The Prajnya Gender Talks

A Prajnya Resource Centre Programme

The Women's History Roundtable Series began as a platform for academics to share their research with Prajnya volunteers. It was envisioned primarily as a continuing education programme for the team, which came from different backgrounds to work primarily on gender equality issues. We also opened the sessions to the public, knowing that in Chennai, there were few open venues where an interested person might listen to new research findings and ideas.

The very first presentation was made in 2008 by Dr. Linda Racioppi, Michigan State University, at the Brie cafe in the Oxford Bookstore (now closed) and she spoke about her research on women's peace movements in Russia and Ireland. In our blog report, we wrote: "The series is intended primarily to provide the PSW team with insights into both the subject matter of women in public affairs and issues and challenges relating to the research process in this field. We hope to have these sessions on a monthly basis."

Prajnya Gender Talks: June 2022

Register here: PGT, June 2022

Learn more here.

History

Prajnya Gender Talks

• Pandemic, Policy and Patriarchy, Ritu Dewan, June 2022
• Towards the Right to be Defenceless: I Never Ask For It., Jasmeen Patheja, April 2022
• Speaking Around Law: Gender-Based Violence, Pluralism and AccountabilitySrimati Basu, March 2022
• Writing Histories of Childhood in India, Divya Kannan, February 2022
• Contesting Power and Creating Space: 50 years of the Women's Movement in Bangladesh, Meghna Guha-Thakurta, December 2021
• Women's Movements in Maharashtra: A Visual and Oral History, Vibhuti Patel, November 2021
• Gender, Climate Change and Securitisation, Asha Hans, October 2021
• Feminising Security: Resisting Militarisation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, Rita Manchanda, September 2021
• Defiant Crossings: The Women’s Movement and Feminist Solidarities in Pakistan, Saba Gul Khattak, August 2021
• The FII Journey, Japleen Pasricha, April 2021
• The Body as a Resource: New directions in the study of gender and sexual labour, Manjima Bhattacharjya, March 2021
• Muslim Women, Agency and Resistance in Kashmir, nshah Malik, February 2021
• The Swayam Journey: A 25 Year Celebration, Anuradha Kapoor, December 2020
• Addressing Impunity in International Law for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Priya Pillai, October 2020
• Engaging Boys and Men in the Conversation on Gender Justice, Christina Furtado, September 2020
• How is surveillance being experienced by women at the margins during COVID-19?, Radhika Radhakrishnan, August 2020

Women's History Roundtable Series: Series Five

• New Urban Geographies and the Disempowerment of Working-class Women, Karen Coelho, March 14, 2020
• Women's Movements and Theatre, A. Mangai, February 8, 2020
• Coverage of Sexual Violence in the Indian Media, Radhika Santhanam, January 11, 2020
• Examining the Rise of the Female Protagonist in Indian Cinema, Uma Vangal, December 14, 2019
• Grandmother, Mother, Daughter: Writing Women's Lives, Kalpana Karunakaran, November 9, 2019
• M.K. Gandhi and Women, V.R.Devika, October 12, 2019
• 12 Years and Counting: The Prajnya Story, Swarna Rajagopalan, September 14, 2019
• Handmaidens of god or common prostitutes: Perspectivising the devadasi tradition in India, Bharathi Harishankar, August 10, 2019
• How we measure time, Sivagami Velliangiri, July 13, 2019
• Navigating Gendered Contexts: Writing as a Woman, K. Srilata, April 13, 2019
• Daughter Discrimination in India: A Research Retrospective, Sharada Srinivasan, March 9, 2019
• What’s Love Got to do with it? -- Emotional Labour, Call Centre Work and Romantic Love, Mathangi Krishnamurthy, February 9, 2019
• #MeToo, #YouToo : Survivors Together, Sudha Umashanker,December 8, 2018
• Occupational Health Hazards Faced by Women Workers, Millie Nihila, November 10, 2018
• Writing the Self: Muthulakshmi Reddy and the Making of a Feminist Public in Colonial South India,S. Anandhi, October 13, 2018
• Gendering the Knowledge Professional:An Analysis of Diversity and Inclusion Policies in Chennai's Information Technology Industry,S. Shakthi, September 8, 2018
• From public pillory to postfeminist celebrity: Diana Shurygina in the world of Russian social media,Sudha Rajagopalan, August 11, 2018
• Gender and Activism in Schools and Beyond,Gulika Reddy, July 14, 2018
• Gender Justice and Personal Law, Bader Sayeed, June 8, 2018

Women's History Roundtable Series: Series Four

• Conceptualisations of Abuse and Violence in Intimate Relationships, Radhika Bhalerao, December 9, 2017
• Gender, Dispossession and Development in South India, Manasi Karthik, November 11, 2017
• Private Lives, Public Work: Women Doctors at work and home in Post-Colonial India, Archana Venkatesh, October 14, 2017

Women's History Roundtable Series: Series Two and Three, 2011-13

• Responses to Sexual Assault in Chennai: Field Notes, Divya Bhat, April 13, 2013
• Be our voice: Notes from Koodankulam, Anitha S., March 9, 2013
• Progress Report:Law, gender-based violence and Indian society, Sheila Jayaprakash, December 8, 2012
• Women in the IT Sector: Trends, Challenges, Opportunities, Sarada Ramani, October 13, 2012
• Women and Science Education, Dr. Michelle Zjhra, September 8, 2012
• Missing data and missing voices: The challenges of planning for women in Indian cities, Nithya V. Raman, July 14, 2012
• Rukmini Amma: A Life, Archana Venkatesh, April 14, 2012
• Women in Media, Ranjitha Gunasekaran and Meera Srinivasan, March 10, 2012
• Women in Ancient and Medieval South India, Dr. Chithra Madhavan, February 11, 2012
• The PCVC Story, Dr. Prasanna Gettu, December 10, 2011
• Family Album: Intersections of Personal and Public History, Dr. Anita Ratnam, September 10, 2011
• Return and resettlement of refugees and IDPs after the civil war: Problems faced by female-headed households in northern Sri Lanka, Dr. Nirmala Chandrahasan, August 13, 2011
• Women and Work: An Indian Saga, Dr. Padmini Swaminathan, July 9, 2011
• The Self-Help Groups Experience: Reflections on empowerment and on a personal journey, Dr. K. Kalpana, June 11, 2011

Women's History Roundtable Series: Series One, 2009

• Retracing The Positive Identity Of Devadasis And Their Contributions To The Social, Cultural and National Movement In Tamil Nadu, Dr. M. Bhuvaneswari, September 12, 2009
• Engendering History: Experiences of Writing Nonbrahmin Women’s History, Dr. S. Anandhi, July 11, 2009
• Collecting Personal Narratives: Pleasures and Perils of Intimate Ethnography, Dr. M.D. Muthukumaraswamy, June 13, 2009
• Encoding Women's Identity in Madras Presidency, Dr. Prema Kasturi, April 11, 2009
• The Other Half of the Coconut, Dr. Srilata K., March 14, 2009
Watch the talks, 2020 onwards, here