MEMORIA: The Intellectual Archive of the School of Social Sciences

MEMORIA is an initiative by the School of Social Sciences Library to collect, organize, and preserve the rich academic and intellectual discourse of the department. This digital archive features invited lectures, memorial talks, chair lecture series, national conferences, and academic colloquiums hosted by the School of Social Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University.

 

1. Academic Year 2024

Ambedkar Memorial Lecture 2024 (Day 1): On Revisiting The Problems of Slavery: The Indian Experiences

Speaker: Prof. Sanal Mohan

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Ambedkar Memorial Lecture 2024 (Day 2): Marginalised Social Groups: Issues Related to Policy for Redistribution

Date: December 03, 2024

Speaker: Prof. Sukhadeo Thorat (Former Chairman, UGC & ICSSR)

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Ambedkar Memorial Lecture 2024 (Day 2): Development Beyond Welfare – The Indian Experiences

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Ambedkar Memorial Lecture 2024 (Day 2): Marginalised Social Groups: Issues Related to Policy for Redistribution

Speakers: Dr. Joby Matthew, Dr. K. S. Madhavan

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2. Academic Year 2025

1. R. Narayanan Chair for Human Rights & Social Justice Lecture Series: Epistemology of Writing

Date: January 29, 2025

Speaker: Prof. P. Sanal Mohan

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1. R. Narayanan Chair for Human Rights & Social Justice Lecture Series: Writing Social Sciences

Date: January 30, 2025

Speaker: Prof. Sanal Mohan

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1. R. Narayanan Chair for Human Rights and Social Justice Lecture Series: About Chasms in Theories: Social Construction in/and Sapiens

Date: March 04, 2025

Speaker: Dr. Rajeev Kumaramkandath

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Colloquium on ‘Marginality, Memory and Resistance’: Inaugural Address

Date: April 01, 2025

Organized by: K. R. Narayanan Chair for Human Rights and Social Justice

Welcome Speech: Prof. Dinesan V. (Director, School of Social Sciences)

Inaugural Address: Hon. Vice-Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi University

Remarks: Prof. Sukhadeo Thorat (Chair Professor)

Keynote Address: Prof. Satish Deshpande (Professor of Sociology, ISEC) — “Social Science in the Age of Alternative Facts”

Felicitation: Registrar, MGU | Vote of Thanks: Dr. Rajesh Komath

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Colloquium on ‘Marginality, Memory and Resistance’: Caste, Marginality and Resistance

Date: April 01, 2025

Chair: Dr. Abhilash Babu

• Akshaya K. S. & Adona Maria James: “Laws Can Protect, But Can Society Change? The Deep-Rooted Challenge of Caste Discrimination”
• Murali Ramathoti: “Caste Marginalization and Redressal Mechanisms in HEIs”

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Colloquium on ‘Marginality, Memory and Resistance’: Embodied Resistance, Body and Space

Date: April 01, 2025

Chair: Dr. Joby Mathew

• B. Ravichandran: “Politics of Space of Indian Toilet: Extreme Binaries from Untouchable to Touchable”
• Sreejesh N. P.: “Socio-spatial Segregation and Stigmatisation: Conceptualizing the Life Experiences of Dalit Colonies in Kerala”
• Sandeep Viswanath: “Beneath the Earth: Gravediggers and the Resistance of Marginalized Narratives in Graveyards in Bangalore”

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Colloquium on ‘Marginality, Memory and Resistance’: Labour, Dignity and Marginality

Date: April 01, 2025

Chair: Dr. Silpa Satheesh

• Santhi Rajasekhar: “Invisible Resistance: The Memory of Marginalized Labour and the Fight for Dignity”
• Kabeer K. T.: “Internal Migrant Workers in Kerala’s Social Context: Lessons from the Plywood and Footwear Industries”

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Colloquium on ‘Marginality, Memory and Resistance’: Special Talk on Dalit-Adivasi Movements

Date: April 01, 2025

Speaker: Mr. M. Geethanandan (Adivasi/Dalit Activist) — “Understanding Dalit–Adivasi Movements in Kerala”

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Colloquium on ‘Marginality, Memory and Resistance’: Intersection of Religion, Identity and Belonging

Date: April 02, 2025

Chair: Dr. Megha P. Antony

• Santhi Swaroop Sirapangi: “Passive Satyagraha as Counter Resistance: Reminiscence of Marginality Among Dalit Christians of Andhra Pradesh”
• Maya M.: “Between Faiths: Religious Change and the Liminal Identity of the Kanikkar Tribe in Kerala”
• Anuraj M. & Sreelakshmi T. S.: “Resisting and Deconstructing the Popular Narratives and Mapping the Lives of Subalterns through Literature – A Content Analysis of Poykayil Appachan’s Selected Poems”

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Colloquium on ‘Marginality, Memory and Resistance’: Gender, Resistance and Media

Date: April 02, 2025

Chair: Dr. Aparna Eswaran

• Praveena K. P.: “Speaking from the Margins: Dalit Women, Media, and the Politics of Visibility in the Public Sphere”
• Sanya A. S.: “Subaltern Voices in Colonial Kerala: Caste, Gender and the Politics of Space”
• Vandana S.: “Silent No More: The Power of Dalit Women’s Agency”

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Colloquium on ‘Marginality, Memory and Resistance’: Memory, Trauma and Narratives

Date: April 02, 2025

Chair: Dr. Vinayan M. C.

• Ashwathi Sharma: “Tracing Intergenerational Trauma and Memories: The 1942 Return of Indian Families from Burma”
• Santhosh T. Kaleb: “Silenced Waters, Forgotten Lives: Land Reclamation in Kuttanad, Kerala”
• Haritha Jain: “Envisioning Ravana as a Protagonist: The Uniqueness of Ravanothbhavam Kathakali as a Form of Cultural Resistance”

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Colloquium on ‘Marginality, Memory and Resistance’: Special Talk on War & Memory

Date: April 02, 2025

Speaker: Dr. Aparna Eswaran (Assistant Professor, SIRP) — “Witnessing and War: Acts of Remembering Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka”

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Colloquium on ‘Marginality, Memory and Resistance’: Conceptualizing History and Memory

Date: April 02, 2025

Speaker: Prof. Sanal Mohan (Former Professor, SSS)

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Ayyankali Chair Lecture Series 2025: Stigmatised & Excluded: The Social Reality of Denotified Tribes

Date: April 22, 2025

Speaker: Mundayat Sasikumar

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1. R. Narayanan Chair Lecture Series: Epistemological Considerations of Gender and Writing

Date: September 25, 2025

Speaker: Prof. A. K. Ramakrishnan

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1. R. Narayanan Chair Lecture Series: From Field to Paper: Writing Ethnography

Date: September 25, 2025

Speaker: Dr. Mythri Prasad-Aleyamma

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1. R. Narayanan Chair Lecture Series: Marginality in Spivakian postcolonial political thought.

Date: July 28, 2026

Speaker: Dr. Y.T Vinayaraj

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3. Academic Year 2026

Ayyankali Chair in Social Transformation: Dalit Jeevitha Sareerangalum, Parisaravum, Jati Adayalangalum

Date: January 13, 2026

Speaker: Dr. Maya Pramod (Faculty, School of Gender Studies, MGU)

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Ayyankali Chair in Social Transformation: Spatial Segregation and Social Stigma: Life Experiences from Dalit Colonies in Kerala

Date: January 13, 2026

Speaker: Dr. Sreejesh N. P. (Post Doctoral Fellow, IUCSSRE, MGU)

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Ayyankali Chair in Social Transformation: Caste Stigma: Historical Roots and Contemporary Realities

Date: January 14, 2026

Speaker: Prof. Sakthi Kumar (CESP, JNU)

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4. Memorial Lectures, Special Lectures & National Conferences

Dr. M. Muralidharan Memorial Lecture 2025: The Early History of Gender Distinction in India

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Special Lecture: Epistemology of the Disease Practice as History & Technique in Vernacular Healing

Speaker: Dr. K. S. Sreenath

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Recent trends in biological anthropology Part 1

Speaker: Dr. B Bindu,Professor,Kannur University

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Recent trends in biological anthropology Part 2

Speaker: Dr. B Bindu,Professor,Kannur University

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Recent trends in biological anthropology Part 3

Speaker: Dr. B Bindu,Professor,Kannur University

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National Conference: Many Voices: Contemporary Tribal Research and Cultural Expressions in Kerala

Organized by: School of Social Sciences & KIRTADS

 

Session 1: Inaugural Session

• Welcome: Dr. Dinesan V. (Director, School of Social Sciences)
• Chair: Dr. S. Bindu (Director, KIRTADS)
• Inauguration: Prof. Dr. C. T. Aravindakumar (Hon. Vice Chancellor, MGU)
• Inauguration Recording

 

Session 2: Voices From Within (Chair: Prof. Abhilash Babu)

• Nikhil P. S.: “Tribal Entrepreneur: The Entrepreneurial Saga of Traditional Livelihood Systems in Modern Times”
• Aishwarya K.: “Understanding Postpartum Depression in Tribal Contexts: A Study of Irula Women in Attapadi”
• Anitha P. C.: “Social Solidarity: A Critical Study of Kudumbashree Initiatives in Tribal Context, Wayanad”
• Sibitha N.: “Relevance of Meyyalankaram Among Paniya Community in Wayanad”
• Vinayan N. D.: “Displacement and Identity Transformation: The Impact of Displacement on Indigenous Communities in Wayanad”
• Session Recording

 

Session 3: Critical Engagements I (Chair: Prof. K. M. Krishnan)

• Dr. Manjusha K. A.: “Poetics and Politics of Adivasi Literature”
• Dr. Narayanan M. Sankaran: “Intersections of Language, Identity, and Knowledge: Exploring Tribal Youth Development in Malabar”
• Session Recording

 

Session 4: Critical Engagements II (Chair: Prof. K. M. Seethi)

• Dr. Abhilash D.: “Intergenerational Mobility and Rights Among Settled Agriculturalist Tribal Communities in Kerala”
• Dr. K. P. Nidheesh Kumar: “Resettlement and Development of Tribal Communities in Kerala”
• Dr. Mini P. V.: “Development, Displacement and Dispossession: Case of Tribal Communities in Kerala”
• Session Recording

 

Session 5: Contemporary Tribal Research Methods (Chair: Dr. Aparna Eswaran)

• Mujeebu Rahman: “Of Within and Beyond: Decolonizing Knowledge and Positionality in Adivasi Contexts”
• Dr. Rajesh K. P.: “Between Representation and Reality: Tensions in Studying Adivasi Communities”
• Dr. Anil Gopi: “Narratives and Ethos and Development: Emic and Ethic Perspectives”
• Suresh K. P.: “Tribal Healing Practices in Contemporary Kerala: Relevance, Transformation and Challenge”
• Session Recording

 

Session 6: Stories From the Land and People (Chair: Prof. Rajesh Komath)

• Kanchiyar Rajan: “The Indigenous People of Idukki”
• Pushpamma: “Ethnography Through Literature: About Uralis”
• Session Recording