This event by CMS (Centre for Memory Studies) of IIT Madras precedes the official launch of the Indian Network for Memory Studies (INMS) and brought together participants from all over the world.

INMS is likely to be launched in mid June this year through a virtual event at IIT Madras.

CMS of IIT Madras hosts great workshop on memory studies

The highlight of the event by CMS of IIT Madras was a number of participants acknowledged the academic as well as the deeply existential need to engage with the field of Memory Studies in the current pandemic world where memory, connectivity and empathy emerge as vital human attributes.

The key objectives of this workshop held by CMS of IIT Madras are:

Ø To provide a pioneering scholarly platform to train and mentor doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in Memory Studies.

Ø To align interests from different disciplinary locations and identify research convergences to foster institute-level collaborations in India as well as internationally.

Ø To facilitate the emergence of research methods and innovative, interactive, immersive tools in Memory Studies with the aid of digital technologies

Ø To facilitate the formation of research clusters and networks academically as well as with industry partners.

Professor Jyotirmaya Tripathy, Head, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), IIT Madras delivered the inaugural address at the event of CMS of IIT Madras.

‘I congratulate our young and energetic faculty members Dr. Avishek Parui and Dr. Merin Simi Raj for their work on this domain of Memory Studies.’

CMS at IIT Madras functions under the ‘Institute of Eminence’ (IoE) scheme funded by the Ministry of Education, Government of India.

Its Principal Investigators are Dr. Merin Simi Raj and Dr. Avishek Parui, Assistant Professors (English), Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras.

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Dr. Merin Simiraj speaking about the workshop of CMS of IIT Madras said this workshop may be seen as a formal starting point of the acknowledgement of the domain of Memory Studies in Indian academia.

‘We have already begun to receive immense interest from scholars for pursuing PhD, Post-doc, and Project and Internship positions.’

What stood out throughout the sessions in this event by CMS of IIT Madras was the deliberate but systematic departures from Euro-centric memory studies frameworks of thought and practice.

This was evident in the choice of texts and sites for discussion where materiality, space, caste, gender, race and class could be foregrounded through the medium of machines and fiction.

Dr. Avishek Parui also spoke about the workshop by CMS of IIT Madras.

The sessions led by Professor K. Nayar, Professor Bharathi Harishankar and Dr. Sathyaraj Venkatesan at the workshop by CMS of IIT Madras helped the participants connect methodologies and frameworks through graphic art, feminist literature and graphic medicine.

Professor Pramod is President’s Visitor’s Research awardee and is from University of Hyderabad.

Professor Bharathi Harishankar is from University of Madras and Dr. Sathyaraj Venkatesan is from NIT Trichy.

What added innovative flavour of immersive technology to the workshop of CMS of IIT Madras? The sessions on Spatial Storytelling and Digital Humans Dr. Ashok Maharaj and Lakshmi Deshpande from Tata Consultancy Services.

These also remained core to the philosophy and activities from CMS of IIT Madras.

The final session at the workshop of CMS of IIT Madras was on ‘Research Road Ahead.’

A number of participants identified convergences in their researches and endeavoured to make more formal and institutional collaborations.

The researchers from University of Warwick, Leeds Beckett University, IIT Madras and Jadavpur University showcased their ongoing research work.

Professor Nandini Saha, former Head, Department of English, University of Jadavpur, said the workshop by CMS of IIT Madras was wonderfully curated with brilliant plenary sessions, extremely engaging discussions, so much to learn from, and such excellently fantastic research work being done.

Thanks again to Dr Parui and Dr Raj and all the scholars and students for this enriching and wonderful experience, she said.

He appreciation the workshop and the participants.

The workshop was offered as a certified Continuing Education Programme (CEP) course through the Centre for Continuing Education.

The training program was conducted by IIT Guwahati in collaboration with the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS).

Broader impact

IIT Guwahati director Prof Devendra Jalihal highlighted broader impact of this initiative.

We are proud to partner with IRS to drive innovation and capability development in these fields, he said.

Program

The program was conducted at the Neel Diving Academy in Kochi, where trainers from both IRS and TIH IIT Guwahati delivered comprehensive theoretical and practical sessions.

Participants engaged in rigorous underwater welding exercises and underwent a series of technical evaluations. The quality and safety of their work samples were assessed against stringent standards, following which participants were certified for their proficiency in underwater welding, say sources from IIT Guwahati.

This certification program aligns with the vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-Reliant India) by building local expertise in underwater wet welding—a skill crucial for maintaining India’s offshore and maritime infrastructure, he said.

Workforce

Dr. Asokendu Samanta, Divisional Head of R&D at IRS, added, this program equips the workforce with vital underwater wet welding and deep diving skills, which are essential for maintaining India’s oil, gas, and shipping infrastructure.

Commitment

IIT Guwahati is committed to nurturing talent and empowering individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to make meaningful contributions to the nation’s progress.

Through initiatives like this, the institute not only addresses critical industry needs but also contributes to the holistic growth and development of India’s workforce.

IIT Guwahati has retained the 7th position among the best engineering institutions of the country, 9th position in ‘Overall’ and 10^th position in ‘Research’ Categories in the ‘India Rankings 2024’ declared by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the Union Ministry of Education.

IITG has achieved rank 87 in the SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) globally in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2024 and is the only academic institution in India that occupied a place among the top 100 world universities – under 50 years of age – ranked by London-based Times Higher Education (THE) in 2014 and continues to maintain its superior position even today in various International Rankings.

IIT Guwahati gained rank 32 globally in the ‘Research Citations per Faculty’ category and overall 344 rank in the QS World University Rankings 2025.

Among other frontier areas of research and innovation, IIT Guwahati is working towards augmenting critical science research initiatives in Genomics, Developmental Biology, Health Care and Bioinformatics and Flexible Electronics, among numerous other areas.

Also, IIT Guwahati ranks 6th globally in Sustainable Development Goal 7 (Affordable and clean energy) of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2023. IIT Guwahati has been also ranked 2nd in the ‘Swachhata Ranking’ conducted by the Govt. of India.

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