Teaching Experience:             15 years

COURSES

Currently Offering

History of Science and Technology in India (also developed), UG

Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies (also developed), UG

Science, Technology and Society (also developed), UG

History and Civilization, UG (Foundation)

Universal Human Values, UG (developed with other colleagues)

The Gift: Anthropological and Philosophical Perspectives

Anthropology of Gender

Research Methodology, PG (developed with other colleagues)

Dynamics of Indian Civilization, PG

Women Writing, PG

Previously Taught

Development of Societies, UG (Foundation)

Understanding Exclusion, M. Phil. (Subaltern Studies) 

Gender and Subaltern Studies, M.Phil.

Tribes and Subaltern Studies, M. Phil.

Social Exclusion: Concepts, Approaches and Forms, PG

Gender and Exclusion-I, PG

Understanding Social Exclusion: Theory and Concept, PG

Understanding Social Exclusion: Global Perspectives, PG

Understanding Social Exclusion: Dalit and Adiwasi, PG

History of Europe: 1453-1648, UG

Theories of Feminism, PG

Feminist Methodology, PG

Women, Development and Environment (developed for American UG students on study abroad program)

The Modernity of India (developed for American UG students in study abroad program)

Women and Gender in India (developed for American UG students in study abroad program)

Women in Indian History (developed for American UG students in study abroad program)

Evolution of Indian Society and Thought, PG

World in the Twentieth Century, PG

History of India (From the beginning to 1200 A.D.), UG

History of Modern India (1761-1971 A.D.), UG

Books

Gender Relations in Early India, Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 2010.

Women in Manusmriti, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi, 2006.

Articles/ Research Papers

Chandra, Vinita, "Women’s Religious Agency as ‘Strategizing': A Case Study of Pāṇinī Kanyā Mahāvidyālaya”, Zeitschrift für Indologie und Sudasienstudien, Band 41, 2024 (accepted).

Yadav, Akanksha & Chandra, Vinita, "Conditional Vows: Exchange and Reciprocity between the Deity and Laity in Chhath", Zeitschrift f

ür Indologie und Sudasienstudien, Band 40, 2023 (accepted).

Chandra, Vinita & Yadav, Jaya, "Trans/ Third Gender in Manusmṛti and Nārada Smṛti: A Comparative Analysis”, Manaviki, Vol. XV, No. 1 (January-June 2023). (Accepted).

Chandra, Vinita & Shail Shankar, "COVID-19 and Healthcare in India: Call for Building up System Level Resilience", Impact and Policy Research Review (Accepted).

Yadav, Jaya & Chandra, Vinita, "Revisiting Third Gender in Manusmṛti", Manaviki, Vol. XI. No. I, Issue II, January- June 2018, pp. 168-174.

Chandra, Vinita, "Identity Beyond Violence: Towards the Recognition of Self", Indian Journal of Social Science Researches, Vol. 13, No. 1&2, March & October 2016, pp. 73-77.

Chandra, Vinita, "Historic Departures", Mainstream, Vol. LIV, No. 32, July 30, 2016.

Chandra, Abhishek & Chandra, Vinita, "Blindness and Social Exclusion: Locating the Discourse within the Solidarity Paradigm", Journal of History and Social Sciences, Vol. IV, Issue II, July-December, 2013.

Chandra, Vinita, "Intersecting Spaces: Politics of Globalisation and Indian Womanhood’, in Journal of History and Social Sciences, Vol. IV, Issue I, January-June, 2013.

Chandra, Vinita, "Gender Relations in the Dharmaśāstra: Defining Womanhood and Manhood within the Domestic Realm’, in Journal of History and Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, July-December, 2010.

Chandra, Vinita, "Women and Work-Family Interface: Indian Context", in Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, Florida, USA, Vol. 1, No. 2, May, 2010, pp. 235-258.

Chandra, Vinita, "Institutional Development, Household Division of Labour and Improvement of women’s wellbeing in Rajasthan Villages’, Journal of Social Sciences, Volume 10, No. 1, 2008, pp. 155-165.

Chandra, Vinita, "Historiography of Women Studies in India", Jijñāsā: A Journal of the History of ideas and Culture, published by the Dept. of History and Indian Culture, University of Rajasthan, Vol. viii, 2002, pp. 65-70.

Book Reviews

Srivastava, Akash Kumar & Chandra, Vinita (2023). Robyn E. Cutright, The Story of Food in the Human Past: How What We Ate Made Us Who We Are (Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama Press, 2021, 282 pages) ISBN: 978-0-8173- 5985-0 (paper), Food and Foodways, DOI: 10.1080/07409710.2023.2191886.

Chandra, Vinita & Akanksha Yadav (2022). Hijras, Lovers, Brothers: Surviving Sex and Poverty in Rural India, Ethnos, DOI: 10.1080/00141844.2022.2129710.
Chandra, Vinita (2008). Gitanjali Prasad, The Great Indian Family: New Roles Old Responsibilities, Penguin, New Delhi, 2006; in Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2008, pp. 356-359.

Book Chapters

Chandra, Vinita, "Decolonizing the Mind: Insights from Dharampal’s ‘The Beautiful Tree’’, in Chandrakala Padia (Ed.), Retrieving the Voices from the Margins: Thinkers of Modern India, to be published by Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla. (accepted).

Chandra, Vinita, "Women in Manusmriti", in Padia, Chandrakala (ed.), Women in Dharmaśāstras: A Phenomenological and Critical Analysis, Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 2009, pp. 131-141.

Audio-Visual Course Content

Module entitled “Concept of Positive Discrimination”, of Paper Women, Governance and Politics, Women’s Studies, e-PG Pathshala, 2017.

Module entitled “Quota Politics and Gender”, of Paper Women, Governance and Politics, Women’s Studies, e-PG Pathshala, 2017.

Module entitled “Women’s Reservation Bill: Major Provisions”, of Paper Women, Governance and Politics, Women’s Studies, e-PG Pathshala, 2017.

Module entitled “Debate on Quota Within Quota”, of Paper entitled Women, Governance and Politics of the Women’s Studies Course, e-PG Pathshala, 2017.

Module entitled “Reservation for Women and Women’s Empowerment”, of Paper entitled Women, Governance and Politics of the Women’s Studies Course, e-PG Pathshala, 2017.

Core Member, Project Coordination Committee of the four years Project- ‘Exploring Cultures of Learning in India and Germany’ sponsored by DAAD under the Program- ‘A New Passage to India: German- Indian Higher Education Co-operations (2019-2023)’, to the Chair of Indology, Heidelberg University.

Core Member, Project Coordination Committee of the four years Project- ‘Cultures of Learning in Academic and Non-Academic Institutions in India and Germany’ sponsored by DAAD under the Program- ‘A New Passage to India: German- Indian Higher Education Co-operations (2019-2023)’, to the Chair of Indology, Würzburg University.

Talks and Lectures (Out of India)

‘A Survey of local institutions teaching Sanskrit in Varanasi: A Preliminary Report’, in the Workshop on Indo-German Encounters and Cultures of Learning between the 19^th and 21^st Centuries, Würzburg University, November 12-16, 2019.

‘Tritiya Prakriti: Ancient Indian Perspective on Sex and Gender’, at the South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University, Germany, 19^th June 2019.

‘Tradition and Modernity: Globalization and the Making of Indian Womanhood, at the Diether H. Haenicke Institute for Global Education, Western Michigan University, October 26^th, 2011.

‘Creative Leisure: An Eastern Approach to the Ethos of Work’ at the School of Religion, Claremont Graduate University, USA, 18^th October, 2011.

‘Women and Work-Family Interface’, at the Claremont Graduate University, USA, 28^th October, 2009.

Guest Speaker at the Asia-Pacific Women’s Conference on Peace and Security: Vision for the Future, Philippines Normal University, Manila, 8-10 Sept, 2009.

Guest Speaker at the Conference on Self, Knowledge and Reality in Indian Tradition, at University of California, Berkeley, US, 31^st October, 2009.

Invited Talks and Lectures in India

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Women’s Studies in Academia’, at the 18th Refresher Course in Women’s Studies, organised by UGC-Human Resource Development Centre, BHU, 16th-28th January, 2023 (18th January, 2023).

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Creating an Inclusive Teaching-Learning Environment’, at the Faculty Induction Programme (FIP/ 121-122 Orientation Programme) organized by UGC- Human Resource Development Centre, DDU Gorakhpur University, 23^rd February, 2021.

‘Veda Pāṭhaśālās in Varanasi’, in the three weeks international course on Lived Sanskrit Cultures organized by Heidelberg and Würzburg Universities, Germany, in Varanasi, 26^th February 2020.

‘Performing Rituals: Upanayana’, in the three weeks international course on Lived Sanskrit Cultures organized by Heidelberg and Würzburg Universities, Germany, in Varanasi, 28^th February 2020.

‘Why is a Gandhian Perspective Relevant Today?’ in the Online Course on Practicing Karuna in times of Corona: A Gandhian Perspective, organized by Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon, 7^th June 2020.

‘Teaching in Flow’, in the Faculty Induction Program (FIP), organized by TLC, IIT (BHU), 22^nd February 2019.

‘Creating an Inclusive Classroom’, in the Faculty Induction Program (FIP), organized by TLC, IIT (BHU), 8^th February 2019.

“Managing the Time-Bind”, at the National Workshop on Understanding ‘Self’ for Personality Development, Arya Mahila PG College, Varanasi, 17^th-24^th February, 2018.

‘Gender, Nature and Culture’, at the 18^th Orientation Course in Women’s Studies, Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, BHU, January 10^th, 2018.

‘Higher Education in India: Some Reflections’, at the Shiksha Swaraj National Workshop, New Delhi, 25^th February 2017.

‘Feminist Perspectives on Sex and Gender’, at the 17^th Orientation Course in Women’s Studies for Research Scholars and NGO, Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, BHU, 19^th January 2017.

‘Dalit Feminism’, at the Seven Days National Workshop on Research Methodology for Dalit Studies, CSSEIP, BHU, 17^th January 2017.

‘Reservation for Women in India: Contemporary Debate’, at the 16^th Orientation Course in Women’s Studies, Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, BHU, 30^th November 2015.

‘Rethinking Rape and Sexual Violence in India’, Arya Mahila PG College, Varanasi, April 14^th, 2015.

‘Gender Sensitization in Tourism Management: Issues and Prospects’, Institute of Tourism Studies, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi, 7^th June 2014.

‘Social Exclusion in Contemporary India’, at the Alliance for Global Education, 25^th October 2013.

‘Relevance of Gandhi in Contemporary Times’, NIRMAN, Varanasi on 3^rd October 2013.

‘Indian Womanhood: Identity and Role Models for Women’, at the Alliance for Global Education, 5^th March 2013.

‘Social Exclusion as a concept and approach: Scope and Relevance’, and ‘Social Exclusion in Contemporary India: Issues and Concerns’, UGC-Academic Staff College, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, 10^th September 2013.

‘Development and Social Exclusion in India’, at the Seven Days National Workshop on Research Methodology in Social Sciences: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, CSSEIP, BHU, 21^st August, 2013.

‘Research as ‘Flow’’, at the Workshop on Research Methodology Course in Social Sciences for ST/SC Research Scholars, Department of Sociology, Banaras Hindu University, 31^st May, 2013.

‘Eye Donation: Socio-cultural Impediments’, at the Eye Donation Awareness Program conducted by NSS in Nagwa Basti, Varanasi, 17^th February, 2013.

‘Patriarchy as Threat to Women’s Security’, at Academique, BHU, 20^th January, 2013.

‘Caste and Exclusion’, at the Alliance for Global Education, 13^th February, 2013.

‘Rethinking ‘Empowerment’ in the Indian Context’, at the Alliance for Global Education, 5^th December, 2012.

‘Politics of Globalization and the Making of Indian Womanhood’, at the Alliance for Global Education, December 3^rd, 2012.

‘Language of Gender and the Gender of Language’, at the 12^th Orientation Course in Women’s Studies, Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, BHU, 13^th December, 2011.

‘How to prepare for Interview’, 20 days Capsule Course under the Community Policing Program, organized by IG, Varanasi on 2^nd December, 2011.

‘Globalization and Challenges to Indian Womanhood’, NIRMAN, Varanasi, November 23^rd, 2011.

‘Research as ‘Flow’’, at the national workshop on Research Methodology in Social Sciences and Humanities: Exploring New Perspectives, CSSEIP, BHU, 30^th October, 2011.

Session Chair/ Co-Chair/ Discussant to Sessions in Conferences/ Seminars/ Workshops

Discussant to Special Talk on “Social Sector Policy for Cohesive Development” by Prof. K. Seeta Prabhu, organised by Centre for Human Dignity and Development, IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi; and Centre for Development, Communication and Studies, Jaipur as part of the series The State of Development Discourses, 7 January, 2022.

Session Chair, IMSCON 2021, Varanasi Menopause Society presents Club 35+ Public Awareness Committee Workshop, organised by Indian Menopause Society, 1-3 October, 2021.

Session Chair, International Conference on Sustainable Development Goals & Gender Perspective (ICSDGAGP), organized by Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat, Gujarat, 25-26 October, 2021.

Panel Convener, ‘Trans/ Third Gender Communities and Religion in South Asia’, in the 27th European Conference on South Asian Studies, Turin, Italy, 26-29 July, 2023 (panel on 28^th July, 2023).

Panel Convener, ‘Dynamics of Female Agency in Religious Settings in India’, in the 26^th European Conference on South Asian Studies, Vienna, 26-29 July, 2021.

Respondent to the session “Biographies and Hagiographies”, in online workshop on Female Religious Leaders and Dynamics of Female Agency in Religious Settings in South Asia, August 3-14, 2020 hosted by South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University.

Session Chair, 141^st IASTEM International Conference, Vienna, Austria, 25-26 September, 2018.

Resource Person, 17^th AJEI Workshop on Gender: Politics, Labour, Law, Development, Varanasi, 9-12 March, 2015.

Chaired the program on “Human Rights in India”, organized by NSS at the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, 10^th December, 2014.

Co-Chair, Technical Session on Feminist Literature, Symposium on Feminist Methodology, Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, BHU, 29-30 September, 2011.

International

Panel on ‘Trans/ Third Gender Communities and Religion in South Asia’, in the 27th European Conference on South Asian Studies, Turin, Italy, 26-29 July, 2023 (panel on 28^th July, 2023).

Paper on ‘Gender, Religion and Agency: Kinnars Claiming Death Rites’, in the 27th European Conference on South Asian Studies, Turin, Italy, 26-29 July, 2023 (presented on 28^th July, 2023).

‘Religious Transformation and Gender: Death Rites for the Transgender’, in the online Conference on Religious Transformation and Gender: Contestations in/ and the Study of Religion, Gender and Sexuality, Utrecht University, 10-12 March 2021. 

Panel on, ‘Dynamics of Female Agency in Religious Settings in India’, in the 26^th European Conference on South Asian Studies, Vienna. (Accepted; Postponed due to COVID)

Paper on ‘Claiming Religious and Ritual Landscape: A Case Study of Pāṇinī Kanyā Mahāvidyālaya’, in the 26^th European Conference on South Asian Studies, Vienna. (Accepted; Postponed due to COVID)

‘Claiming Religious and Ritual Landscape: A Case Study of Pāṇinī Kanyā Mahāvidyālaya’, in online workshop on Female Religious Leaders and Dynamics of Female Agency in Religious Settings in South Asia, August 3-14, 2020 hosted by Cultural and Religious History of South Asia Department, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University.

‘Work and Leisure: An Alternative Perspective’, in 141^st IASTEM International Conference, Vienna, Austria, 25-26 September, 2018.

‘Higher Education in India: Issues and Challenges’, at the Fall Global Conference on Education, organized by School of Education, University of Riverside, USA, 13^th-15^th November, 2015.

‘Intersecting Spaces: Politics of Globalization, Indian Womanhood and Vision for the Future’, in the Asia-Pacific Women’s Conference on Peace and Security: Vision for the Future, Philippines Normal University, Manila, 8^th -10^th September, 2009.

‘Identity beyond Violence’: Towards the Recognition of Self”, in Self, Knowledge and Reality in Indian Traditions, University of California, Berkeley, 31^st October, 2009.

In India

‘Decolonizing Education in India: Insights from Dharampal’s ‘The Beautiful Tree’’, in the National Seminar on Bharatiya Sabhyata Vimarsh: Dharampal ki Itihas Drishti, 24-25 October, 2018.

‘Decolonizing the Mind: Insights from Dharampal’s ‘The Beautiful Tree’’, at the International Conference on Retrieving the Voices from the Margins: Thinkers of Modern India, BHU, Varanasi and IIAS, Shimla, 11^th-13^th August, 2017.

‘National Policy on Education 2016: A Critical Review’, at the National Seminar on National Policy on Education 2016: Issues, Challenges and Suggestions, MGS University, Bikaner, 17^th October, 2016.

‘Women’s Reservation Bill: Tracing the Trajectory’, at the National Seminar on Democracy and the State of the Nation: India in 21^st century, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, BHU, 11^h-12^h February, 2015.

‘Women and Development Discourse: A Review’, at the National Seminar on Development and Deprivation: Relative Status of Different Categories in the Post-Independence Period, Dept. of Sociology, MGKVP, 28^h-29^h December, 2015.

‘Rethinking Rape: Who is responsible?’, at the National Seminar on Women and Violence, Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, BHU, 8-9 March, 2013.

‘Gender Relations in Early India: Defining Womanhood and Manhood within the Domestic Realm’, at the National Seminar on Ancient India: New Perspectives, Department of History, BHU, Varanasi, 23^rd November, 2010.

‘Creative Leisure’, in the international interdisciplinary conference on Language, Culture and Civilization: East and West, organized jointly by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi; Davis and Elkins College, West Virginia, USA and the Society for Indian Philosophy and Religion, 21 -22 July, 2010.

‘Repositioning Womanhood in Globalizing India: An Alternative Approach to Social Inclusion’, at the National Seminar on Repositioning ‘Subalternity’ in Globalized India: The Dynamics of Social Inclusion, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, BHU, Varanasi, 19-21 November, 2009.

‘Civilizing Modernity: Gandhi in Hind Swaraj’, at the International Conference on Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj: Satyagraha, Peace Education and Good Governance, Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University, Kota, 26 -28 June, 2009.

‘Who Am I? Towards an Alternative Universal Identity’, at the International Seminar on The Politics of Identity: Alternative Visions and Formations from India, Dept. of Political Science, BHU, Varanasi, 9 – 10 January, 2009.

‘Work-Family Interface: Mainstreaming Gender’, at the International Seminar on Mainstreaming of Women in Work and Political Processes: Issues, Challenges and Way Forward, Women’s Studies and Development Centre, University of Delhi, Delhi, 5^th -7^th November, 2008.

‘Women and Work: Revisiting Gender Justice’, presented at National Seminar on Contemporary Issues in Social Justice: Indian Context, Dept. of Political Science, BHU, Varanasi, 12-13 December, 2007.

‘Women, Work and Family: Rising above the Limitations’, at the International Seminar on Towards a New Global Village- Role of Women In Transformation, VJB Centre for Women Studies and Development, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, 9-10 March, 2007.

‘Women in Manusmrti’, presented at National Seminar on Women in Dharmaśāstras: A Phenomenological and Critical Analysis, Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, BHU, Varanasi, 8-9 March, 2006.

International Conference on Harmonisation-Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP) Course conducted by Clinspire Research Private Limited, 17 May, 2022.

NVivo Core Skills (Windows), NVivo Academy, QSR International, completed in December 2021.

Qualitative Research Methods: Analyzing Data, MITx, an online learning initiative of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2021.

Short Term Online Course on Social Anthropology-2, Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford, 12 May 2021-21 July 2021.

Course on Qualitative Research Methods: Conversational Interviewing, MITx, an online learning initiative of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2021.

15^th Refresher Course on Women’s Studies, UGC Human Resource Development Centre, BHU, 18^th August – 7^th September, 2015.

72^nd Orientation Course, UGC Human Resource Development Centre, BHU, 3^rd to 30^th June, 2015.

International Workshop on Contemporary Discourses in Social Theory, Faculty of Social Sciences, 16^th August to 10^th September, 2012.

Member, Advisory Board, International Conference on Sustainable Development Goals & Gender Perspective (ICSDGAGP), organized by Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat, Gujarat, 25-26 October, 2021.

Convener, Three Weeks International Course ‘Lived Sanskrit Cultures’, 17^th February 2020 to 6^th March 2020; organized in collaboration with Heidelberg and Würzburg Universities.

Convener, Roundtable Dialogue on Partnership 2020: Leveraging US-India Cooperation in Higher Education to Harness Economic Opportunities and Innovation, DoRD, IIT(BHU), 23^rd July, 2019.

Member, Organizing Committee, International Conference on “Retrieving the Voices from the Margins: Thinkers of Modern India”, BHU, Varanasi and IIAS, Shimla, 11^th-13^th August, 2017.

Organizing Secretary, National Seminar on “Bhashayi Abhivyakti mein Laingik Asamantaa”, Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, BHU, 8^th-9^th March, 2016.

Seminar Co-Convener, National Seminar on “Democracy and the State of the Nation: India in 21^st century”, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, BHU, 11^th-12^th February, 2016.

Member, Organizing Committee, International Seminar on “Multiple Modernities and Social Inclusion”, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, BHU, 25^th-27^th February, 2014.

Organizing Secretary, International Workshop on Addressing Multiple Exclusions, CSSEIP, BHU, 6^th-12^th January, 2014.

Member, Organizing Committee, “Beti hi Bachaegi”, Amar Ujala Group, Varanasi, 2014.

Member, Academic Committee, International Seminar on Lohia’s Vision and Challenges of the 21^st Century, Faculty of Social Sciences, BHU, 10^th-12^th October, 2011.

Convener, National Workshop on Research Methodology in Social Sciences and Humanities: Exploring New Perspectives, CSSEIP, BHU, 24^th to 30^th November, 2011.    

Previous

Convener, Department Post Graduate Committee (DPGC) (August 2019 to August 2021)

Member, Executive Committee, Faculty Forum, IIT(BHU) (2019-2021)

Member, Institute Core Courses Monitoring Committee (2019-2020 and 2020-2021)

Convener, Student Counsellor Committee (August 2018- August 2021)

Member, Department R & D Committee (2019 till date)

Member, Seminar/ Conference Committee (August 2018- August 2021)

Member, Space Committee (August 2018-August 2021)

Member, Finance/ Budget Committee (August 2018- August 2021)

Assistant Director, CSSEIP, FSS, BHU (26^th Feb 2011 to 15^th July 2018)

Member Secretary, Centre Research Committee, CSSEIP, FSS, BHU (2012-15^th July, 2018)

Member Secretary, Centre Purchase Committee, CSSEIP, FSS, BHU (2012-15^th July, 2018)

Member, Board of Studies, CSSEIP, FSS, BHU (2012-15^th July, 2018)

Member, Gender Sensitization Committee, Faculty of Social Sciences, BHU