Prof Nagaraju Gundemeda was invited by the Mahatma Ayyankali Chair, Department of History, University of Calicut for a Two-Day National Seminar on Neoliberalism and Caste in Contemporary India. Prof Nagaraju delivered an invited lecture titled Reforming caste and reframing education: A sociological understanding of education of Dalits in South India on 16/8/2023. His lecture highlighted the nature of the relationship between state reforms and educational reforms from colonial to contemporary neo-liberal times.
He argued that though the state reforms enabled the inclusion of Dalits in the education system till the 1990s, the post-liberalization, privatization, and globalization unleashed multiple forms of institutional exclusion that led to deprivation of equality of opportunities and conditions in the educational institutions. Thus, Dalit children and students struggle to make use of the reservation policies and its inbuilt opportunities in the educational and employment sectors. Prof. Nagaraju also responded to the questions and clarifications sought by the faculty and students who participated in the seminar.
Prof. Nagaraju also lectured on Caste and Education in contemporary Indian society to the students of the Sociology department on 17/8/2023. The faculty and students appreciated it. He has also delivered a third lecture titled The Idea of a University: Sociological Reflections in the Department of Communication. It was part of the induction program for the newly joined first-year communication department students. It was well received by the faculty members and students.
A number of former social sciences students of UoH who are working as faculty members at Calicut University and neighbouring colleges met Prof Nagaraju and shared their academic, epistemological and cultural memories with UoH. They felt nostalgic about the University of Hyderabad as the centre of learning and value system.