and History, instructed by Prof Swarnamalya Ganesh – Assistant Professor of Practice, Literature and Arts. Researched and scripted by the students, the series looks at significant moments in Deccani History, deep-dives into various art forms, and attempts to cull the history of the so-called sub-cultures that have escaped the pages of history. Listen to the podcast here.

Sundram Fasteners Limited to support 4 faculty positions at Krea

In an effort to encourage Krea University’s talented faculty in their research interests and academic endeavours, Chennai-based manufacturing company Sundram Fasteners Limited (SFL) have come on board to support 4 faculty positions in Science and Business. The proud recipients of this grant are- Prof Bharath Sundaram for Sundram Fasteners Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies; Prof Rishi Vyas for Sundram Fasteners Assistant Professor of Mathematics; Prof R Sathyanarayanan for Sundram Fasteners Associate Professor of Marketing; and Prof Vijaya Subramanian for Sundram Fasteners Associate Professor of Operations Management.

Krea University embarks on an ambitious faculty hiring plan for 2021-22

The School of Interwoven Arts and Sciences (SIAS) at Krea University has embarked on an ambitious program of faculty hiring for the academic year 2021-22. 

At Krea, we take pride in the fact that our world-class faculty uphold our vision of Interwoven learning, representing the very best their disciplines have to offer in teaching, research, and practice. With successive rounds of hiring in full swing, our increased faculty strength will substantially expand areas of expertise and widen the ambit of our curriculum, course offerings, choice of majors, and research agenda.

As a result of an extensive search, a diverse pool of over 40 new hires in full time and visiting positions are slated to join the SIAS faculty cohort in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts. They are outstanding teachers and scholars/practitioners hailing from world renowned institutions in Europe, United States, and Asia (including India) in the  disciplines of economics, psychology, environmental studies, computer science, biological sciences, physics, chemistry, mathematics, social studies, politics, literature, and the arts.

Here are some of the new faces we will encounter in the coming year:

Abhishek Shukla (literature, philosophy), Bharath Sethuraman (mathematics), Shibi Vasudevan (mathematics), Venkat Srinu Bhadram (physics), Vidya Bharati Rajkumar (economics, environmental studies),  Soumyajit Bhar (environmental studies, economics), Anusnigdha (psychology), Srikumar Subramanian (computer science), Lakshman Varanasi (biology), Sudip Roy (chemistry), Venkateswarlu Panchagnula (chemistry), Swarna Rajagopalan (politics). 

In the process of realising our aim of providing a world-class undergraduate education, we will continue to hire faculty and teaching fellows in all the above areas, more than doubling our current strength. 

Please watch this space for an updated list of new additions to our faculty roster. 

‘Re-imagining omnichannel in the next normal’, with Ram Narayan Iyer

In an engaging session with the students of Krea University, Ram Narayan Iyer (Worldwide Director – Digital Strategy and eCommerce at Microsoft) spoke about the need to start re-imagining the customer experience to maximise the opportunities we all have with the digital storefront. With people and businesses across the globe dealing and managing the implications of these unprecedented times, Microsoft’s B2C marketing leader shared his perspectives on where the omnichannel strategy stands in today’s world, in addition to sharing insights about Microsoft’s futuristic visions.

Dr Sunder Ramaswamy speaks on “Covid, Education and the Big Change”, a virtual panel session hosted by The Indian Express

Vice Chancellor Dr Sunder Ramaswamy was a speaker in the panel on “Covid, Education and the Big Change”, along with other Indian educators organised by ‘IE Thinc’ – an initiative by The Indian Express. Sharing his insights on the way forward for post-Covid education, Dr Ramaswamy highlighted the ongoing changes and what this means for the universities of today. Watch a recording of the session here.

Krea University appoints Dr. Mahesh Rangarajan as Vice Chancellor

Eminent scholar of history and environmental studies to lead Krea University’s efforts to re-imagine education

31st March 2021, Sri City: Krea University announced the appointment of Dr. Mahesh Rangarajan as its next Vice Chancellor, effective July 2021. 

A scholar of global renown, Dr. Rangarajan has an MA and a DPhil, both from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.  His wide experience in academia includes faculty positions as Professor of Modern Indian History at the University of Delhi and Professor of History and Environmental Studies at Ashoka University, where he previously served as the Dean of Academic Affairs.  He has also taught at Cornell University, Indian Institute of Science and National Centre for Biological Sciences. His first book ‘Fencing the Forest’ was published in 1996 and the most recent ‘Nature and Nation’, in 2018. His co-edited works include ‘India’s Environmental History’, and ‘At Nature’s Edge’. Having started his career as a journalist, he has also served in roles outside academia, including as the Director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi.

Dr. Rangarajan’s appointment by the Chancellor of Krea University, Mr. N. Vaghul, comes after a rigorous global search launched by the University last year. The search was led by a committee co-chaired by Dr. Vishakha Desai, Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to the President of Columbia University and Mr. Kapil Viswanathan, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Governing Council. Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Kapil Viswanathan, said, “As a scholar and an administrator with a global outlook, Dr. Rangarajan is well placed to further Krea University’s mission to help humanity prepare for an unpredictable world.  We look forward to Dr. Rangarajan’s leadership, building on Krea University’s strong foundations of ethics, innovation, excellence, inclusivity and accountability.”

Dr. Vishakha Desai, co-chair of the search committee added, “As a renowned scholar of history and environmental studies, Dr. Rangarajan embodies the spirit of interwoven learning that Krea University stands for. His experience in the academy and in public institutions would serve to strengthen Krea University’s commitment to bridging the intellectual world with the one beyond.” 

On his appointment as Vice Chancellor, Dr. Mahesh Rangarajan said, “It is my honour and privilege to accept this position, and join the extraordinarily talented faculty, staff and students of Krea University in pursuit of our shared mission. I will strive to uphold the high standards of innovation and excellence that Krea University stands for.” Krea University’s current Vice Chancellor, Dr. Sunder Ramaswamy will complete his tenure in June 2021 and will continue to be associated with Krea as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Economics.  As the inaugural Vice Chancellor, Dr. Ramaswamy played a key role in shaping Krea University in its formative years.  

Student Spotlight: Shreyasi Patil

A journey to the centre of art & art curation

“An illustrative journey through canvas that we wish for each one of you to experience” – words that best describe ‘Perceptions’, an art show featuring 30 acrylic paintings by a solo artist, all curated by Krea student Shreyasi Patil. 

Shreyasi Patil is an enterprising second-year student at the School of Interwoven Arts and Sciences (SIAS), Krea University. Her academic interests include Business, Social Science and Economics. Outside of academics, you will probably find her learning and picking up life skills such as negotiating and managing accounts, and poring over her understanding of arts and emotions, with a tinge of literature, politics, cooking, and entrepreneurship. Shreyasi has now ventured into curating artworks, with her first show all set to open on 26 March 2021 at the Rangoli Metro Art Centre located in the heart of Bengaluru, Karnataka.

“The show is called ‘Perceptions’. We want people to experience perceptions, so we are looking at emotions – a great example of perceptions. For instance, when we use the word love, irrespective of what language we use it in, the experience isn’t the same for everyone. The myriad of experience is what the art show explores. The artworks are not abstract; they’re very visually clear, using mythology as a tool to describe emotions,” shares Shreyasi.

While this might be her first art curation, it isn’t her first project. Inspired by her interactions with Prof Srajana Kaikini (Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Krea), Prof Akhila Ramnarayan (Associate Professor of Practice at Krea), and Meera Trivedi (a student from her cohort), Shreyasi began exploring the world of representing and curating art, delving into the nuances that go into making a stellar art show which appeals to other creators and audience alike. Her projects with her two Krea faculty members and her classmate is still a work-in-progress.

Sharing the story behind ‘Perceptions’, Shreyasi recalls that it was a chance encounter on Instagram that led to her meeting the artist in person. “In Bengaluru, there’s Church Street where vehicles are not allowed and artists simply sit down and produce and showcase their work. I went there with a friend one day and we ended up buying a lot of art from a particular artist called ‘The Artist Spud’. After meeting him a few times, I approached him, asking him if he would like to do an art show together. His work is primarily inspired by mythologies. So one fine day, we got cracking, broke down what we could showcase and thus, ‘Perceptions’ happened.”

It is believed that behind every art exhibit or gallery, there is a committed curator, who works relentlessly with the artist to not just put up a great show for the audience but also take the conversation about art and its artist forward. Through her maiden art show, 19-year-old Shreyasi also picked up some real-life skills – a learning experience that resonates with Krea’s ethos.

“I learnt to see the pragmatic side and the creative side of art. Admittedly, I found it challenging to find a middle ground between the artist’s creativity and the more practical side of curating art; it was still a good learning experience wherein I learnt the art of negotiation whilst being careful about where the money is going,” she elucidates.

Shreyasi’s art show ‘Perceptions’ is happening on the 26-28 March 2021 at the Rangoli Metro Art Centre at MG Road, Bengaluru. For more information, visit the Instagram page: @perceptions_2021