Dr Swarnamalya Ganesh, Associate Professor of Practice, Literature and Global Arts, SIAS directed and choreographed a showcase by Ranga Mandira Sadir Melam presented on 2 February 2026 as part of the 25th Bharat Rang Mahotsav, International Theatre Festival celebrated by The National School of Drama.
Dr Venugopal Maddipati, Associate Professor, History, SIAS taught a course for masters level design students centered around the medical humanities and architectural design in Ahmedabad at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, titled Ontologies of Stillness: Gandhi, Passivity, Pensivity and Illness.
Dr Madhavilatha Maganti, Associate Professor, Psychology, SIAS conducted an online session on ‘Critical Thinking and Research Methods’ for faculty from CMR university, Bangalore as part of their FDP on ‘Teaching and Research in Liberal Studies’ :Interdisciplinary Pedagogies on 23 December 2025.
Aarthi Venkatesh, a third-year Psychology student at SIAS, has been awarded the highly selective Founding Generation Fellowship by the International Congress of Infant Studies (ICIS). As part of the fellowship, she will spend the summer at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, conducting research at the Centre for Infant Cognition under the supervision of Dr Kiley Hamlin.
Her research will focus on investigating the early developmental foundations of moral cognition in infants. Through this work, she aims to develop both conceptual and methodological skills in developmental cognitive neuroscience. The fellowship marks an important milestone in her academic journey, deepening her long-standing interest in early cognitive development and the philosophical questions surrounding the nature of mind, knowledge, and morality.
Dr Rakesh Sengupta, Assistant Professor, Psychology, SIAS delivered an online talk at IIIT Hyderabad in their Cognitive Science Seminar series on 28 January 2026. The talk was titled ‘Graph Surgery: Tuning the Connectome to Predict Distinct Neural Dynamics of Enumeration’.
Krea students recorded a strong showing at FLAME University’s Kurukshetra Fest 2026.
TBD Crew, Krea University’s official UG Western Competing Dance Team, secured first position in the Step-Off category. Led by Ananyaa Premanand, the team included Aarushi Chowdhury, Aashna Bhartiya, Ananya Sarath, Avani Bipinkumar, Diya Saravanan, Drishti Satpal, Ishita Vohra, Pranaya Khatri, Sanika Ostwal, and Trisha Bhar. The Women’s Football Team secured second position, and we also congratulate Aavya Kedia (Basketball) and Shilpi Rani (Football) for being recognised as Best Defensive Players.
At the 5th International Conference on Advanced Network Technologies and Intelligent Computing held at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (ABV-IIITM), Gwalior, India, Lekhana Priya Gundapaneni, SIAS alum and now a Teaching Fellow and Purvikalyani Prasannah, SIAS, Cohort of 2027 presented papers that will be published in Springer CCIS (Scopus indexed proceedings).
Purvikalyani Prasannah has also won the prestigious Young scientist DST Travel grant for the same.
Dr Chirag Dhara, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, SIAS has co-authored an article in Down To Earth’s ‘State of the Environment 2026’ report titled India’s Climate Apocalypse?
The article discusses how regional hotspots of climate change are emerging across the country and this demands regionally tailored adaptation strategies contingent not only on the nature of climate change but on the exposure and vulnerability of local communities.
Dr Sambaiah Gundimeda, Associate Professor, Politics, SIAS has authored an essay titled Public Good or Private Gain? The Battle for Andhra’s Medical Colleges in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol 61, No 2 (2026).
Abstract
The controversy over the transfer of seventeen newly sanctioned government medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh to private operators under a Public–Private Partnership (PPP) model has ignited a broad-based movement cutting across political and social divides. At its core, the dispute raises fundamental questions about whether education and healthcare should remain rights of citizenship or be commodified for private profit. The article situates this conflict within the longer trajectory of N Chandrababu Naidu’s market-led PPP vision, contrasting it with YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s welfare-driven public investment. By highlighting issues of redistribution, reservations, and democratic accountability, it argues that the battle is less about fiscal pragmatism and more about safeguarding the moral and constitutional compass of governance.
In Author Prajwal Parajuly romanticises Chennai winter and rightfully so, Prajwal Parajuly, Assistant Professor of Practice, Creative Writing, SIAS writes for The Hindu on how for him December in Chennai is less winter and a smug, perfectly timed takeover of sabhas, canteens, coffee shops, art spaces.
