Shilpa Das

 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (29 YEARS)

Teaching at NID and earlier has entailed designing courses, their content and the study material.

Teaching and Student Project Guidance have been at Bachelors, Masters and PhD levels in the following areas:

Social Science; Story Telling Traditions in India; Contemporary literary and cultural theory involving semiotics, communication studies, Marxism, feminism, post-structuralism, and post-modernity with special focus on class, gender, race and identity politics; Gender Studies and Feminist Disability Studies; Disability Studies’ Heterodox Indian philosophies and aesthetic practice; Comparative Aesthetics; Narrative theory; Indian Culture: The Classical and Folk Traditions; Visual Language; History of Art; History of Design; History of Objects; Design for Form and Emotion; Inclusive Design; Form and Culture; English Literature; English Language; Research Methodology; and Craft Documentation.

Visiting Faculty / jury member at F+F School, Zurich, Switzerland; Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo; Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy; Lucerne School of Art and Design, Lucerne, Switzerland; HTW, Berlin, Germany; Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia; Bath Spa University, UK; Royal College of Art; London, UK; Central St Martins, UAL, London, UK; Indian Institute of Management (IIMA) Ahmedabad; School of Architecture, Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), Ahmedabad; Centre for Media and Communication, Department of Humanities, CEPT University; Centre for Arts Journalism, CEPT University, Ahmedabad; School of Liberal Studies, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Energy University, Gandhinagar; IDC, IIT Bombay, D J Academy of Design, Coimbatore and Nirma University, Ahmedabad.

SELECT INFO ON ADVISORY BOARD POSITIONS

Member, Development  Advisory  Council, Design for Good. Jul 2022 – Present. Design for Good’s founding alliance comprises many of the world’s largest organisations including General Mills, Lixil, Logitech, Nedbank, Nestlé, McKinsey & Company, Microsoft, Pepsico, Philips and Royal College of Art. unleashed their combined creative talent of thousands of designers, to design and deliver positive impact against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals each year. Each year, Design for Good will focus on one UN SDG. In 2022, its inaugural year, Design for Good addressed Goal 6, and focused on clean water and sanitation.

Member, Advisory Group. Missing Billion Initiative & Philips Inclusive Health Facility Co-Design Project Jul 2022 – Present Helsinki and London.  Philips and the Missing Billion Initiative are partnering to define and design an optimal inclusive healthcare facility model at the primary care level. This includes creating a universal vision, blueprint, design standards and pragmatic implementation pathways for inclusive health facilities globally. The purpose of the Advisory Group is to provide input, strategic direction and as a collective, serve as a critical sounding board for the outcomes of the project. The Advisory Group will thus help shape and guide the process and deliverables of the project.

Member, Core Committee, Social Design Network. MOME, Budapest and Israel. 2021-to date. The Social Design Network aims to explore complex global challenges and social cultural change with curiosity, empathy, care, perseverance, and humility. It seeks to change the design discipline from within. True to the founding vision of Dr. Bori Fehér (MOME, Hungary) and Prof. Jonatan Ventura (Shenkar, Israel), it works both with and for local communities on a global platform using collaborative processes and knowledge-sharing. Through each project, the network actively develops and explores new ways of collaboration, innovative methods and tools for positive social impact.

Advisor, Board of Studies PDEU. Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. At the School of Liberal Arts to build new courses into the curriculum including Digital Humanities and others. Jun 2022 – Present.

Vice-Chairperson, Indian Disability Studies Collective. 2021-Present.

Member of the Board of Advisors. Centre for Disability Research and Training, KMC, Delhi University. Jul 2021 – Present.

Editorial Board Member. Lokaratna Journal: A Journal of the Folklore Foundation of India. Jul 2021 – Present · Lokaratna, is the e-journal of the Folklore Foundation, Bhubaneswar. Lokaratna is a peer-reviewed International journal with ISSN:2347-6427. The journal is published by World Oral Literature Project from Cambridge University Web site, and Folklore Foundation web site at a time. The purpose of the journal is to explore the rich cultural tradition of India for a wider readership. The journal represents articles on culture, folklore, education, and language pedagogy.

International Expert and Effective Member of the Examination Board for the final PhD Exam in Design, Department of Design, Polytecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, February 20-22, 2019. External International Examiner for 2 doctoral students, Ms. Maria De Los Angeles Briones and Camilo Ayala Garcia.

Member, Core Advisory Board, Core Project on women’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs in India, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, USA and M4ID, Helsinki, 2019.

Advisory Board Member, Centre for Media and Alternative Communication, New Delhi. The CMAC intervention is a multi-media communication campaign on sexual and reproductive health issues for adolescent and young people with disabilities. 2019.

Invited Resource Person to develop Guidelines (and Co-Author of published guidelines/paper) by the EQUATOR (Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research) Network, an international initiative that seeks to improve the reliability and value of published health research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting and wider use of robust reporting guidelines. I have been invited to develop guidelines for: “Reporting Design Research: A Proposed Reporting Guideline for Health Research Involving Human Centered Design/Design Thinking (REDR)”. I shall be working on it with 7 other people working across US and UK. 2019.

Visiting Professor. “Ethics of Trans-disciplinary Research Projects and Methods.” Royal College of Art, London. Masters of Research students across RCA’s four schools of Architecture, Design, Communication and Fine Arts, and Humanities. March 25, 2019.

Member, REDES Conference Scientific Review Board. At the International Research & Education in Design Conference (REDES2019) to be held in Lisbon, Portugal on 14 and 15 November 2019. Organised by the Research Centre for Architecture, Urban Planning and Design (CIAUD) of the Architecture Faculty of the University Lisbon, 2019.

Member, to review and build Resilient Product Design Principles for Climate Change for D-Rev., 2019. D-Rev designs and delivers medical technologies that close the quality healthcare gap for under-served populations in India, Uganda and the US.

Board Member, Swiss GradNet or The Swiss Graduate Network of Use-inspired Research in Design, Film and Art. It is a network of four Swiss universities of applied sciences and five international higher education institutions including NID. Attended Board Meeting on September 28 2018 at HSLU Lucerne and two other meetings over Skype. 2018-21.

Member, Advisory Board, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and US Agency for International Development (USAID) for Human Centered Design in Public Good, Seattle, USA, 2018.

Governing Council Member. MO School Project on Primary Education. Government of Odisha. 2018.

RESEARCH GRANTS  & PROJECTS

 a) Inter-University Exchange Project on SDGs. Grant from the Government of Japan. March 2023 onwards. The Inter-University Exchange Project, 2022-26 is a platform for education, research, and co-creation on climate issues and the UN SDGs through international collaboration focusing on Japan, Australia, India and the UK. Am one of the Principal Investigators along with Prof. Yusaku Imamura the Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan; Prof. Lee Ann Khor, Monash University, Australia;  Rathna Ramanathan, Central St. Martins, UAL, London; and Nuria Kramer,  the Shared Campus initiative.

b) Going Global Partnership Grant awarded by The British Council, UK. Jan 2022 – July2022.  Principal Investigator (NID) on a Research-Teaching Project along with Prof. Rathna  Ramanathan, Central St. Martins, UAL, London ( Principal Investigator, UAL). Designing a Transnational Curriculum for Climate Action and Design. The Going Global Partnership Exploratory Grant is a part of the Going Global Partnership programme that has been initiated by the British Council to promote collaboration and innovation in teaching and learning and Transnational Education in Higher Education Institutions between India and the UK.  The partnership explored exchange of ideas and knowledge and deepen understanding through the creation of teaching modules  aimed at Climate Action with shared objectives, delivery plans, assessment, and quality assurance processes.  The outcome was a Student Journey Book, Unit Descriptor and Facilitator Guidebook.

c) The Swiss Leading House South Asia & Iran – Bridging Grant Project, entitled, STICH Social Transformation and Indian Crafts Heritage, 2018.

ZHAW or Zurich University of Applied Sciences is a Leading House for bilateral research collaboration with partner institutions in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

This call is open for activities in all scientific disciplines and fields of research, including research projects with partners in India in social sciences and humanities and allows funding of approximately 10 projects with partners in India. Bridging grants offer the possibility of intensification of joint teaching, curriculum development or do joint research in order to prepare a grant application for a full joint research project e.g. through the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), EU funding or any other national or regional funding body. Applicants need to be scientists with a Swiss federal or cantonal university, university of applied sciences or university of teachers’ education, or a public research institution.  This grant that we got enabled a the Social Transformation and Indian Crafts Heritage (STITCH) Research Symposium, at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland, September 10-12, 2018. It also led to field work in Ahmedabad, presentation of the outcomes of the joint research project at Insight 2018 Symposium on Design Research at NID in November 2018, and a joint paper of the 5 researchers that will be presented at the DRS Learn X Design 2019 Conference, the Fifth International Conference for Design Education Researchers in  METU, Ankara, Turkey from July 9-12, 2019.

d) The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Grant, 2015: Design Anthropology is an emerging academic field that focuses on how design translates cultural values into tangible experiences. It combines the deep understanding of peoples and cultures from anthropology with the making of positive cultural impact from design. The Living Blue international collaborative research project was between Swinburne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, National Institute of Design, and China Central Academy of Fine Arts. The project explored the shifting means of indigo dyeing in contemporary India and China. Started with one-month intensive workshop at NID and another at Kalaraksha, Bhuj. It aimed to co-create Indian-based and decolonising approaches to the field through methodological and theoretical training in (1) research methods in Design Anthropology and (2) Transcultural Aesthetics, specifically the ethics of using cultural aesthetics for creative making. The workshops were led by Associate Professor Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall from Swinburne University of Technology; Dr. Shilpa Das, Coordinator of Interdisciplinary Design Studies at National Institute of Design and Head of the Fellowship Program; and V. Sakthivel, Studio Coordinator for Dyeing and Printing Studio. The program provided lectures, tutorials, open studio labs and planned field trips.

Consequently, was invited as Speaker in the 2015 “Living Blue: Cultures-based Innovations in Natural Dyeing and Sustainability” symposium in Melbourne and two weeks of cultural workshops on Indigenous Australian bush dyeing in Albury, Australia, from 20 June – 5 July 2015. The main purpose of the symposium and workshops was to exchange holistic sustainability approaches that could assist Australian, Chinese, and Indian design students, design professionals, and master craftspeople in their roles as cultural intermediaries between urban and rural/remote sustainable practices.

VISITING FACULTY/ GUIDE/ JURY MEMBER/ PROCTER AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS

Doctoral Thesis Examiner, IIT Guwahati, 2023.

External Expert. PhD Defence of Indrani Dey Parker, IDC, IIT Bombay. Thesis Title: Design Education in 21st Century India– A Humanistic Foundation Design Education, July 3, 2020.

External Expert. PhD Defence of Lakshmi Murthy, IDC, IIT Bombay. Thesis Title: PASS and Uger Tools for Menstruation Management Sustainability. April 10, 2020.

Guide, Masters Thesis of architectural student, Eva Thomas. “Imagining A City through Indigenous Eyes: A Visual Analysis of Representations of Space in Illustrated Book Publications by Tara Books.” CEPT University, Ahmedabad, April 2020.

Visiting Professor, “History of Objects” at Nirma University, Ahmedabad. 2021.

Jury member, Karuna Stories: Covid Context, Olive Ridley Collective, India, 2020.

Mentor, Girgit Studios, Pune. Her and Now. A short 8 minute animation film on women entrepreneurs in India, for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been working jointly with partners in India for sustainable economic, ecological, and social development. 2020. They are working with Ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship under the program named Her & Now.

Visiting Professor, “Industrial Revolution: History of Design” and “The Deindustrialization of India: History of Design” at Nirma University, Ahmedabad. 2020.

Visiting Professor, “History of Design: Mesopotamian Civilisation” and “History of Design: The Mughal Era” at Nirma University, Ahmedabad. September 22 and 24, 2020.

Guide, Masters Thesis of architectural student, Subhashita HN. “Spatial Relations of Mysore for the Event Dasara: Temporal Transformation of Urban Public Space”. CEPT University, Ahmedabad, Dec 2018-April 2019.

External Expert for PG Thesis Specialisation in History Theory of Devanshi Singhi for her thesis, “Gender as Constructed: Understanding Space in the Matrilineal Society of Kerela”. May 16, 2019.

Visiting Professor, “Industrial Revolution: History of Design” and “Postmodernism: History of Design” at Nirma University, Ahmedabad. March 4 and March 6, 2019.

Guide, Masters Thesis of architectural student, Aditi Sharma. “Role of Gendered Spaces in the Evolution of Wadas as a Built Form”. CEPT University, Ahmedabad, Dec 2017-April 2018.

Guide, Masters Thesis of architectural student, Namrata Toraskar. “Application of Defamiliarisation Theory to the Vernacular Architecture of Grahan, Himachal Pradesh.” CEPT University, Ahmedabad, Dec 2017-April 2018.

Doctoral Thesis Examiner, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, Nov-Dec 2017 and May 2018.

Visiting Professor, “Industrial Revolution: History of Design” and “Postmodernism: History of Design” at Nirma University, Ahmedabad. 2018.

Jury member, End term jury of 3rd-semester students of Masters in Interior Architecture and Design (MIAD) and International Masters in Interior Architecture and Design (IMIAD) from the History Theory Criticism stream, Ahmedabad, November 12, 2017.   Presentations as part of the ‘Research Processes and Design Studies’ course.

Jury member, Design Foundation Studies, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Dec 18-20, 2017.

Visiting Professor, “Industrial Revolution: History of Design” and “Postmodernism: History of Design” at Nirma University, Ahmedabad. March 4 and March 6, 2017.

Representative of Vice-Chancellor, for Periodical Evaluation of Assistant Professor and Assistant Principal Designers. Maharaja Ranjitsinh Gaekwad Institute of Design (MRID), Faculty of Fine Arts, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara. January 24, 2017.

Visiting Professor, ‘The Visual Icon: Introduction to Aesthetics’. Faculty of Architecture, CEPT University, Spring Semester 2017, Jan 2, 2017-April 21, 2017.

Subject expert, Faculty Recruitment Interviews for Adani Institute of Infrastructure Management, Ahmedabad, April 14, 2017.

Subject expert, Faculty Recruitment Interviews for Adani Institute of Infrastructure Engineering, Ahmedabad, August 25, 2017.

Proctor, Master of Journalism Writing Test (for the Master of Science degree), Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Jan 2016.

Student Advisory Committee (SAC) Member for reviewing the progress of doctoral student, Ms Shilpa Jadhav Bhakare at CEPT University. The title of the dissertation is “Processes and Discourses Involved in Health Seeking Behavior: An Ethnographic Study in a Slum of Ahmedabad”, March 2016, April 2017 and August 2017.

Invited by Mahatma Gandhi Labour Institute, Ahmedabad to review the first draft report of State and District Action Plan for Child Protection assigned by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Government of Gujarat. It will serve the purpose of providing comprehensive guidelines for child protection, July 2016.

Member, External Exam Panel for MPH sem-1 exams and Reviewer of the SBSH Question Paper, Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, Dec 2015.

Member, Advisory Board for BA+. Navarachana University, Vadodara, 2015.

Visiting Faculty. Workshop on Indian Aesthetics. Architecture Students. B.N. College of Architecture (BNCA), Pune, July 2016.

Visiting Faculty. Major Critical Movements and Concepts, MA English Literature students (sem 3), School of Liberal Arts, PDPU, Gandhinagar, July-Nov, 2016.

Visiting Faculty. Literature and Theatre Studies, MA English Literature students (sem 2), School of Liberal Arts, PDPU, Gandhinagar, Nov-May, 2016.

Visiting Faculty. Literature and Visual Art, MA English Literature students (sem 2), School of Liberal Arts, PDPU, Gandhinagar, Nov-May, 2016.

Visiting Faculty. Literature from 1700-1850, MA English Literature students (sem 1), School of Liberal Arts, PDPU, Gandhinagar, July-Nov, 2015.

Visiting Faculty. Literature from 1914-Present Day, MA English Literature students (sem 1), School of Liberal Arts, PDPU, Gandhinagar, July-Nov, 2015.

 Visiting Faculty. “Disability Studies: Universal Design Approaches”, PG students, Industrial Design Department, HTW University, Berlin, February 2014.

Masters Thesis Guide. Heta Vyas. MA in Arts Journalism, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, 2012.

Jury Member. Final Jury. Masters students. Centre of Arts Journalism, Dept. of Humanities, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, 2012.

Jury Member. Final Jury. Masters students. Centre of Arts Journalism, Dept. of Humanities, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, 2011.

Visiting Faculty. “Comparative Aesthetics”, PG students, Centre of Arts Journalism, Dept. of Humanities, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, Sept. 2011.

Advisor, Minor Area of PhD Research (2011), Catrinel Dunca. Faculty of Doctoral Studies, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, 2011. Completed 2016.

Evaluator, Masters Thesis. Suchita Mundra. Voices of the People of New Market. Centre of Arts Journalism, Dept. of Humanities, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, Dec. 2011.

Jury Member. Final Jury. Masters students. Centre of Art and Communication, Dept. of Humanities, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, 2010.

Visiting Faculty. “Aesthetic Theory”, PG students, Centre of Arts Journalism, Dept. of Humanities, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, Sept. 2010.

 Visiting Faculty. “Aesthetic Theory”, PG students, Centre of Art and Communication, Dept. of Humanities, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, February, 2010.

 Visiting Faculty. “Western Aesthetics” PG students, Dept. of Humanities, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, June and Dec 2009.

 Visiting Faculty. “Contextual Studies”, Wigan and Leigh College, Ahmedabad, 2007.

PUBLISHED WORK

More than 100 publications that include books, chapters in books, papers in peer reviewed journals, articles in magazines and edited books.

(1)     Books/ Journals Authored and Edited

With Someshwar Sati and Banibrata Mahanta (eds.) Narrative Universes of Disability. Springer, 2024 ( In progress).

With Tracy Johnson and Nikki Tyler (eds.). Design for Health: Human-Centered Design Looks to the Future. Global Health: Science and Practice. November 2021, 9(Supplement 2):S190 S194; https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-21-00608 Online. 2021.

With Neelima Hasija (eds). Indian Crafts in a Globalising World. Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design, 2017.

Editor, Author and Creative Director of a book on NID history titled 50 Years of the National Institute of Design: 1961-2011. The book is a documentation of the history of the National Institute of Design, India which is a premier design institute established 51 years ago. It is a hard-bound 420 page book rich with images and of hugely archival value in terms of charting the trajectory of design education in India. Pub: 2013.

Editorial Head and Mentor, Trellis: Design + Research, A Quarterly Journal on Design Research and Publications. Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design. All issues (8 in number): June 2008 to 2014.

Editor, D/Signed, A Biennial Magazine on Design. Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design, Dec 2009 (first issue launched). Dec 2010 (second issue). Dec 2012 (third issue).

Creative Visualiser and Editor, Sanchar Shakti. A book on mobile telephony for the Union Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Govt. of India. March 2011.

Editorial Consultant and Translator, Collins Cobuild Dictionaries, UK, April-May 2011.

Creative Visualiser and Editor, Ananya: Celebrating her Life from Survival to Success. A Coffee Table Book on Indian Women for the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. May 2009.

From Locked Horns to Forest Fires: Natural Resource Conflict Management. New Delhi: Aga Khan Foundation (India), 2001.

Watershed Development in Gujarat: A Problem-Oriented Survey for the Indo-German Watershed Development Programme. Berlin: Humboldt-University of Berlin, 2000. This book was the result of a three month study in India carried out by the Centre for Advanced Training in Rural Development), Humboldt University, Berlin. The project was conducted at the request of the German bank, KfW and NABARD, India.

Young Designers 2015. Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design, 2015.

 Young Designers 2008. Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design, 2008. [ISBN 978-81-86199-62-6]

Young Designers 2007. Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design, 2007. [ISBN 978-81-86199-59-6]

With Kavita Arvind, Young Designers 2006. Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design, 2006. [ISBN 81-86199-58-6]

With Kavita Arvind, Young Designers 2004. Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design, 2004. [ISBN 81-86199-52-7]

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: English, Std.3, Teachers’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2003. This textbook was published by the Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, Gandhinagar in 2003, as part of the new approach envisaged in the government’s District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and Minimum Learning Level (MLL) programme. All the textbooks published from 2001-2004 are activity based and value-based and an attempt was made to make them user friendly and joyful to students..

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: English, Std.3, Learners’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2003.

Edited more than 40 textbooks as English Language Expert for the Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, Gandhinagar between the years 1997 and 2005.  The textbooks included primary, secondary and higher secondary textbooks (specifically for standards 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12) in the subjects of Maths (both for Science and Commerce streams), English, Social Studies, Science, Physics, and Computer Science.

(2)     Chapters in Books

“Self-concept, Embodiment, Sexuality and Disability: How Disabled Women Experience Navaratri and Gauri Vrat in Gujarat” in Someshwar Sati (ed.) in Retrieving the Crip Outsider: Representations of Disability in Literature and Culture. New Delhi: Bloomsbury, 2024 (In press).

“Performance, Community, Disability and the Medical Domain In Developmental Communication on Disability In Gujarat: Reflections In Hindsight” in Gianna Bouchard and Alex Mermikides (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Performance and Medicine. London: Routledge, 2023 (In press).

“The Moog Synthesizer, Electronic Music and a Design Institute in India” in Paul Purgas (ed.) MIT Press, 2023. (In press).

“Inclusive Design for Disability: perspectives from Design Education in India and Israel” in Someshwar Sati, Shilpa Das and Banibrata Mahanta (eds.) Narrative Universes of Disability. Springer, 2024 (In progress).

“The Role of Design in Shaping the Disabled Identity” in Sandhya Limaye and  Christopher Johnstone (eds.) in Disability and Identity. Routledge, 2023. [in press]

“Disability in Ancient Indian Art and Aesthetic Theory: The Case of Bibhatsa and Bhayanak Rasas”  in Keri Watson and Timothy Hiles (eds.) in The Routledge Companion to Art and Disability. London: Routledge, 2022. [ISBN: 9780367444785]. Pages: 75-93.

“Lohini Sagai by Ishwar Petlikar” in Someshwar Sati, GJV Prasad, Ritwick Bhattacharjee (eds.)  in Reclaiming the Disabled Subject: Representing Disability in Short Fiction. Delhi: Bloomsbury, 2022. (ISBN: 978-93-54353-30-7). Pages: 44-57.

“NID and a Context for Design: On the Marg Archives” in Designing a Brave New Era.  Marg. June 2021. Vol.72. No.4. Pages: 127-135.   https://marg-art.org/product/UHJvZHVjdDo1Mzgy

Bazzano AN, Yan SD, Martin J, et al. “Improving the reporting of health research involving design: a proposed guideline.” BMJ Global Health 2020;5:e002248. Feb, 2020.

“Surabhi” in The Bystander: Stories, Observations and Witnessings from South Asia. A Comics Anthology by Kadak Collective. 2020.

‘Disability and Public Spaces: Universal Design Approaches’ in Nilika Mehrotra (ed.) Disability Studies in India: Reflections on the Future, London and New Delhi: Springer, 2019. Pages: 61-74.

“Gendered Disability in India: A Feminist Perspective” in Rekha Pande and Sita Vanka (eds.) in Gender and Work: International Perspective. Delhi and Jaipur: Rawat Publishers, 2019. [ISBN: 978-81-316-0991-0]. Pages 66-77.

‘Lohi ni Sagai: Translating Literature, Disability and Culture’ in Someshwar Sati and GJV Prasad (eds.) Disability in Translation: The Indian Experience, New Delhi: Routledge, 2019

“Design and Research: Moral Dilemmas and Ethical Aspects” in Nijoo Dubey and V. Ravishankar (eds.) Insight 2015: Scholastic Papers from the International Design Research Symposium. Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design, 2018. [ISBN: 978-81-86199-84-8]. Pages: 206-215.

‘Adrishta Streeo: Viklangtaa, Jaati ane Naarivvad’ in Ranjana Harish and V. Bharati Harishankar (eds) ‘Naarivaad: Punarvichaar’ Ahmedabad: Gurjar Prakashan, 2015. [ISBN: 978-93-5175-149-6]

‘My Experience as an SLA Teacher’ in I.S. Mathur (ed.) Design Education in India: Retrospection, Introspection and Perception, Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design, 2015. [ISBN 978-81-86199-82-4]

‘NID’s Varied Interaction with Indigo’ in Kapila Vatsyayan (ed.) Culture of Indigo in Asia: Plant, Product, Power, New Delhi: Niyogi Books, 2014.

‘Hope for the Invisible Women of India: Disability, Gender and the Concepts of Karma and Shakti in the Indian Weltanschaaung’ in Janet Horrigan and Ed Wiltse (eds.), Hope Against Hope: Philosophies, Cultures and Politics of Possibility and Doubt. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi Publishers, 2010. [ISBN 978-1-904710-41-7]

‘Invisible Women: Disability, Gender and Feminism,’ in Ranjana Harish and Bharathi Harishankar (eds.), New Delhi and Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2008. [ISBN 81-316-0123-4]

‘Fidelity and Freedom: The Politics of Translation’, Proceedings of 2006 Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities. Honolulu: Hawaii 2006. [ISSN# 1541-5899]

‘Casting Spells: Gender Constructs in Fairy Tales’ in Sarvar Sherrychand, Rita Kothari, Gita Chaudhari, Gopika Jadeja (eds.), Kathasaar: Literary Narratives and Translation. Ahmedabad: Katha-Xavier’s Centre for Translation, 2005. pp. 29-46.

‘Katha Interrupted’ in Arun Gupta (ed.), Cut Here: An NID Film Club Initiative, Issue 4, Ahmedabad: National Institute of Design, November 2005. pp. 40-43.

‘Gender Constructs in Primary School Textbooks:  A Critique’ in Ranjana Harish and Bharathi Harishankar (eds.), Shakti: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Women’s Empowerment in India. Jaipur and New Delhi: Rawat Publications, 2003. pp. 164-180. [ISBN 81-7033-788-7]

(3)     Articles in Journals/Magazine

 “Disability Dread: Stigma, Othering and Fear of the Disabled Body.” In Women’s Link: An International Bi-Annual Peer Reviewed Jamia Journal. Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi. Ed. Simi Malhotra. Vol.29 No.2.July 2022. ISSN:2229-6409. Pages: 18-24. Jul 1, 2022.

“Fidelity and Freedom: The Politics of Translation.” In English Forum vol.8 & 9, 2020-2021. Department of English, Gauhati  University. Ed. Anjali Daimari . Pages:18-32. Jun 21, 2022. (ISSN:2279-0446).

“Gira Sarabhai and her contribution to the creation of an Indian identity.”  STIRworld.com. Jul 29, 2021.

https://www.stirworld.com/think-opinions-gira-sarabhai-and-her-contribution-to-the-creation-of-an-indian-identity.

STIRworld.com is a digital publication that features the best of architecture, design and new-media art from across the world. The article was subsequently shared on the Salone del Milano website. The link is as below:

https://www.salonemilano.it/en/articoli/magazines-world/legacy-gira-sarabhai-design-identity-creator-india

“The life of Gajanan Upadhyaya, the man who shaped Indian furniture design” in STIRworld.com. Nov 2, 2021.

https://www.stirworld.com/think-opinions-the-life-of-gajanan-upadhyaya-the-man-who-shaped-indian-furniture-design

“Surabhi” in Bystander: Stories, Observations and Writings from South Asia—A Comics Anthology. New York: Kadak Collective, 2020.

“Perforations of a Disabled Identity in Childhood and Adolescence.”  Rhizome. Outlandish Arts. 2020.

http://www.outlandisharts.net.au/perforations-of-a-disabled-identity-in-childhood-and-adolescence-by-shilpa-das/

 ‘Design for Disability: The Value of Universal Design.’ (May 2017). Design for All: A Publication of Design for All Institutes of India. 12(5), 35-45.

“Product Design for Disability: The Missing Link.” Design for All: A Publication of Design for All Institutes of India. Vol. 9. No.5. Centre for Human Centric Research, School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal; May 2014.

“Visible Invisibles in Feminist Discourse.” Jnana-Kaumudi: Journal of Inter-Disciplinary Studies Vol. no. 1issue no. 1 Vasantrao Naik Government Institute of Arts & Social Sciences, Nagpur University; Nagpur 2012.

‘Visible Invisibles: Women with Disabilities in India.’ Yemaya. University of Sydney 2010

Katha Interrupted: a Deconstructive Reading.’  New Quest: A Quarterly Journal of Participative Inquiry 170 Pune: (2007): 45-52. [ISSN 0258-0381]

(4)        Translations

 Maman. Helene Delforge and Quentin Greban. Translated from French to English. Mijade, Belgium, 2023 (In press).

All translations below are from Gujarati to English.

“Lohini Sagai by Ishwar Petlikar” in Someshwar Sati, GJV Prasad, Ritwick Bhattacharjee (eds.)  in Reclaiming the Disabled Subject: Representing Disability in Short Fiction. Delhi: Bloomsbury, 2022. (ISBN: 978-93-54353-30-7). Pages: 44-57.

‘The Tryst: Fiction in Translation.’ New Quest: A Quarterly Journal of Participative Inquiry 163 Pune: (2006): 79-88. [ISSN 0258-0381]

‘Rajputani: Fiction in Translation’. New Quest: A Quarterly Journal of Participative Inquiry 161 Pune: (2005): 45-52. [ISSN 0258-0381]

Co-existence: A Journal for Joint Forest Management. New Delhi: Aga Khan Foundation, 2000 (5 issues).

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: Mathematics, Std.3, Teachers’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2003.

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: Mathematics, Std.3, Learners’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2003.

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: Mathematics, Std.2, Teachers’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2002.

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: Mathematics, Std.2, Learners’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2002.

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: Mathematics, Std.1, Teachers’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2001.

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: Mathematics, Std.1, Learners’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2001.

(5)        Textbook Authorship and Review

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: English, Std.2, Teachers’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2002.

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: English, (Language and Environment), Std.2, Learners’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2002.

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: English, (Language and Environment), Std.1, Teachers’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2001.

Competency based, Activity Oriented Textbook: English, (Language and Environment), Std.1, Learners’ Book. Gandhinagar: Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, 2001.

      (6) Reviewer in Journals

2023 The Design Journal

2022 The Sage Journal of Human Values

2021 The Design Journal

2021 MSGSU: Istanbul University

2021 British Medical Journal Global Health Innovations

2020 The Design Journal

2020 British Medical Journal Global Health Innovations

CONFERENCES     

 1) Keynote Addresses in Conferences/Symposia

Keynote Address “De-centred Coalition: Integrating Perspectives from Humanities and Social Sciences with Design Research”. Design Doctoral Consortium 2023. IDC, IIT Bombay. 4-5 March 2023.

Introductory Address. Disability Studies. Disability and the Everyday: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. CURaj and IDSC Conference. Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, February 2023.

Keynote Address on “Embodiment and  Disability” at the Annual Indian Disability Studies Collective Conference, 2019 at University of Lucknow, Lucknow. Nov 2019.

Keynote Address on Disability and Universal Design Approach at national seminar on ‘State, Society and Disability: Challenges for Rights-based Approach’ organized by the Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad along with UGC-SAP and ICSSR, Hyderabad, 31 Jan- 1 Feb 2018.

 2) Research Papers presented in International Seminars/Conferences/Symposia

 With Bettina Minder and Ozlem Er. Involving craft know-how and traditions in design education: Cases of Switzerland, Turkey and India. DRS Digital Library (DRS Conference 2022 Bilbao, Spain). Jun 30, 2022.

Invited speaker. “Design for Lived Experiences – The Disability and Culture Matrix” at Design for Living: Living for Design. FID Symposium 2022. 2 Nov 2022.

Invited Speaker. “Holistic Solutions and Design Ethics within Medical Design” in Session: Community and Healthcare Design – working towards holistic solutions. Design And Community: From End Users  to Partnership Design. The 2022 Annual Conference of the DAN Department of Creative Human Design, Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem, 2022. (online)

Invited Speaker. “A Little Inclusion is a Dangerous Thing: Design, Disability and Everything in Between.” Design Days, a two day virtual design conference for the design community in Salesforce APAC/ EMEA. Bengaluru. October 15, 2022. (online)

Invited Speaker. “New Pedagogy for Female Livelihood and Empowerment” in Education Panel III – “Learning for Resilience, Role of Women and reorienting education to support local and sustainable livelihood.” First International Conference on Japan-South Asia Connections on Economy, Health and Education South Asia Research Center, Soka University, Japan.  October 30-31, 2020. (online)

Invited Panelist. “Ableism- Mental Health-Architecture-Design: Towards More Accessible and Inclusive Environments” in Panel: Mental Health Service Access for Persons with Disability. Mental Health Access Summit 2020. Organized by Mental Health Foundation (India), in association with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS, New Delhi), New Delhi, October 2, 2020 (online).

Invited Panelist. “The value of the liberal arts in online design education in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Panelists: Shilpa Das (National Institute of Design, India), Dave Pabellon (Columbia College, Chicago), and Karol Murlak (Pratt Institute, New York, and SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland). Liberal Arts for Tomorrow. The Global Academy of Liberal Arts (GALA). September 21, 2021 (online).

Invited Speaker and Participant. “Key Aspects of Designing for Health.” Design for Health: Nio Far Dakar Convention. Organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID’s Center for Innovation and Impact. Dakar, Senegal April 10-12, 2019.

Invited Speaker, “The PhD Programme at NID: How a Practice-Based Programme Works in Theory and Practice” Open Lecture Series, Milano Design PhD Festival, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, February 22, 2019.

“Culture-Crafts-Tradition-Social Innovation: The NID Story” at Social Transformation and Indian Crafts Heritage (STITCH) Research Symposium, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland, September 10-12, 2018.

“Practice-Based Hyphen Theory-Led Research in Design: The PhD Programme at NID, India” at Swiss GradNet Discovery Conference No.1, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland, September 26-28, 2018.

‘Lohi ni Sagai: Translating Literature, Disability, Culture’ at IATIS South-Asian Regional Workshop on Translating Disability Across Cultures: The Translation and Representation of Disability in the Modern Indian Short Story, seminar organized by Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Studies (JNIAS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, September 14-16, 2016.

“The Role of Design in Shaping the Disabled Identity”. Paper presented at a National symposium titled, “Disability and Identity” on March 3-4, 2016 at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Organised by The Center for Disability Studies and Action, TISS and the University of Minnesota.

Invited Speaker “Culture-Crafts-Tradition-Innovation: The NID Story”. Presentation made at a symposium,  “Living Blue: Cultures Based Innovations in Natural Dyeing and Sustainability” at Swinburne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, June 22, 2015.

“The ‘Social’ in Social Determinants Approach: The Conundrum of Disability.” Paper presented at a conference titled, “Social Determinants of Health” on November 6, 2015 at Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar. Organised by IIPH and Arcade (Building Sustainable Capacity for Health Research in Africa and Asia).

“Disability and Public Spaces: Universal Design Approaches”. Paper presented at an international conference titled, “Disability Studies in India: Reflections on the Future” on February 6-7, 2015 at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

“Design and Research: Moral Dilemmas and Ethical Aspects”. Paper presented at Insight 2015: Design Research Symposium on January 23-24, 2015 at National Institute of Design, Bengaluru.

“Design for Social Inclusion: Accessibility for Disability”. Paper presented at a two-day international interdisciplinary conference titled “Design For a Billion” on Nov 8-9, 2014 at IIT Gandhinagar.

“Gendered Disability in India: A Feminist Perspective”. Paper presented at a five day International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women, Women’s World Congress from August 17-22, 2014 at University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad. Congress Title: Gender in a Changing World.

“NID: A Unique Model of Higher Education”. Paper presented at National Education Summit, Vibrant Gujarat 2014 on January 10-11, 2014. Summit title:  Reinventing Higher Education: Ideas, Projects, Prospects. Navrachana University, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, January 10, 2014.

“Social Oppression, Resistance and Social Change”, The Feminist Disability Discourse”. Paper read at a two-day national seminar on the 29th and 30th of June, 2012. Seminar title: Contemporary Ways and Voices of Resistance/ Resilience. Organised by: Research Scholars Forum (RSF) EFL-University, Alam Khundmiri Foundation (AKF), and Indian Council for Social Science Research, Hyderabad. Venue: EFL University, Hyderabad.

‘Literature of the Marginalised in Post Independence Writings in India’, at Indian-ness in Post Independence Indian English writing, seminar organized by Department of English, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavans College of Arts and Commerce, Ahmedabad, July 28, 2012.

“Design and the Disabled Body: What Designers Need to Know of Disability Studies.”  International Conference Vision Plus: Information Innovation in Communities, Healthcare, Mobility  organised by International Institute for Information Design, Japan, The National Institute of Design, India and The International Institute for Information Design, December 18, 2010. (to be published as a chapter in an anthology by Sage Publications)

“At the Margins: How Stigma Impacts Women with Disabilities in India” International Conference  19th Women and Society Conference organized by School of Liberal Arts, Marist University, New York, US October 24, 2010.

“Disability Dread: Stigma, and Culture’s Fear of the Disembodied Form.”  International Conference Fables of Fear organised by the Centre for Performance Research and Cultural Studies, Trissur, Kerela, August 7 & 8, 2010. (to be published as a chapter in an anthology by Tata Mc Graw Hill)

“Visible Invisibles: Women with Disabilities in India and Feminist Disability Theory” at the International Seminar, ‘ Expanded Territories: Comparative Literature in the 21st Century’, organized by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, Comparative Literature Association of India, New Delhi, Department of English and Comparative Literature Studies,  Saurashtra University, Rajkot, and and Institute of Literary Studies, Hyderabad, March 29-31, 2010. (to be published as a chapter in an anthology)

“East Hyphen West: Teaching Learning Aesthetics in the Design Classroom at NID.” International Seminar East and West—Mapping the Encounter Past and Present organized by UGC and Department of Art History and Aesthetics, M S University, Vadodara, March 5, 2010.

With Swasti Singh Ghai and V. Sakthivel, ‘A Colour that Sustains: NID’s Varied Interaction with Indigo,’ at the IIC-Asia Project International Seminar, ‘The Culture of Indigo: Exploring the Asian Panorama—Aspects of Plant, Product and Power’, organized by IIC-Asia Project, New Delhi, Nov 29-Dec 1, 2007.

“Hope for the Invisible Women of India: Disability, Gender and the Notions of Karma and Shakti in the Indian Weltanschauung’, at the 2nd Global Conference ‘Hope: Probing the Boundaries’, organized by Mansfield College, Oxford University, United Kingdom, Sept. 18-21, 2006.

‘Fidelity and Freedom: The Politics of Translation,’ at the Fourth Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, organized and co-sponsored by East West Council for Education, Asia Pacific Research Institute of Peking University, and University of Louisville-Center for Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, Jan 11-14, 2006.

‘Dumb Mistakes and Deliberate Mistakes: The Politics of Translation’, at the International Symposium ‘Re-Wording Re Worlding the Canon: Canada and India’, organized by the James Reaney Canadian Study Centre, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, sponsored by Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, Ottawa and Delhi, Jan 23-25, 2005.

‘‘Invisible Women: Disability, Gender and Feminism,’ at the ‘International Seminar on Feminism’, organized by the Department of English, University School of Languages, Ahmedabad, Oct 2005.

‘Casting Spells: Gender Constructs in Fairy Tales’ at the Katha–Xavier’s seminar, ‘Kathasaar: Literary Narratives and Translation’, organized by the Katha-Xavier’s Centre for Translation, Ahmedabad, Sept. 21-22, 2004.

‘Revisiting Gender Constructs in Fairy Tales’, at the Ministry of HRD National Conference ‘Redefining Feminisms’, organized by the Department of English, University School of Languages, Gujarat University, sponsored by Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, Oct 16-18, 2003.

‘Gender Constructs in School Textbooks’, at the Ministry of HRD sponsored National Seminar, ‘Shakti: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Women’s Empowerment in India’ organized by the James Reaney Canadian Study Centre, Ahmedabad, Dec 2001.

3) Convening/ Chairing Conferences

Core Committee. On the Verge: Design in Times of Crisis. Annual Conference of the Social Design Network. Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest. November 09, 2023 – November 10, 2023.

https://www.socialdesignnetwork.org/events/5

Programme Chair. Insight 2018: Design Research Symposium at NID. November 1 &2, 2018. Had a 100 speakers from all over the world.

Convener. Indian Crafts: The Future in a Globalising World. NID. November 25 & 26, 2005. Had about 30 speakers from across India and overseas.

 4) Reviewer at Conferences

Review Board. CHI 2023.

Review Board. India HCI 2022 November  9 to 11, 2022. (https://www.indiahci.org/2022/).

Scientific Board. Research & Education in Design (REDES) Conference 2019, 2021, 2022.

Scientific Board. International Conference, “Traditional Water Systems of India : An Heritage For The Future” CEPT, Ahmedabad, September 22-23, 2022.

Reviewer. Design as Common Good 202: Framing design through pluralism and social values. Swiss Design network. 2020.

5) Participation in Conferences/ Seminars

Team leader for presentation and discussion on “ Re-Imagining Smart, Digital and Accessible India: Voice of the Citizens” in ‘Universal Design and Accessibility Conclave’, organized by IIMA with Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India), Ahmedabad, August 27, 2016.

Participated in ‘Mantles of Myth: Narratives in Indian Textiles’, organized by Siyahi, (recognized and supported by ICCR, UNESCO and Govt. of Rajasthan) Jaipur, December 13-15, 2008.

Participated in ‘The International Seminar on Nationalism, Transnationalism and Indian Diaspora’, organized by The Centre for Indian Diaspora and Cultural Studies, Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University, Patan, Ahmedabad, Jan 27-29, 2004.

INVITED SPEAKER/ PANEL DISCUSSANT

Public lecture. “Design for Disability: Inclusions Exclusions” F+F School, Zurich, June 19, 2023.

Invited Speaker. “Disability: The Expendable Social Detritus of Hindi Cinema.” Disability and Hindi Cinema. Oceanvale Workshop. Kirorimal College, October 17, 2022.

Invited Speaker. “The Narrative Prosthesis of Cinema and Disability.” Disability and Hindi Cinema: Concepts, Concerns and Perspectives. Oceanvale Workshop. Kirorimal College, October 18, 2022.

Invited Speaker. “Gendered Aspects related to Clean Water and Sanitation in South Asia.” Design for Good Global Launch. June 29, 2022. (online)

Invited Speaker. “Ecological Crisis, Material Culture and Traditional Crafts: Reflections” as part of Object Ecologies module, RMIT, Melbourne, April 1, 2022.

Invited Speaker on International Women’s Day 2022. “Gender, Disability and Society.” Women’s Development Committee. Zakir Hussain Delhi College, University of Delhi, March 8, 2022 (online).

Invited Speaker. “Disability and Society: Intersections with Design.” Scope, Helsinki, October 13, 2021. (online)

Invited Speaker. “Perspectives on disability and inclusion in educational settings”. Azim Premji School of Education, TISS Hyderabad, Feb/Mar 2022 (online).

Invited Speaker and Resource Person. “Gender and Disability”. 5 Day International Webinar: Why Does Disability Research Matter? Centre for Disability Research and Training, Delhi and Saksham. October 4-8, 2021 (online).

Invited Speaker and Resource Person. “Conceptualising Disability and Disability Studies”. 2 Day National Webinar: Why Does Disability Research Matter? Centre for Disability Research and Training, Delhi and Saksham. September 27, 2021 (online).

Invited panelist. “How Design must Reinvent Itself in a Post-pandemic World.”  Designing  for a Brave New Era. August 11, 2021. (online).

Invited Speaker. “The Indian Narrative Tradition with special reference to the Ramayana/Mahabharata.”  National Webinar on Indian Narrative Tradition. Folklore Foundation of Odisha. July 28, 2021. (online)

Invited  Resource Person  for Disability Studies for Refresher Course in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies.  UGC-Human Resource Development Centre, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong.  March 2021. (online)

TEDx speaker. “Womanhood, Design and Disability- A Journey-Work.” TEDxRoyalGlobalUniversity.  The Assam Royal Global University (RGU), February 2021. https://youtu.be/OgTnHp3s2b8 (You Tube Link)

Invited Speaker, “Gender and Disability: Some Perspectives”. Department of English, Cotton University, Guwahati, February 2021.

Invited Panelist, “Ahmedabad: The Design Capital of India”. Ahmedabad Design Week. CEPT University. February 3, 2021. (online)

Invited Speaker. “Design for Disability.” Hotel Alzheimer. School of Design, Politecnico di Milano. November 24, 2021.

Invited Speaker, “Visible Invisibles: Issues and Concerns of Disability Studies in India”, at Lecture Series, organized by Episteme: Forum for Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities and St. Joseph’s College for Women, Gorakhpur, August 18, 2020. (online).

Invited Speaker, “The Missing Link: Social Aspects in Design Education” at Kalpakriti DX2020, as part of Avalokana: Online Design Exhibition Seminar on the occasion of the first Convocation of the Department of Design, School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal. July 17, 2020. (online).

Invited Panelist.  McKinsey Global Design Leadership Summit. Stockholm, 2019.

Invited Panelist. Design for Healthcare Delivery Systems. 19th CII-NID India Design Summit. Goa. September 20, 2019.

Special Public Address on “Powering Change: Women in Innovation and Creativity” at Panel Discussion on the same topic, FICCI Ahmedabad, April 27, 2018.

Special Public Address on “Disability and Indian Women: Issues and Challenges” at Central University, Gandhinagar, February 12, 2018.

Invited Speaker, Special Address on Mata ni Pachedi, organized by Jaypore.com, Ahmedabad, Dec 16, 2017.

Invited Discussant, panel discussion ‘PhD Design in Animation & Comics’, organized by Chitrakatha 2017, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

Invited Discussant, panel discussion ‘Discovering Ahmedabad 2’, People Called Ahmedabad, organized by The People Place Project, Kanoria Centre for the Arts, Ahmedabad, July 3, 2016.

Invited Speaker, Special Address on International Women’s Day, ‘Hyphenated Identities: Women’s Empowerment in India’, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Ahmedabad, March 8, 2016.

Invited Speaker, ‘Science and Liberal Arts Studies for Design Foundation Studies’, ‘Re-Thinking Basic Design Pedagogy 2015 – An Interactive Workshop’ organized by India Design Council March 27-28, 2015 at NID, Ahmedabad.

Invited discussant for the panel discussion ‘Design for Human Rights: Balancing Genders’, at the Round Table organized by Posters for Tomorrow, Paris at NID, Ahmedabad, September 1, 2014.

Invited to Talk on ‘Passing Strange and Beautiful: Aesthetics and Indian Art’, delivered to M.Des faculty and students, IIT Bombay, September, 2007.

‘English Language /e-skills for Commerce in a Global World’, lecture delivered to senior and middle level executives, Reliance Industries, Ahmedabad, February 2004.

‘Building Competence: English Language and Composition’, lecture delivered to senior and middle level executives, engineers and architects, HCPDPM, Ahmedabad, January 2004.

‘Paving the Way for Success: Objectives of Business Communication’, lecture delivered to senior and middle level executives, Reliance Industries, Ahmedabad, December 2003.

‘Principles of Composition in Writing’, lecture delivered to senior and middle level executives, engineers and architects, HCPDPM, Ahmedabad, December 2003.

‘Research Methodology’, lecture delivered to senior and middle level executives, architects, urban planners, Geographis, Ahmedabad, December 2003.

‘The English Language: Usage and Abusage’, lecture delivered to senior and middle level executives, architects, urban planners, Environment Protection Collaborative, Ahmedabad, November 2003.

‘Weed out the Pitfalls: Effective Communication in English’, lecture delivered to senior and middle level executives, architects, urban planners, Environment Protection Collaborative, Ahmedabad, November 2003.

‘Principles of Effective Business Correspondence’, lecture delivered to senior and middle level executives, engineers and architects, HCPDPM, Ahmedabad, October 2003.

Convener/Resource Person/Mentor at Seminars/Workshops and Jury member

Resource Person and Expert.  Invited by Bath Spa University’s External Affairs Unit and School of Writing, Publishing and the Humanities for a 2 Day workshop on Applied Humanities.  The  workshop brought together humanities faculty from Bath Spa and five international universities (one representative each): Concordia (Canada), National Institute of Design (India), Parma (Italy), Utrecht (Netherlands), and Witwatersrand (South Africa), UK.  March 2023.

Resource Person and Expert. A 2-Day National Level Workshop on Disability and Sensitization. Organised by The University of Kashmir, Srinagar  and Centre for Disability Research and Training, University of Delhi, 2023.

Resource Person and Expert. A 2-Day National Level Workshop on Disability and Sensitization. Organised by The Bhawanipur Education Society College, Kolkata and Centre for Disability Research and Training, University of Delhi, 2023.

Resource Person and Expert. Oceanvale Workshop on Disability and Hindi Cinema. Organised by the Centre for Disability Research and Training, Kirorimal College, University of Delhi, 17-19 Oct 2022.

Resource Person. Certificate Course in Disability Studies. Organised by the Centre for Disability Research and Training, Kirorimal College, University of Delhi, in collaboration with Saksham, February 22,  2021.

Jury member. FCA Logo Design Competition. Feminist Collective in Architecture. Ahmedabad. 2021.

Visiting faculty and Resource Person. A one week module on Inclusive Design for Disability with 45 Industrial Design Masters students of HTW Berlin. 2020.

Jury member, Sabal Awards: Exceptional Artist. ‘SABAL-Centre for Abilities’ at Noamundi, West Singhbhum, Jharkhand (established in 2017), an Initiative by Tata Steel Foundation, with Enable India as implementing partner. 2019 onwards.

Resource Person and Expert. Workshop on Social Media Enforcement Standards. Organised by Facebook US & Vihara Innovation Network. New Delhi: April 17-19, 2018.

Resource Person. Brainstorming Meet on the Vision & Strategy of Mo School, Odisha. Organised by Government of Odisha. Bhubaneshwar. March 14 & 15, 2018.

Special address. Mata-ni-Pachedi: Iconography and Ritual Use. Ahmedabad: Jaypore Open House, Dec 16, 2017.

Jury member, Alpaviram 2016: Fourth Edition, South Asian Film Festival Film NID, Ahmedabad, October 2016.

Co-convener and Resource Person. Living Blue Design Anthropology Workshop. Co-hosted by: Swinburne University of Technology in Australia and National Institute of Design—Ahmedabad. Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. A one-month intensive Design Anthropology workshop from 10 May to 6 June, 2015.

Design and Art Mentor. Reimagine. Magazine published from Pune, 2015.

NID-SSES-Konstfack University, Sweden Collaborative 2 week Thinktank on Trend forecasting, with different themes each year from January 2008-2013. Along with Shashank Mehta, Ronald Jones, Peter Mahjanen, Hlin Helga Draustodottir and Nick Faye all faculty from Sweden.

Member, Academic Committee. Post-colonial Perspectives on Design.  Annual Conference of the Design History Society. Ahmedabad, National Institute of Design, Sept. 5-8, 2013.

Resource Person and Speaker. “Design for the Marginalised”. Consultative meeting on the School of Design at Ambedkar University, Delhi. University of Delhi, 20-21 April, 2012.

Resource Person. Ahmedabad University Film Festival. HL Campus, Ahmedabad, March1-3, 2012.

Resource Person and Speaker. “Barrier Ridden Environment in India for Students in Educational Institutions”. The 6th Utkarsh Inter-Collegiate Seminar, St. Xaviers College, March 18, 2012.

Jury Member. Alpavirama: Asian Short and Documentary  Film Festival. National Institute of Design, 2016.

Jury Member. All Gujarat Inter-Collegiate Mahatma Gandhi Elocution Trophy Competition (instituted 1940). H L College of Commerce, Ahmedabad, 13 February, 2016.

Jury Member. Ladli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2011-12. NGO: Population First, Mumbai, 2012.

Invited discussant. “Craft Documentation at NID.” Craft Council of India. National Meet. 12-14 March, 2011.

Member, Selection Board. Desis India Symposium. National Institute of Design, 2011.

IIID, Member, International Institute for Information Design (IIID), Vienna, 2010.

Pre-selection Jury member, Alpaviram 2011: First Edition, South Asian Film Festival Film NID, Ahmedabad, October 2010.

Advisory Board member, Pool a magazine on Design in India, Pune, 2010 onwards.

Jury member, Chitrakatha 2009: Second Edition, International Student Animation Film Festival, NID, Ahmedabad, October 2009.

Advisor, Chitrakatha 2007: First Edition, International Student Animation Film Festival, NID, Ahmedabad, October 2007.

Faculty Mentor, RGB 2007: National Student Festival of NID, October 4,5,6 2007.

Convenor, Story Telling through Animation Films: Workshop for Primary School Children, Delhi Public School, Ahmedabad, September 2007.

Convener and Mentor, Puppet Show and Narrative Workshop for primary school children, Delhi Public School, Ahmedabad, March 2007.

Editor and Content Visualiser, Young Designers, NID, Ahmedabad, 2016.

Advisor and Editor, Young Designers Book, NID, Ahmedabad 2008.

Advisor and Editor, Young Designers Book, NID, Ahmedabad 2007.

Advisor and Co-Editor, Young Designers Book, NID, Ahmedabad 2006.

Co-Editor, Young Designers Book, NID, Ahmedabad 2004.

Convener, Indian Crafts: The Future in a Globalizing World, NID, Ahmedabad, October 29-31, 2005. Along with Neelima Hasija. It was a 2-day national seminar titled: “Indian Crafts—the Future in a Globalising World.” We commissioned speakers to speak on areas related to crafts that we carefully chalked out. The seminar was a huge success with 250 registered participants, 32 speakers and paper presenters from India and overseas deliberating for the first time on crafts on a common platform. The seminar culminated in a book, which is in press, but we also oversaw the identity, the seminar kit, commissioned speakers and planned it to the smallest detail.  Work on the publication of the book is in progress.

INTERVIEWS

A 2 hour interview on Design, Accommodation and Disability. Interviewer: Prof. Hemachandran Karah, IIT Madras. February 23, 2021. NPTEL-NOC IITM.

https://youtu.be/JVBv13kT5Ho  (You Tube link)

 Interview (in Gujarati) on “NID and the Role it has Played in Crafts Education” for Kalagram: A Magazine on Crafts. Ahmedabad. 2021.

 A 30-minute feature on the subject of arts and crafts in India, Ungliyon ki Hasaratein Interviewed by AIR, Delhi, (broadcast February 2008)

A feature on NID and education at NID, Interviewed by AIR, Delhi for IGNOU, January 27, 2009

Several other print interviews on a range of topics

SOME SELECT CONSULTANCY PROJECTS HANDLED

Member, IDS project for Indian Navy, 2019.

Project Head and Chief Visualiser, Sanchar Shakti, Book on Indian Women in Rural India and Mobile Telephony, Union Ministry of Information, Communication Technology, Government of India, New Delhi, 2011.

Project Guide (Student Project), A Special Cover on NID, for the Department of Posts and Telecommunications, Government of India, 2011 at Gujarat State Level Philatelic Exhibition (GUJPEX)2011. Released by her Excellency, The Hon’ble Governor of Gujarat in Vadodara on Dec 23, 2011.

Project Head and Chief Visualiser, Ananya, Book on Indian Women and Children, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government  of India, New Delhi, 2009.

Advisor, NID IDS Design Project, “Interior Design for Utkalika Emporium, New Delhi” 2005.

Core team member, of a two-year (2005-2007) intensive outreach project on disability. NID partnered with Handicap International, India and the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Gujarat. The project titled “Strategic Behaviour Change-Communications Campaign on Disability Prevention and Care in Rural Areas of Gujarat” was a two year project (2005-2007) where NID carried out field research, designed a media strategy, created content –audio, video and print, did field testing, finalised the content and made extensive recommendations