Visiting Scholars
The Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (IIAS) has also a scheme of Visiting Scholar under which eminent scholars are invited by the Institute for a week to deliver a lecture on a theme of their choice. In addition, they also use the rich library resources of the Institute and interact with the Fellows and Associates of the Inter-University Centre for Humanities and Social Sciences.
A Visiting Scholar is entitled to reimbursement of travel expenses, (port of their journey within India and back) local hospitality and a token honorarium of Rs. 5000/- for the lecture delivered. The Visiting Scholar is also required to make the manuscript of the lecture available to the Institute so that it can be published in any of the Institute’s journals or uploaded on its website.
Visiting Scholars from 2016 onwards
| Sr. No. | Name | Bio | Title of Lecture |
| 1 | Shri P. Sainath | Eminent journalist & Former Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu |
Rural India — a living journal, a breathing archive (The everyday lives of everyday people) (08 April 2016) |
| 2 | Professor Ananta Kumar Giri | Professor Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai |
With and Beyond Epistemologies from the South: Ontological Epistemology of Participation, Multi-topial Hermeneutics and the Contemporary Challenges of Planetary Realizations (09 May 2016) |
| 3 | Professor Roy W. PERRETT | Professor of Philosophy, University of Hawai'i at Manoa | "Memory, Doubt and the Self" (20 May 2016) |
| 4 | Professor Anirban Chakraborti | Professor and Dean, School of Computational & Integrative Sciences Coordinator, Mathematical & Computational Empowerment Cell Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi |
Physicists’ Approach to Studying Socio-Economic Inequalities: Can Humans be Modelled as Atoms?" on 25 May 2016. |
| 5 | Professor Sreekala M. Nair | Head Department of Philosophy Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit Kalady, Kerala |
Releasing Theology from Epistemological Barriers: A Postmodern Narrative” on 19 August, 2016 |
| 6 | Professor Narayani Gupta | Professor (retired), Department of History and Culture, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi | The Hall of Nations as a Metaphor for our sense of History'. |
| 7 | Professor Uma Chakravarti | Miranda House, the premier women's college in Delhi University | “The Feminist Turn in Documentary Cinema: An Audio Visual Presentation” on 18 October 2016 |
| 8 | Shri Makarand Sathe | Renowned Marathi Playwright and Theatre Historian | “Political and Social Aspects of Theatre during 19th Century Colonial Rule- With reference to Marathi Theatre” on 15 November 2016 |
| 9 | Dr. Nalini Persram | Associate Professor Department of Social Science, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Centre for Research on Latin American and the Caribbean Kaneff Tower York University Canada |
"Thought Through Motility: Phenomenological and Somatic Studios of the Conceptual” on 17 March 2017 |
| 10. | Dr. Kathryn Hardy | Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Modeling Interdisciplinary Inquiry Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities Washington University in St. Louis USA. |
“Sounding Out the Crowd: Cinematic Signs and Embodied Politics in “Regional” Mumbai” on 05 May 2017 |
| 11. | Dr. Elizabeth Wilson | Visiting Faculty, Rutgers Law School Fulbright-Nehru Senior Scholar, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi |
“Be the Change: Gandhi and Human Rights” on 21 June 2017 |
| 12. | Professor Dinesh Prasad Saklani | Professor Department History, Ancient Indian History, Culture & Archaeology Institution HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, |
Valmiki Ramayana & Gender Issue- Case of Sita” on 28 July 2017. |
| 13. | Professor Shekhar Pathak | Formerly Professor of History, Kumaon University, Nainital; Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi; Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla and Editor, PAHAR |
CHIPKO ANDOLAN: AN EVALUATION Leadership, Organization and Participation(14 September 2017) |
| 14. | Shri Makarand Sathe | Renowned Marathi Playwright and Theatre Historian | Nationalism and Cultural Freedom” on 06 October 2017 |
| 15. | Mr. Anant Mahapatra | The Renaissance Man of Odia Theatre | Odia Theatre through Decades” on 12 October 2017 |
| 16. | Professor Gérard Huet | Emeritus Professor INRIA, Paris, France |
“The Sanskrit Heritage Platform” on 26 October 2017 |
| 17. | Dr. Judith Misrahi-Barak | Associate Professor, University Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, France | Indentureship, Caste and the Crossing of the Kala Pani” on 07 March 2018 |
| 18. | Dr. Alexander F. Scott | Scott Research Group Bloomington Indiana, USA |
“Economic Development and Indian Self-Determination: Cultural, Developmental, and Neurobiological Implications of India’s Cultural Shift toward a Nuclear Family Norm” on 10 April 2018 |
| 19. | Professor Nandini C. Singh | Additional Professor National Brain Research Centre, Manesar |
The Reading Brain” on 23rd April, 2018 |
| 20. | Professor Jagbir Singh | Vice-Chancellor Central University of Punjab |
“Inter-faith Dialogue and the Discourse of Guru Granth Sahib” on 18 May 2018 |
| 21. | Dr. Surjeet Singh Lee | Former Professor & Head, Department of Anthropological Linguistics and Punjab University | “The Jangams: An Oral Epic in the Shaivite Tradition” on 21 May 2018 |
| 22. | Shri Mohit Bhardwaj | The Oral Veda Tradition” on 22 May 2018 | |
| 23. | Carmel Christy K.J. | Assistant Professor Department of Journalism Kamala Nehru College University of Delhi |
“The life of Caste, Gender and the Body: Boundaries of knowing” on 06th June 2018 |
| 24. | Ms. Neela Bhagat | Renowned performer of Kathak Style of dance | “Musical Ethos: Traditional and Contemporary” on 31 August 2018 |
| 25. | Professor V.N. Jha | Former Director Centre of Advanced Study in Sanskrit University of Pune |
Classical Indian Theories of Error (25 September 2018) |
| 26. | Dr. Lakshmi Subramanian | Former Professor of History Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta IUC Associate in the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla |
“Articulating an Aesthetics: for Indian classical music in the 20th century: Revising the “theory-practice binary” on 05th October 2018 |
| 27. | Professor Vasanthi Srinivasan | Department of Political Science University of Hyderabad Gachi Bowli Campus Hyderabad |
“Friendship and Prudence: Insights from the Pancatantra” on 16th November, 2018 |
| 28. | Professor Shailendra Raj Mehta | President and Director and Distinguished Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, MICA Shela, Ahmedabad |
“Freedom of Speech, Inquiry and Religion in India and in the West” on 06 December 2018 |
| 29. | Professor Margaret Mills Harper | University of Limerick, Ireland | "Yeats's Expansive Vision” (25th Feb. 2019) |
| 30. | Professor Ben Levitas | Goldsmiths University of London | Ireland, Theatre and Modernity: From Salome to 2016 (25th Feb. 2019) |
| 31. | Professor Sean G. Valentine | University of Barcelona | |
| 32. | Professor Dhananjay Singh | Centre for English Studies School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi |
|
| 33. | Dr. Rahul Chaturvedi | Assistant Professor, Department of English, BHU, Varanasi | "Mental Health and Literature: Towards a Poetics of Medical Humanities” on 25th March 2019 |
| 34. | Professor Pradeep Trikha | Professor and Head, Department of English, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur. | Diverse Voices & Alternative Traditions: Rajasthani Tales as Artifacts” on 26th March 2019 |
| 35. | Ms. Smita Barooah Sanyal |
Mental health therapist specializing in addictions. Author of “Understanding Addictions” (Roli Books, 2012) |
‘Youth and Addictions’ on 2nd April 2019 |
| 36. | Dr. Gopal Krishan Shah | Assistant Professor University of Delhi |
Performed and delivered a lecture on “Time theory in Indian Raga System” on 08th April, 2019 |
| 37. | Dr. Ashima Sood | Fellow, Centre for Learning and Management Practice Indian School of Business Hyderabad |
Speculative Urbanization in India? (30th April 2019) |
| 38. | Dr. Nandini Bhattacharyya Panda | Guest faculty at Women's Studies Research Centre, University of Calcutta & Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library |
“COLONIZATION OF ‘LAW’ IN NORTHEAST INDIA: TRADITION, CUSTOM, AND THE EMPIRE on 14 May 2019 |
| 39. | Dr. Jayanta Dutta | National Post-Doctoral Fellowship (NPDF) Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali |
• The Evolution of our Universe from Big Bang (an introduction to the First Source of light in the Universe)(17 May, 2019) |
| 40. | Professor Gita Dharampal | retired Head, History Dept., SAI, Heidelberg University, Germany) Dean of Research (Honorary Position) Gandhi Research Foundation Gandhi Teerth, Jalgaon |
• Mahatma Gandhi and Islam: A relationship defined by Affinity, Fascination, Crisis and Rupture (27 May, 2019) |
| 41. | Dr. Veena R. Howard | Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, California State University, Fresno | • Queen Gāndhārī’s Mapping the Battlefield through the “Divine Eye:” Shifting the Gaze from Masculine Virility to Feminine Vulnerability (31 May, 2019) |
| 42. | Professor Anup Kumar, Ph.D. | Director Journalism and Promotional Communication, School of Communication Cleveland State University Cleveland, OH 44115 |
Populism as a Political Practice: It is not Content, but Repertoire that Unites Shades of Populism on 5 July 2019. |
| 43. | Dr. V.J. VARGHESE | Assistant Professor Department of History University of Hyderabad Hyderabad |
Making and Unmaking of a Kutiyettakkaran: Cultural Representations and the Migrant Subjectivity in Kerala on 17th July 2019 |
| 44. | Shri Arun Anand, Sandipan Deb and Prafulla Ketkar | Journalists, Columnists. | Panel Discussion on Media and the Nation |
| 45. | Dr. Kamal Nayan Choubey | Assistant Professor Department of Political Science Dyal Singh College Delhi University |
The Forest, Tribal Life and Intricate Legal Structure: From Subjecthood to Quest for Justice and Citizenship Rights” on 5th August 2019 |
| 46. | Shri Siddhartha | Founder, Peepal Tree, Fireflies Intercultural Centre | Eco-spirituality, Food sovereignty and Social justice' on 16th August 2019 |
| 47. | Professor Nachiketa Tiwari | Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering at Indian Institute of Kanpur |
MATHEMATICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PANINI’S CONSONANTS on 13th September 2019 |
| 48. | Shri Ayon Maharaj | Department of Philosophy, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Belur | “Swami Vivekananda’s Reconceptualization of Advaita Vedānta in the Light of Sri Ramakrishna” |
| 49. | Professor Ananta Giri | Professor Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai |
“Social Sciences and the Regional Imagination of India: Social Theory, Asian Dialogues and Planetary Conversations" |