Malabika Sarkar | |
---|---|
3rd Vice Chancellor of Ashoka University | |
In office 1 August 2019 –10 November 2022 | |
Preceded by | Prof. Pratap Bhanu Mehta |
Succeeded by | Prof. Somak Raychaudhury |
2nd Vice Chancellor of Presidency University,Kolkata | |
In office October 2011 –May 2014 | |
Preceded by | Prof. Amita Chatterjee |
Succeeded by | Prof. Anuradha Lohia |
Personal details | |
Born | 15 August 1948 |
Malabika Sarkar is an Indian academic,former Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University, [1] and a former Vice Chancellor of Presidency University,Kolkata. She was the first Dean of Faculty &Research at Ashoka and was the Principal Academic Advisor before succeeding Pratap Bhanu Mehta to become the 3rd Vice-Chancellor. She is a professor of English Literature and specializes in John Milton,with an added interest in the History of Science. Her book Cosmos and Character in Paradise Lost was published by Palgrave Macmillan in June 2012. She handed over the charge of Vice-Chancellorship of Ashoka University to Indian Astrophysicist Somak Raychaudhury on 1st January 2023. [2] During her tenure,Sarkar made several appearances in the media,writing op-eds and giving one-on-one interviews to key publications. In particular,she took up the cause of women and batted for leadership roles for women in academia,becoming a national voice opining the same. [3] [4] In doing so,she helped enhance Ashoka's reputation on the national stage. [5]
She is an alumnus of Presidency College (then under the University of Calcutta),where she was a student of English literature. She went on to complete her B.A. and M.A. from New Hall,Cambridge University. Later a graduate student at Clare Hall,she returned to Clare Hall,Cambridge University,as visiting fellow in 2002–2003 and in 2003 was elected to a life membership. She is a Fellow of the English Association (FEA),U.K..
Sarkar was earlier professor of English at Jadavpur University,Kolkata,head of the Department of English from 1999-2001,a member of the Jadavpur University Council from 1980-1985,and member of various academic bodies of the University. She was also a member of the University Grants Commission Panel of Experts in English and Foreign Languages and a panel member of NAAC.
Sarkar has presented her work at several conferences in the U.K. and North America. She combines her interest in Milton and the Renaissance with another area of interest,Romantic Studies. She is the founder President of the Centre for Studies in Romantic Literature [6] and continues to direct its international conferences. Her publications in this area include Moneta’s Veil:Essays on 19th Century Literature (Pearson-Longman,2010). She is on the international advisory board of the journal European Romantic Review published by Routledge. Her many publications include her article on "The Magic of Shakespeare’s Sonnets",first published in Renaissance Studies (U.K.,1998),which was reprinted in Shakespeare Criticism Yearbook 1998 (Gale Group,USA).
Sarkar is now a member of the Presidency University Governing Board.
She is also president of the Women's Coordinating Council (WCC),West Bengal,the apex women's organization in the state with representatives from more than 74 social welfare organizations.
Presidency University,Kolkata is a public state university located in College Street,Kolkata. It was among the best colleges in the country when the institute was affiliated to University of Calcutta. The institution was elevated to university status in 2010 after functioning as a constituent college of the University of Calcutta for about 193 years. Currently,it continues to rank among the top universities in India. The University boasts an illustrious list of extraordinary alumni over the last two centuries,including several pioneers of the Bengal Renaissance,leaders of the Indian Independence Movement,heads of state,noble laureates,Academy Award winner etc.
Pratap Bhanu Mehta is an Indian academician. He was the president of the Centre for Policy Research,a New Delhi-based think tank and was the Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University from July 2017 to July 2019.
Nabaneeta Dev Sen was an Indian writer and academic. After studying arts and comparative literature,she moved to the US where she studied further. She returned to India and taught at several universities and institutes as well as serving in various positions in literary institutes. She published more than 80 books in Bengali:poetry,novels,short stories,plays,literary criticism,personal essays,travelogues,humour writing,translations and children's literature. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2000 and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999.
Jasodhara Bagchi was a leading Indian feminist professor,author,critic and activist. She was the founder and director of the School of Women's Studies at Jadavpur University. Her books include Loved and Unloved –The Girl Child and Trauma and Triumph –Gender and Partition in Eastern India. She also founded the women's rights organization Sachetana.
Sukanta Chaudhuri is an Indian literary scholar,now Professor Emeritus at Jadavpur University,Kolkata. He was educated at Presidency College,Kolkata and the University of Oxford. He taught at Presidency College from January 1973 to December 1991 and at Jadavpur University thereafter till his retirement in June 2010. At Jadavpur,he was founding Director of the School of Cultural Texts and Records,a pioneering centre of digital humanities in India. His chief fields of study are the English and European Renaissance,translation,textual studies and digital humanities. He has held visiting appointments at many places including All Souls College,Oxford;St John's College,Cambridge;the School of Advanced Study,London;University of Alberta,University of Virginia;and Loyola University,Chicago. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Asiatic Society,Kolkata and a member of the Executive Committee of the International Shakespeare Association. In July 2021,he was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy.
Supriya Chaudhuri is an Indian scholar of English literature. She is Professor Emerita at Kolkata's Jadavpur University.
Rudrangshu Mukherjee is a historian and author of several history books. He was formerly the Opinions Editor for The Telegraph newspaper,Kolkata and the Chancellor for Ashoka University,where he also serves as Professor of History. He was the founding Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka when the University began in 2014 and was succeeded in 2017 by Pratap Bhanu Mehta.
Julie B. Mehta teaches at University College,University of Toronto. Her course,Asian Cultures in Canada, is endowed by Chancellor Emerita Senator Vivienne Poy. Mehta is an author and journalist specializing in Southeast Asia.
Swapan Kumar Chakravorty was an Indian academic who was a distinguished Professor of Humanities at the Presidency University,Kolkata.
Susobhan Chandra Sarkar (1900–1982) was an Indian historian.
Ashoka University is a private research university located in Sonipat,India,providing a liberal education in the humanities,social sciences,and natural sciences.
Krishna Bose was an Indian politician,educator,author and social worker. She was a Member of Parliament elected from the Jadavpur constituency in West Bengal as an All India Trinamool Congress candidate.
The Hok Kolorob Movement or the 2014 Jadavpur University student protest,was a four-month long series of protests by the students of Jadavpur University in Kolkata,India that began on 3 September 2014. The term "Hok Kolorob" was originally the title of a song by Bangladeshi singer Arnob,written by Rajib Ashraf,and began to be used as a hashtag on Facebook.
Dame Sally Mapstone is a British academic who has been Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews since 2016.
Pratul Chandra Gupta was an Indian historian,writer and the author of Nana Sahib and the Rising at Cawnpore,a historical account of the siege of Cawnpore. Considered by many as an authority on Maratha history,he translated The Maharashta Purana,an 18th-century Bengali text written by Gangaram into English,Edward C. Dimock,a known Indologist,being his co-translator. One of his books,INA in Military Operation,was commissioned by Jawaharlal Nehru but the book could not be published,reportedly due to political objections. The Last Peshwa and the English Commissioners,1818-1851 and Shah Alam II and His Court are some of his other notable works. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan,in 1975,for his contributions to Literature.
Samita Sen is an Indian historian and academic. Having previously taught at the University of Calcutta and Jadavpur University,she has been Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at the University of Cambridge since 2018.
Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee is an Indian academician who served as vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta.
Amita Chatterjee is a philosopher of science and logician and is professor emerita at the School of Cognitive Science of Jadavpur University in Kolkata,India. In 2019 her contributions to philosophy were recognized with the publication of a 2-volume festschrift in her honour:Mind and Cognition- An Interdisciplinary Sharing by Kumtala Bhattacharya,Madhucchanda Sen and Smita Sirker.