The Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad (UoH) hosted a project exhibition titled ‘Counter Narratives of Authority in Transition: Marginality in Indian Academia’ on the 17th and 18th of March 2025in the Conference Hall, School of Social Sciences which was inaugurated by Prof Suneetha Rani, Dean, School of Social Sciences and was supported by Prof G. Nagaraju, Head of the Department of Sociology.
This was a research project conducted by Dr. Nandita Dhawan, WSC, Jadavpur University in collaboration with Professor Dina Belluigi Queen’s University Belfast, UK and Dr Asha Achuthan, WSC, TISS, Mumbai funded by GOI, SPARC. The project argues that, there is an existing gender inequity and exclusion of women/gender-marginal persons, especially from disadvantaged groups (class, caste, religion, sexuality, ability, geographical location, etc.) from powerful participation in quality higher education. This undermines the promise of inclusive education and research in higher education institutions. There is much more to be achieved in terms of ensuring gender equality in teaching, research, governance and processes of decision making in university administration. It is in this context this project focuses on faculty members who are first generation academics and gender-marginal from marginalized and underrepresented groups in higher education institutions (HEIs). The project have generated 46 oral life history (counter) narratives across ten states of India to identify enabling/disabling conditions as the academics try to act as critical-ethical agents of change, within higher education institutions. The research therefore aims to mark complexities of gender and its intersections that these academics experience in their entry to, association with and presence within HEIs. The project has also created artistic outputs from these ‘counter-narratives’ for dissemination both within and outside academia. This exhibition titled ‘Counter Narratives of Authority in transition: Marginality in Indian Academia’ is reflective of this exercise.
Prof Anurekha Chari Wagh who coordinated the event said that this exhibition was part of the course Research Methods II, (Qualitative Research Methodology), department of Sociology, UoH. Through this exhibition the students were exposed to the rich life narratives collected through the use of qualitative methods and visual archival methods, which were used in the project. This pedagogical strategy was to introduce the students not only to the data collection using qualitative methods such as life narratives, but also to engage with creative ways of sharing research.
This exhibition included art exhibits, documentaries, posters and photoseries on Visual University Spaces to engage with the core idea of counter narratives within university spaces. There were two art pieces named “Hated fairytale 1” and “Hated fairytale 2”.These art pieces gave a unique yet introspective space for one to perceive different elements of the works in several ways. This exhibition provided an opportunity for the audience to have an eye-opening interaction and build a harmony even through contradicting ideas and perspectives.
Two documentaries titled, “You are not Authorised” by Mark Wilby” and the other was “A Beautiful Tree” were shown. They focused on structural barriers experienced by first generation learners within academic spaces. In particular the film “You are not authorized” was set in buzzling city spaces of Kolkata which was navigated through the life of a women academician through multiple symbolic visuals like autorickshaws, metros trains etc which represented the grueling experiences of navigating through gate keeping practices within academic institutions and symbolic audio visuals which portrayed a viscous loop of routinized unpleasantness and never ending red tape in the system. The other film “A beautiful tree” by Brent Meistre took us through seemingly peaceful and calm pathways. The movie had a repetitive portrayal of ‘screaming’ silences which aligned with both her inner and outer battles with systemic and disguised manifestations of inequalities and discrimination within institutionalised spaces. S. Gopikarani, student at the department of sociology, shared that, ‘when the protagonist says, “Thank you for being you” to the trees and the rocks, her only companions on the lonely pathways, in the documentary it symbolizes that it is only ‘nature’ who accepts her for who she is, does not discriminate, judge and stigmatize her. Thus it is only within nature that she feels accepted and can be herself without fear and restraint’.
The Visual University Space series had photos by Johnny Marjit, a Phd scholar at WSC, Jadavpur University, working as a research assistant in the project. He had captured pictures of everyday spaces of higher education settings. These pictures were then arranged in thematic series such as hidden spaces, doors, notice boards etc, which reflected different ways in which space is organised and experienced in universities. According to visitors to the exhibition, the series opened a new world to look at the university spaces from multiple standpoints through different lenses. The visuals painted a picture of belonging and striving in divided yet cohesive realms within academic spaces.
The posters through the stories of first generation academics within Indian academia highlighted multiple issues of discrimination and marginalization based on identities such as caste, disability, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, and gender. These life narratives emphasized the need for an intersectional outlook within academia for a more inclusive and equitable knowledge production and a productive and transformative work environment. The portrayal of narratives through the Zines, short story booklets and posters were not only creative and thought provoking that encouraged deeper reflection and dialogue but also opened up discussions on multiple ways of research dissemination. As one of the student, Sapun Jyoti Boruah, Department of sociology shared, ‘The way in which life narratives were presented in the exhibition beautifully captured the nuances and complexities as well as the struggles, pain but at the same time the freedom and certain power the academic spaces provide for the scholars. As a student navigating the academic space which looks empowering but not without its own precarity, finds quite fascinating, surprising, empathy and a certain level of solidarity in the stories of different academicians from different universities at different positions in the hierarchy of the organisation. Those in a relatively privileged position need to be reflexive of their own positions. This is one of the messages the exhibition conveyed. The exhibition needs to attract more faculty members and those in authority because I personally feel more than us, the students, they should be the primary audience of this exhibition’.
Interestingly the exhibition included a lecture, where the research group presented the research design and their analysis to the students giving them insights about the research journey, selection of methods and data analysis. This lecture and the discussion that followed was part of the pedagogical technique of the Research Methods course, offered by the department of sociology. In addition, to the above a focus group discussion was organised with the students that fostered a critical engagement with the exhibits, including the posters, art works and the documentaries. Overall this session was an interactive and intellectually stimulating exercise and ended on a very insightful note.
This report was collectively written by Aryika Ganguly, Abhivyakti, S Senbaga Priya, Akash M (Department of Sociology, UoH) and Araveti Tharunee (Department of Anthropology, UoH).