Debdatta Chakraborty is a senior research fellow at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. She is working on the area of Bengali Dalit studies with a special focus on caste-gender intersectionality and the impact of trauma on the Bengali Dalit community. Her area of research includes Partition Studies, Film Studies, and Gender Studies from the point of view of Caste Studies. She has recently published her work in Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Media Asia, SARE: Southeast Asian Review of English and Literary Voice. She has presented several papers on the suffering, lived experiences and identity politics of Bengali Dalit strata at several National and International Conferences. She is a teaching assistant in NPTEL courses on ‘Partition Literature’ and ‘Refugee, Migration and Diaspora.’
Research Interests: Bengali Dalit Studies, Trauma Studies, Gender Studies, Partition and Refugee Studies, and Film Studies
Professional Background:
PhD (pursuing), Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India, in Bengali Dalit Literature and Gender Studies
MA (2019-2021), First Class with Distinction from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, in English Literature, with a specialization in Indian English Literature and its contemporary pursuits.
BA (2016-2019), First Class with Distinction (College Topper), Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, in English Literature
Languages – English, Bengali, Hindi
Qualified UGC NET with Junior Research Fellowship in English in the year 2023 (June Cycle)
Qualified UGC NET in English during M.A First Semester in the year 2019 (December Cycle) and in 2020 (June Cycle)
Qualified the 1st GATE in Humanities and Social Sciences in the year 2021 organized by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
NPTEL (Teaching Assistant) – Partition Of India in Print Media and Cinema (2022), and Refugee, Migration and Diaspora (2025)
Courses Taught - Partition Literature (Basic and Advanced), Soft Skills (Basic and Advanced), Phonetic Lab (Basic)
Grants and Awards:
Received the Best Paper Award in the 4th International Conference on Contemporary Perspectives in English Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies (ICCPE-2024) organized by Department of English, University Institute of Liberal Arts & Humanities, Chandigarh University and University of Alcala, Spain for the presentation of her paper.
She has been awarded with the prestigious International Academic Forum Grant 2025 for presenting her paper entitled Understanding the Caste-Gender Dichotomy, Suffering and ‘Rhetoric of Violence’ Through Manju Bala’s “Ups and Downs” and “The Conflict” in the Paris Conference on Arts and Humanities (PCAH2025)
Publications:
Chakraborty, Debdatta, and Sarbani Banerjee. ““I am not anyone’s servant. I am my own master”: In conversation with Manoranjan Byapari.” Journal of Postcolonial Writing (2025): 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2025.2463056 (Scopus Indexed Q1)
Chakraborty, Debdatta, and Sarbani Banerjee. “‘I am Chandalini, and I am Proud of that. You must Accept and Respect it’: Understanding Chandalini Aesthetics with Kalyani Thakur Charal.” SARE: Southeast Asian Review of English 61.1 (2024): 227-238. http://dx.doi.org/10.22452/sare.vol61no1.12 (Scopus Indexed Q1)
Chakraborty, Debdatta, and Sarbani Banerjee. “Understanding Interlocking Factors of Oppression, Intersectionality and Subjugation of Dalit Women: Analyzing Manju Bala’s ‘Conflict.’” Literary Voice, vol. 1, Nov. 2024, pp. 269–74. (Web of Science Indexed)
Chakraborty, Debdatta, and Sarbani Banerjee. “Caste and Media: Review of the film Vedaa.” Media Asia, 2025, pp.1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2025.2478010 (Scopus Indexed)
Chakraborty, Debdatta. “Twice Cursed Lives: Revisiting Dalit Women’s Lives of Oppression and Subjugation Through the Narratives of ‘She-Dalits.’” Dalit Feminist Discourse: Voices in Dalit Narratives edited by Charu Arya and Nabanita Deka, Routledge, 2025, ISBN: 9781041015802, pp. 170-181.
Chakraborty, Debdatta, and Sarbani Banerjee. “Caste pride: Battles for equality in Hindu India: by Manoj Mitta, Chennai, Context Publications, 2023, 624 pp.,₹ 633 (hardback), ISBN 9789357762946,” Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 2025, pp.1-2. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2025.2453002 (Scopus Indexed)
Chakraborty, Debdatta, and Sarbani Banerjee.“Post-Partition Traumatic Suffering, Displacement, and Violence: An Analysis of Kapil Krishna Thakur’s “The Other Jew.”” International Review of Humanities, 16.1 (2025): 173-185. (Web of Science Indexed)
Chakraborty, Debdatta, and Sarbani Banerjee. “Decoding the Migration, Rehabilitation, and the Impact of Caste in the Lives of Bengali Dalit Women Strata in the Post-Partition Bengal: Revisiting Kalyani Thakur Charal’s Autobiographical Narrative Ami Keno Charal Likhi, and Novella Andhar Bil.” Creative Saplings, vol.2, no.11, (2024): 55-72. https://doi.org/10.56062/gtrs.2024.2.11.517
Chakraborty, Debdatta. “Migration, Displacement and Rehabilitation in post-partition Bengal: Revisiting Kalyani Thakur Charal’s autobiography.” On Interdisciplinarity: Select Essays edited by Dhriti Ray Dalai and Panchanan Dalai, Mangalam Publications, 2023, ISBN: 9789386123992, pp. 152-160.
Chakraborty, Debdatta. “Representation of Trauma, Violence and Displacement in Nakul Mallik’s Pardon Not: Marichjhapi Massacre.” Emerging Trends in Post Pandemic Literary and Cultural Studies edited by Dr. Gyanabati Khuraijam and Dr. Yumnam Oken Singh, AuthorPress India, 2023, ISBN: 978-93-5529-570-5, pp.100-110.
Conference, Seminars, and Workshops:
Presented a paper entitled Understanding the Caste-Gender Dichotomy, Suffering and ‘Rhetoric of Violence’ Through Manju Bala’s “Ups and Downs” and “The Conflict” in the Paris Conference on Arts and Humanities (PCAH2025) from 15th to 19th June 2025
Presented a paper in the International conference on “Embracing the Paradigm Shift: Navigating the Interdisciplinary Frontiers in Humanities & Social Sciences Research” at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India, from 11th to 12th July 2025
Attended a 7-Day short-term summer school on Environmental Humanities: Recent Trends organized by Department of English, University of Hyderabad from 1st to 7th May 2025
Presented a paper entitled ‘Dalitality’ the Precarious Way of Being: Understanding Vulnerabilities, Traumatic Encounters, and Suffering of Bengali Dalit Refugees in post-Partition West Bengal in the 14th Annual Academic Conference on Risk, Precarity, and Vulnerability organized by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, scheduled from 15th to 17th March 2025 (Offline Mode)
Presented a paper entitled Understanding the Caste-Gender Dichotomy, Suffering and Rhetoric of Violence through Manju Bala's Ups and Downs and The Conflict in the International Conference on Stories Matter: (Re)-Thinking Narratives, aesthetics and Human Values organized by Department of English, Banaras Hindu University from 6th to 7th December, 2024
Presented a paper in the International Conference on Contemporary Perspectives In English Language, Literature & Cultural Studies (ICCPE-2024) organized by Chandigarh University on 13th and 14th September 2024 in collaboration with University of Alcalá, Spain and received the Best Paper Award for the presentation
Presented a paper at the International conference on Disruptive Frames in the Post-Colony: Locating South Asian Cinema Beyond Global Cosmopolitanism, organized by Midnapore College in collaboration with the University of Minnesota, USA from 10th to 12th August, 2024 (Offline mode)
Presented a paper entitled Recontextualizing Migration, Caste-Gender Dynamics, Rehabilitation and Resistance in Kalyani Thakur Charal's Autobiography Ami Keno Charal Likhi and Poem “The Opportunists Steal Your Thunder in the South Asian Exchanges International Conference on Indian Arts and Literature In Collaboration with California Institute of Integral Studies, USA Tribhuvan University, Padmakanya Multiple Campus, Nepal & Government Brajalal College, Bangladesh – 9-10 March, 2024
Presented a paper entitled “Traumatic Encounters, Collective Memory and Testimony: Analysing Deep Halder's Blood Island: An Oral History of Marichjhapi Massacre” – International Conference on State and Society in Pre-Colonial and Post-Colonial India: A Retrospect Organized by School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Woxsen University in collaboration with the University of Southampton, the United Kingdom and Centro De Estudios De Genero, Mexico, 20- 21 February 2024.
Presented a paper entitled Decoding Caste-Class Intersectional Dynamics, Dalit Female Agency and Suffering in Goutam Ali’s Bazaar - Reclaiming Planetary Planetarity and Modern Concepts organized by Department of English, Banaras Hindu University, 13th to 15th November, 2023
Presented a paper entitled Understanding Migration, Displacement and Rehabilitation in the Post-partition Migration Narratives of West Bengal in the International Conference on Negotiating Lives: Migration, Displacement, and Resistance in Postcolonial Nation-State on 26th August, 2023 organized by Department of English, Midnapore College, West Bengal
Presented a paper entitled Tracing Gendered Citizenship, Violence, and Trauma in Kapil Krishna Thakur’s The Other Jew in the 3rd International Conference on Contemporary Perspectives in English Language, Literature & Cultural Studies to be held at Chandigarh University on July 14 and 15, 2023 in collaboration with University of Alcalá, Spain
Presented a paper entitled Investigating Gendered Citizenship, Violence, and Trauma in Nakul Mallik's Pardon Not: Marichjhapi Massacre in the Two Day National Conference on Women, Narrative and Agency: Enhancing Women's Empowerment in India by Probing Violence, Gender Discrimination, and Recuperation organized by Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee and The Ministry of Women Empowerment & Child Development, Uttarakhand on 12th and 13th April, 2023
Presented a paper titled Caste, Migration, Trauma, and Testimony: Revisiting Manoranjan Byapari's Interrogating My Chandal Life: An Autobiography of a Dalit in the International Conference on Global India Diaspora: Literary, Cultural and Socio-Economic Perspectives in the 21st Century organized by the Centre for Diaspora Studies, Central University of Gujarat in collaboration with National Translation Mission (NTM), Central Institute of Indian Languages (Mysore) Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Govt of India), Gujarat Sahitya Academy, Govt. of Gujarat (Gandhinagar), Gujarat Tourism, Govt. of Gujarat (Gandhinagar), Migration & Diaspora Studies, Indian Sociological Society (New Delhi) and GITAM (Hyderabad)
Presented a paper titled Trauma, Migration and Testimony: Revisiting Manoranjan Byapari’s Interrogating My Chandal Life: An Autobiography of a Dalit in 2nd National Conference on Contemporary Perspectives (NCCPE-2022) in English Language, Literature and Cultural Studies conducted by Department of English, Chandigarh University
Presented a paper titled Representation of Trauma, Violence, and Displacement in Nakul Mallik's Pardon Not: Marichjhapi Massacre in the International conference on Post Pandemic Perspectives: Reflections and Realities organized by National Institute of Technology Agartala from 5th to 6th August 2022
Memberships and Affiliations:
International Academic Forum(IAFOR)