Saher Bano is a Senior Research Fellow working with Dr. Sarbani Banerjee in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. Her research interests include gender and queer Studies, with a focus on postmodern queer feminist poetry. She is currently working on contemporary queer feminist poetry, digital media spaces and cine-scapes. She has published research and review articles in journals such as English Academy Review, Journal of Cultural Research, Journal of Homosexuality (Taylor & Francis), and Springer Nature. Recognized for her comparative research on queer poetry, she received the Charles Wallace Research Grant in 2025. She is a teaching assistant in NPTEL courses on ‘Partition Literature,’ ‘Fiction: Epics, Novels and Poetry,’ and ‘Performative Gender and Religions in South Asia.’
Research Interests:
Queer and Gender Studies, Film Studies, and Digital Humanities
Professional Background:
PhD (pursuing), Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India, in Queer and Gender Studies
MA (2017-2019), First Division with Distinction, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi
BA Hons. (2013-2016), Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, in English Literature
Languages – English, Hindi, Urdu, French (Basic)
NPTEL (Teaching Assistant) – Partition Of India in Print Media and Cinema (2022), Fiction: Epics, Novels and Poetry (2022-23), and Performative Gender and Religions in South Asia (2023)
Courses Taught - Traditions of performance in South Asia, Soft Skills (Basic and Advanced), Phonetic Lab (Basic)
Grants and Awards:
Charles Wallace India Trust (CWIT) Grant 2025
Senior Research Fellowship SRF (2023) in English Literature
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2021, All India Rank (AIR) - 18 (English Literature)
Junior Research Fellowship JRF (2020) in English Literature
Publications:
Bano, Saher, and Sarbani Banerjee. 2024. “‘A Capacious Hermeneutics’ of The World That Belongs to Us: Akhil Katyal and Aditi Angiras in Conversation.” Journal for Cultural Research, December, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14797585.2024.2446165
Bano, Saher. 2025. Rural Queer Polymorphism and Postmodern Performative Spectacle: Contextualizing Heterotopia and ‘Other’ Liminal Spaces in Indian Filmic Representations. In: Chakraborty, K., Roy, H. (eds) Queer Provincialism. Springer, Singapore. doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-5743-8_8
Bano, Saher. 2025. “Coalition” politics of Who’s Afraid of Gender?—a “counter-imaginary” praxis. Journal of Homosexuality, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2025.2493149
Bano, Saher. 2025. A “Feminist Manifesto”: Poetics and Politics of Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife. English Academy Review, 42(1), 137–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/10131752.2025.2483092
Bano, Saher. 2023. “The Language of the Laughter: Medusa and Feminism” In: Feminism Matters: Identity and Intersectionality, Scientific International Publication House.
Conferences, Seminar and Workshops:
Presented a paper and moderated a panel at the two-day International Conference on Embracing the Paradigm Shift: Navigating the Interdisciplinary Frontiers in Humanities and Social Sciences Research, hosted by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, on the 11th and 12th of July, 2025.
Presented a paper at The 12th European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2024) (on-site) organized by SOAS & University College London, United Kingdom from 11 July to 15 July, 2024.
Presented a paper at 1st International (Inter)Disciplinary Bodies Conference ((I)DB24) (on-site) organized by Brunel University, London, United Kingdom from 25 June to 27 June, 2024.
Presented a paper at The 3rd Paris Conference on Arts & Humanities (PCAH2024) (on-site) organized by The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Paris, France from 13 June to 17 June, 2024.
Presented a paper at The 15th Asian Conference on Arts & Humanities (ACAH2024) (online) organized by The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) held in Tokyo, Japan and Online from 23 May to 25 May, 2024.
Presented a paper at the 3rd International Conference on Contemporary Perspectives in English Language, Literature & Cultural Studies, Chandigarh University in collaboration with University of Alcalá, Spain on 15 July 2023.
Presented a paper (online) at the International Young Researchers' Conference 'New Research in English Studies' organized by the Department of English Literature, English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India on 28th April 2023.
Presented a paper (online) at An International Conference on “Queer Political Assemblages 3.0” based on ‘Theme: Queer Companionship, Intimacies and Community Building in the Digital Era’ organised by the Department of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India on 9th March 2023.
Presented a paper at the Two Day Multidisciplinary Online National Conference on “Embodied Identities: The Body In Cultural Spaces” organised by Centre for Advanced Studies & Research In English Language and Literature, Farook College, Calicut, India on 22nd February 2023.
Presented a paper (online)at the 2nd National Conference on Contemporary Perspectives in English Language, Literature and Cultural Studies organized by Department of English, University Institute of Liberal Arts and Humanities, NCCPE - 2022, Chandigarh University, India on 16th July 2022.
Attended a Two-day SPARC-sponsored online Workshop organized by the Department of Humanities and Social Science, Indian Institute of Technology, Patna, in collaboration with the University of Toronto (Canada), University of Northampton (UK), Aarhus University (Denmark), and University of York (UK) led by Dr. Priyanka Tripathi, from 11th November to 12thth November, 2024
Attended a conference on Recent Trends in Research: Indian and Foreign Languages organized by the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies & Special Centre for Tamil Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi from 29 February to 1 March, 2024.
Attended a National Level Five-Day Virtual Workshop on ‘From Writing to Publication: A Workshop on Research Paper Writing in English Literature and ELT’ organised by the Department of English in association with the IQAC, Jain College, Bengaluru City University from 17 to 22 January 2022.
Attended One Day National Level Webinar on Alternative Narrative: Making Discourses on Language and Education organised by Ramakrishna Mission Brahmananda College of Education, West Bengal University on 30 January 2022.
Participated in a One-day International Conference on Research Methodologies of Contemporary Times: Exploring English Language, Literature and Teaching organised by the Department of English, SRR & CVR Government Degree College (Autonomous), Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India on 5 February 2022.
Attended National Webinar on Resonating Wonder: Shakespeare in Indian and Global Avatars organised by the Research and PG Department of English, St. Thomas College, Thrissur, on 25 February 2022.
Volunteered in The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) 62nd Annual Conference organised by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand, during 11 to 13 April 2022.
Attended a Capacity Enhancement Workshop on 'Gender, Sexuality & Literature’ organised by the Department of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh from 22 to 28 August 2022.
Membership and Affiliations:
Comparative Literature Association of India (CLAI)
The International Academic Forum (IAFOR)
British Council