Profile

Swapna Gopinath is currently working as Professor of Film and Cultural Studies at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication Lavale, Pune, India. She completed 27 years of teaching on 10th March 2024.

She teaches film theories and cultural theories, in the context of India, and the Majority World at large.

Highlights

Co-edited (along with Ms. Rutuja Deshmukh) the work on Indian film titled Historicizing Myths in Contemporary India: Cinematic Representations and Nationalist Agendas in Hindi Cinema (Routledge, 2023)
Co-authoring a book titled Decolonizing Histories: Creative Spaces and Oral Histories, on Indigenous communities in Kerala, India to be published by University of California Press (in 2025)
Co-editing a book titled Mediated Cultures, Political Discourses, and the Celebrity: Perspectives from India, on celebrity cultures in India, to be published by Bloomsbury (in Dec 2025)
Co-editing a special issue for South Asian Popular Culture, titled Intersectional Ties in Popular Hindi Cinema: Regions, Languages and Industries, along with Dr Swarnavel Eswaran and Ms. Rutuja Deshmukh (Fall, 2024)
Co-editing a book titled Tales of Resistance and Resilience: Cinemascapes from Contemporary India to be published by Routledge (in 2025)
Co-editing a special issue with Prof. Shohini Chaudhari for Studies in World Cinema titled “Indigenous Cinemas from South Asia: Agency, Mediation, Representation”
Ace Researcher Award for 2024, awarded by Symbiosis International University
Member of the core committee for conducting an International Conference (ICMAC) by Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune
One of the founding members of Symbiosis Centre for Research in Media and Creative Industries, a research center functioning under the Faculty of Media and Communication
Active interventions in the public domain by writing on socio-cultural spaces in non-academic journals and websites
Member of the editorial team for FemAsia, a journal being published in United Kingdom
Minor Research Project by Symbiosis International University, on independent music in India and sisterhood feminism, in collaboration with Neha Jindal Ph.D. (15 months)
Collaborating on a Documentary Project, titled Voices from Kurru: Ecology, Environment, Erosion, on Indigenous Communities in Kerala, India, with Dr Swarnavel Eeswaran and Sukumaran Chaligatha
Former Chairperson, Internal Complaints Committee, Symbiosis International University, Lavale, Pune
Member, Anti-Discrimination Cell, Symbiosis International University, Lavale, Pune
Member, Quality Improvement Cell, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune
Fulbright Fellow at the Department of Art and Art History, University of Rochester, NY during 2019-20.
Fulbright Fellowship for Academic and Professional Excellence 2019-20 from India
Visiting Associate Professor at the Department of Art and Art History, University of Rochester, NY.
Postdoctoral Research fellow at the School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India
Fellowship sponsored by UGC, Government of India, for completing Ph D, 2001-03
Research Fellowship by National Film Archives, Government of India, 2020-21 (Narrativising Urban Spaces in Malayalam Cinema: Trends and Techniques)
Co-authored a textbook, on Communication Skills in English, selected for study (at UG level) in the University of Kerala.
Authored The Dialectic of Historicity in Modernist Fiction: A Study Based on the Select Works of O V Vijayan and M Mukundan in 2017
UGC Research Award to complete Postdoctoral Research during 2016-18.
Doctoral supervision (University of Kerala) produced four Ph.D.s. Currently a supervisor at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, with four scholars.
Created content for Creative Writing (Master’s program in Media and Communication) and conducted classes on the Open Learning platform hosted by Symbiosis International University, India at the master’s level
Creating content and video sessions for Film Studies (Undergraduate Program) for E-Paathshaala, under the University of Kerala and University Grants Commission, Government of India
Teacher, coach, and mentor across various levels with expertise in adult education through Theme Centred Interaction, a training methodology developed by TCI International, Berlin, Germany

Professional Employment

Associate Professor	2020- till date (Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune)
Associate Professor	2007 – 2020*
Associate Professor	2002 – 2007*
Lecturer	1997 – 2002*

*Colleges under Sree Narayana Trust, Kollam, Kerala, affiliated to the University of Kerala and approved by UGC, Government of India.

Fellowships and Grants

UGC, Government of India Faculty Development fellowship for completing Ph.D. (2001-03), for Rs. 6,00,000/-
Minor Research Project, for Rs.1, 20,000/- under UGC, Government of India. Establishing Hegemonic Ideology through Advertisements: The Indian Scenario.
UGC Research Award for Rs.14,00,000/- for completing Postdoctoral research during 2016-18. The Social Dimension of Space: A Study on Indian Society with Reference to Urban Spaces.
Fulbright Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship for 2019-20 from India for the project titled Contextualising Paradigm Shifts in Spatial Identities: Iconography and Street Art in Mumbai.
Research Fellowship by National Film Archives, Government of India, 2020-21 for Rs.56,000/- (Narrativising Urban Spaces in Malayalam Cinema: Trends and Techniques).
Minor Research Fellowship by Symbiosis International University, 2023 for Rs. 1.20,000/-(Empowering Women Musicians and Sisterhood Feminism: A Study of the Independent Music Scene in India) along with Neha Jindal Ph D

Degrees

Ph.D, University of Kerala, Kerala, 2006. The Dialectic of Historicity in Modernist Fiction: A Comparative Study Based on the Select Works of James Joyce, Franz Kafka, O.V Vijayan and M.Mukundan.
PG Diploma in Communication and Journalism, University of Kerala, 2005.
International Diploma in Theme-Centered Interaction, Ruth Cohn Institute for TCI International, Berlin, 2009.
UGC –NET qualified for lectureship in colleges in India
M.Phil in English Literature, University of Kerala, 1994. Topic of Dissertation: The Alienated Woman in Shashi Deshpande’s Novels
Master’s Degree in English language and Literature, University of Kerala, 1992
Bachelor’s Degree in English Language and Literature, University of Kerala, 1990.

Manuscript Reviews

For Routledge, Edinburgh University Press, Sage, and Palgrave Macmillan.
For South Asian Popular Culture, Asian Women, Asian Cinema, Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, South Asian Review, Quarterly Review of Film and Video.

Workshops Attended

International conference of TCI held at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

National workshop on Personal Effectiveness held at Government College, Attingal,
Trivandrum from 21^st to 25^th of February, 2005.
Workshop on English for Special Purposes at Government College for Women,
Trivandrum on 22^nd and 23^rd of November, 2004.
Workshop on Film Studies conducted by L V Prasad Academy at Trivandrum from 19 to 25 May, 2015
Deluezian Workshop held at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai in February, 2017.
Deleuzian Camp conducted by Deleuze and Guattari Studies in India Collective in Chennai, India on 14 and 15 February 2018.

Courses attended

Three Refresher courses for teachers with Culture Studies as a thrust area and one multi-disciplinary orientation course at Academic Staff College, University of Kerala.
Film Appreciation Course conducted by Film and Television Institute and National Film Archives at Pune from May 8 to June 3, 2017.
Creative Writing Course offered by Wesleyan University on Coursera in November 2019.
Certificate Course Constructive Teaching and Learning with Technology conducted by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (A-Grade) in 2021.
Completed the course Film Images and Historical Interpretation in the Twentieth Century: Camera Never Lies. Conducted by the University of London through Coursera in 2022.
Currently pursuing a course on Transmedia Storytelling on Coursera.