About

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, at Indian Institute of Information Technology Guwahati. Here, my job responsibilities basically center around teaching, research, and institutional-administrative duties. 

Before joining IIIT Guwahati, I was an Assistant Professor, in the School of Humanities and Sciences, at K. L. University, Hyderabad from January 2019 to July 2019. There, I was mostly engaged in teaching English proficiency courses to the students for the improvement of communication & soft skills. At K. L. University, I also served as the In-Charge of the English Department from March 2019 till the last date of working. Prior to joining K. L. University Hyderabad, I worked in the industry briefly as a Verbal Trainer at Texas Review, from October 2018 to December 2018.

I completed PhD from the Department of Indian And World Literatures, at The English And Foreign Languages University Hyderabad. My doctoral dissertation is titled “Redefining Modernity, Reconfiguring Democracy: The Cultural and Political Legacy of Naxalbari Movement in India”. It reads existing English and Bangla print literatures on Left Radicalism in India. The dissertation explores the ways in which Left Radicalism altered the socio-cultural understanding of modernity which further led to adoption of new forms of democratic political praxis. tenure. Before enrolling in the PhD program, I had completed Postgraduation with a Masters Degree in English from the same institution before which I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English (Honours) from Calcutta University.

Research Interests

Colonial & Postcolonial Studies, Left Intellectual and Cultural History, Subaltern Studies, Adivasi Studies, Urban Studies, and English Language Teaching in India.

Ongoing Research Projects

Title: PM-KUSUM Scheme in the North-East India: Opportunities, Challenges and the Path Forward for Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Sikkim

Category: Collaborative Empirical Research on Solar Energy and Sustainability (2024-25),

Funding Agency: Indian Council of Social Science Research

Designation: Co-Project Investigator

Team: Dr. Ankita Sarmah, Assistant Professor, Dept of HSS, IIIT Guwahati (Principal Investigator), Dr. Dr. Kukil Khanikar, Dept of ECE, IIIT Guwahati (Co-Project Investigator), Dr. Bhaskar Chettri, Assistant Professor, Dept of English, The ICFAI University, Sikkim (Co-Project Investigator), and Dr. Yograj Sharma Assistant Professor, Dept of Economics, The ICFAI University, Sikkim (Co-Project Investigator)

Teaching

Undergraduate:

1. English (HS 101)

2. M.K. Gandhi: Tradition and Modernity (HS 206)

3. Advanced Communication Skills (HS 307)

4. Introduction to Folklore (HS 407)

Doctoral Research Program:

1. Research Methodology (HS 701)

2. Contemporary Literary Thoughts and Criticism (HS 705)

Doctoral Research Supervision

1.  Mr. Prangan Kumar Lahkar: Graphic Narratives and Teaching of English as Second Language in Assam – joined in August 2022.

2. Ms. Manjusha Kausik Duarah: The Covid-19 Pandemic in Literary Form: Representation, Emergence, and Affect – joined in January 2023.

3. Ms. Hachina Begam: Gender Identity and Power Dynamics in Select Texts from North East India - joined in August 2024.

Recent Seminars & Conferences

"Identity Questions and Left Radicalism in West Bengal during the Sixties-Seventies”, International Conference, Unfinished Legacy of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: Margin Claims Share in the Centre, In the spirit of the Unfinished Legacy Conferences of Brandeis University USA, Osmania University Centre for International Programme, Hyderabad, 2019.

“Knowledge Repository of Popular Left Radical Insurgency in India” – One Day International Symposium, Archive Collective, Indian Council for Cultural Relations Kolkata, 2019.

“Women and Left Radicalism in India: Feminist Critiques from Within” – National Conference, “Role of Women in Nation Development”, NIT Jamshedpur, 5-6 September, 2020.

“Feluda in the Digital Era” – SICI Golden Jubilee International Conference, “Electronic Textual Cultures: A Study of Digital Literature and Literature in Digital Spaces”, Department of Indian and World Literatures, The English And Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, 9-12 March 2021.

“Exploring Humanist and Marxist Approaches Towards Understanding Bengal Famine of 1943” – Panel Title: British Empire and Food Crisis: Two Famines in Bengal and their Literary and Visual Work, 4th Annual South Asia Conference 2020, Ireland India Institute, Dublin, 2021.

“Death of an Adivasi: Interpreting and Understanding Bikram Hembrom” – Panel Title: Adivasi Studies: Contours of a Field, 26th European Conference on South Asian Studies 2020, University of Vienna, Austria, 2021.

“‘Isolation & ‘Quarantine’ and the Politics of Spectacle in India: Then and Now” - Panel Title: Covid-19 Pandemic and the Worlds of Crises: A Few Observations, Reflections, and Critical Questions”, 5th Annual South Asia Conference, Ireland India Institute, Dublin, 2022.

Prangan Lahkar and Arjab Roy. “Cultures of Reception in the Reading of Graphic Narratives in Undergraduate Classrooms of Assam”, International Conference, “Ekphrasis and the Speaking Image: Interrogating Forms of Sequential Art”, School of Film, Media and Creative Arts, RV University, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. November, 2023.

“To Liberate or Liberalize? Thoughts on Critical Theory in Post-Revolutionary Societies”, International Conference on “Towards World Critical Theory? Contributions from the Global South”, Postcolonial Studies Association of the Global South (PSAGS) in collaboration with the Institute of Language Studies and Research (ILSR) Kolkata and Ambedkar Centre for Social and Cultural Studies (ACSCS) Gour Mahavidyalaya, held at ILSR Kolkata, West Bengal, India. December, 2023.

Prangan Lahkar and Arjab Roy. “Reception of Graphic Narratives in Undergraduate Classrooms of Assam”, Annual Pre-Researchers at Work Conference (Pre-Raw.Con), Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Hyderabad, India. March, 2024.

Ankita Sarmah and Arjab Roy. “Exploring the Potential of Barpeta’s Doulutsav in Ushering Economic and Socio-Spiritual Development in Assam through Religious Tourism”, Unraveling Indian Knowledge Across Asia (UNIKAA’ 24), Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati. October, 2024.

Arjab Roy. “An Overview of Teaching-Learning Pedagogies of Graphic Narratives in Assam’s Higher Education: Thoughts on Educational Policy and Cultures of Practice”, International Conference on Graphic Narratives and Comic Studies as World Literature Phenomena, Department of Indian and World Literatures, The English And Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. 12-14 February, 2025.

Talks, Lectures, Plenary, Round Tables, and Session Chairs

“Worth a Thousand Words? Multimedia Inputs in the Literature Classroom” – Panel discussion organized by the Department of English Literature, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, April 2018.

Invited lecture, “Naxalbari Pawroborti Sahitya o Rajniti ebong ‘Amader Adhunikata’ Punarsangayan” (Trans: Redefining ‘Our Modernity’: Literature and Politics during Naxalbari Movement and Afterwards), Bodhichitta, January 2018. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwytLVjzCQY)

Plenary Speaker, “Memory, Re-presentation and Resistance in Literature: Prison Memoires Surrounding Left Radical Politics in India”, Prison Writing in India: Suppressing Dissent and Generating Consent, Kakatiya University, Warangal, March 2019.

Round Table Discussant, One Day International Symposium, Archive Collective, Indian Council for Cultural Relations Kolkata, 2019.

Invited Lecture, “Raymond Williams & ‘Base-Superstructure’ Debate in Marxist Thought”, Department of English, Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University Postgraduate centre, Koppal, Karnataka, 2020.

Panel Discussant, British Empire and Food Crisis: Two Famines in Bengal and their Literary and Visual Work at the 4th Annual South Asia Conference, Ireland India Institute, Dublin, 2020.

Invited Lecture, “Isolation and Quarantine as Sites of Mass Spectacle in India: Then and Now”, Centre for Study of Contemporary Theory and Research, School of Liberal Arts and Cultural Studies, Adamas University, 2021. 

Panel Discussant, “Covid-19 Pandemic and the Worlds of Crises: A Few Observations, Reflections, and Critical Questions”, 5th Annual South Asia Conference, Ireland India Institute, Dublin, 2022.

“M. K. Gandhi and Our Future” - Induction Programme 2022 Lecture, Indian Institute of Information Technology Guwahati. 2022.

Interview with Prof Pradip Basu, "Biplabi Baam o Taar Tatparya" (Trans: Revolutionary Left and its Significance), Rastrabiggan Charchakendra, September 2023. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0tk6i3kMBk)

Sessions Chaired:

“Subaltern Studies” – Voices Unheard: Indigenous and Tribal Literature in English and English Translation, Osmania University Centre for International Programmes, March 2019.

“Third Cinema” – The Radical Sixties: Aesthetics, Politics and Histories of Solidarity, University of Brighton, 2019.

“Technical Session” – SICI Golden Jubilee International Conference, “Electronic Textual Cultures: A Study of Digital Literature and Literature in Digital Spaces”, Department of Indian and World Literatures, The English And Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, 9-12 March 2021.

“Emerging Trends and Shifts in Contemporary Literary Studies” – Research Scholars’ Conclave, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Guwahati, May 2024.

“Emerging Texts, Cultures, and Performances: Critical Insights” – Research Scholars’ Conclave, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Guwahati, May 2024.

Academic Events Conducted

Internship

Conducted a One-month Summer Internship at IIIT Guwahati on “Revisiting the Two Culture Theory and the Scientific Revolution” (01.06.2021 – 30.06.2021)

Talks/ Seminars / Conferences/ Workshops Organized

Two-day Workshop on “Recent Trends in Critical Thinking and Research Methodology”, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, 2015.

Talk on “Negotiating Madness and Methods: Challenges in Selecting Disciplines in Research”, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Information Technology Guwahati. (4 November, 2022)

Departmental Research Scholars’ Conclave, Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Information Technology Guwahati. (24-25 May, 2024)

Publication