Recent Announcements

RESUME

Name: Dr Monica Das

Associate professor in Economics Gargi College, Delhi University (formerly) - Taken voluntary retirement in the year 2011 after a tenure of thirty five years of service

Fellow at DCRC (Developing Countries Research Centre, Delhi University, formerly) 

Visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada in the year 2000.

Currently, Member IAFFE (International Association for Feminist Economics), Nebraska, USA                  

Field of special interest: Gender studies focusing on Gender Justice

Authored books on Gender studies and written several articles on India’s culture and heritage

Delivered talks and presented papers on gender issues at various Universities in India and  Universities abroad.

On the Board of Jury on cultural committees of Door Darshan (National Television channel), Govt. of India.

Produced/ directed a couple of films. One of the films is part of the National Archival productions (Prasar Bharti). This film ‘Anvesan’ won the National Television Award for best docu-drama film of the year. The film has been made on one of the leading lights of Indian literature, Vyasa Kavi Fakir Mohan Senapati.

Chairperson/Managing Trustee of Fakir Mohan Foundation, New Delhi.

Address:

B-904, Kenwood Tower, Charmwood,

Surajkund Road, Faridabad-121009.

Telephone no: 91- 0129-4117904 (Res.)

 +91-9899301771 (Cell)

E-mail ID: dasmonica@gmail.com

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/dasmonica

Work Experience:

·         My book titled ‘Her story so far’ – Tales of the girl child was published by Penguin and was officially released on the Girl Child day (24th. September 2003).

·         Two hundred copies of the book were purchased by CIEFL (Central Institute for English and Foreign Languages), Govt. of India and have been sent to two hundred institutes in India.

·         Presented my research paper on “The Impact of underage marriages in India and its impact on HDI (Human Development Index” at the International conference of  IAFFE  (International Association for Feminist Economics) held in the University of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, in June 2009. Also chaired a session there. Received travel grant for the same from UGC (University Grants Commission).

·         Was invited to Oxford, England by IAFFE (International Association for Feminist Economics) for presenting a paper on ‘The girl child – a study in perspective’ at the conference held in August 2004.

·         Was invited by the Hawke Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide to present my paper ‘Girl child in India’ in April 2004.

·         Presented a paper on ‘The frail femme in fiction and reality’ at the conference held in the American University, Washington DC, June 2005.

·         Was a visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada in the year 2000 – 2001 at the center for Research on Women’s studies and Gender Relations. The University grants Commission funded my travel for the purpose and the fellowship was from UBC Vancouver Canada.

·         Presented a paper at the conference on “Lived Environment of Girls and women” held at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada in the year 2001.

·         Delivered a lecture on ‘Girl child labour with special reference to Orissa’, at the Portland State University, Oregon, USA in Dec. 2000.

·         Participated in a workshop on female pedagogy and a panel on academics working with NGOs at the center for Research in women’s Studies and Gender Relations, UBC, CANADA.

·         Presented a paper at the Ram Kheng University Bangkok for the International conference  co-sponsored by IAFFE( International Association for Feminist Economics), in June 2007.Also chaired a session there.

·         Presented a paper ‘Gender Perspectives’ at the National Conference on ‘Narratives of Women and the Indian Nation’, held at the Sadbhawana Bhawan, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi, Nov 2007.

·         Was a resource person for the refresher course held for college teachers at Jamia Milia University, in May 2009.

·         Presented a paper at the international conference on “Contending Ideologies – the quest for new moorings”, held at Gargi College, Delhi University. This was sponsored by UGC, Sahitya Academy, ICHR, in the year 2002.

·         Have recently directed a telefilm on the life and works of Fakir Mohan Senapati, the eminent literateur of India, which was telecast on the National Channel in January 2003 the first time. There have been several repeat telecasts thereafter. It recently won the award as the best docu-drama of the year at the DD Annual Awards function held at Bombay in November 2003.

·         In September 2005, DVDs of the above film titled ‘Anwesan’ were produced by the Doordarshan Archives. It was officially released by the Chief Minister of Orissa and the CEO of Prasar Bharti. I was felicitated by the chief minister on the same occasion.

·         Was invited by OSA, to Dallas, Texas, USA to screen my film ‘Anwesan’ on 4th.July 2004.

·         My film on Fakir Mohan Senapati, (a leading light of Indian literature), which was sponsored by Doordarshan was screened at the Habitat Center on 31st. August 2003.

·         Was on the Prasar Bharti (Govt. of India’s) Film preview Committee.

·         Have authored the write- up on Odissi dance which accompanies the CD brought out for Door- Darshan Archives. It is part of Door – Darshan’s special series commemorating 100 years of recorded music in India. It was released in the month of June 2003 at the Habitat Center, New Delhi.

·         Was appointed, member of the national working group of experts NACP- III.under the auspices of National Aids Control Organization, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India.

·         Presented my paper entitled “The cult of Beauty in India” in Nov., 2000 at a conference on “Women’s Studies : Asian Connections”, at the University of British Columbia’s Center for Research in Women’s Studies and Gender Relations.

·         Was a special invitee/ delegate at the International Meet at Vigyan Bhawan in July 2003 on “Dialogue among Civilizations” – Quest for New Perspectives.

·         Was sponsored by ROW (Rivers of  the World) organization in Maryland USA for a training programme on cleaning of rivers in June 2008.

·         As a follow up I organized two seminars in September 2008 in two different colleges namely Gargi college and Kamala Nehru college (Delhi University) on the problems associated with the Yamuna river. This was part of the programme on awareness creation amongst the youth of Delhi. Besides eminent speakers who addressed the gathering, I was also one of the panelists who spoke. This was followed by a film show on the Yamuna river. There are plans for conducting similar seminars in other colleges and universities in India.

• Participated in five day workshop sponsored by UGC (University Grants Commission) on Capacity Building of Women Managers in Higher Education organized by Jamia Millia Islamia in the month of February, 2009.

• Was a resource person at the refresher course held in Jamia Millia University, for college teachers, in the month of May 2009. The theme was ‘Gender Justice’.

RECENT    

·                 My Book titled the ‘Other Woman’, published by Harper Collins was released in January 2010.

·                 Presented paper at the International Association for feminist Economics (IAFFE) Conference held in Hangzhou, China in June, 2011. This research paper was on the ‘Impact of underage marriages in India on various socio-economic factors and the  Human Development Index (HDI)’. This is on the IAFFE archives available online. (www.iaffe.org)  (IAFFE site  archives/conference papers/2011)

·                 Attended the workshop organized by the National Bureau of Statistics, Beijing, China in June, 2011.

·                 Contributed article to the online journal of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance of Sweden.

·                 Presented Paper on the mother language issue at the conference of OSA (Odisha Society of the Americas) held in Seattle, USA in July 2012. Paper available on the online journal of OSA named ‘Utkarsh’.

·                 Paper titled ‘The femme factor and the poverty issue in India – a socio- economic & cultural perspective’ published in the book titled ‘Women and Development’ edited by Santosh Nandal in November, 2012.

·                 Paper titled ‘Importance of Feminist Economics’ published in the book titled ‘Quest for Excellence – Policy and Practice of Undergraduate Education’ edited by Dr. Meera Ramchandran, Delhi University on 24th January, 2013.

·                 Presented a paper at the conference held under the auspices of IAFFE (International Association of Feminist Economics) in the University of Stanford, USA in July 2013. The paper was on the theme of the need for gender sensitization in view of atrocities inflicted on women. The title was ‘One billion rising-the need for gender sensitization.’ The thought was triggered by the heart rending RAPE incident that occurred on 16th December 2012 in Delhi, India. 

WORK EXPERIENCE

¨                  I have been part of the faculty of Delhi University for more than 30 years.

¨                  Have been the cultural in charge of Gargi College for about 15 years.

¨                  Have had close interaction with students in the capacity of students’ advisor

¨                  Have been involved in and have spearheaded several social work related activities in my capacity as the NSS in-charge of the college.

¨                  I have worked for the mentally retarded and physically handicapped at the Cheshire home, New Delhi.

¨                  Have organized students to interact with the blind at the Blind school near Oberoi Hotel, New Delhi and helped them with their studies and music lessons.

¨                  Was member of the working committee for career counseling, which was part of the scheme for the Ninth Five Year Plan. This was under the auspices of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

¨                  Have been involved with children’s activities in various schools in New Delhi.

¨                  Have delivered talk on the National Network Radio for broadcast in India as well as abroad. In the last one year, have delivered two talks on the Voice of America, one of which was titled “ Jewels to Cherish” – a saga of ornamentation for the Indian Women. The other one was on ‘Serpents in Hindu Mythology’.

¨                  Delivered a talk for All India Broadcast on Jan 1, 1998 on the occasion of India’s 50th. Year of Independence. The talk discussed “The Changing Scenario of the Indian Economy.

¨                  Am currently working on script writing for several documentary films. Some of the themes are biographical and the rest are on Indian art and heritage.

¨                  I freelance for several prestigious periodicals like “The India Magazine”, patronized by the highest end Hotels and intended for International travelers to India and “Swagat” , an in-flight magazine of the Indian Airlines. Recent publications include a trilogy on Myths and Legends, the first of which is on the symbolism of fish in Mythology and culture, published in November 1998.The second one is on serpents in world mythology, published in January 1999. The final one on Garuda, the Eagle- God was published in February 1999.

¨                  I am currently the editor of a local bilingual journal published in Delhi.

¨                  Have been a vocal artist on the All India Radio for about 15 years.

¨                  Have dubbed for various Educational Television Programs in regional Indian Languages.

¨                  Have been a dancer since childhood and enjoy choreographing dance items where I fuse Indian and Western dance forms. A recent choreography of mine –‘Con Candescence’ was widely acclaimed.

¨                  Organized the cultural function for the inaugural of the International conference on Fakir Mohan Senapati, a leading light in Indian literature who was also the pioneer short story writer and the pioneer fiction writer on social realism, and the late Prof Sisir Das of Delhi University. This was sponsored by Delhi University in the Year 2006 and the function was held at the Habitat centre, New Delhi.The fiction ‘Six acres and a third’ was depicted through a dance form.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY:

Can read, write and speak in English, Hindi, Bengali, and Oriya.

WIDELY TRAVELED

Have travelled, in connection with work and otherwise, to many different places in the four continents of the world.