PhD English
Teaching Experience
22 years
Research Experience
18 years
Administrative Experience
9 years
Literature
Indian Drama, Indian Cinema, Theories of Subjectivity, Translation
- Completed a project funded by UGC on “Taboo Issues in Contemporary Indian Cinema and Theatre and their treatment with special focus on theories of Subjectivity” in September, 2014. (INR 1,20,000)
- Completed a project funded by ICSSR titled “Sociolinguistic Study of the Bagri People” with Dr. Rajinder Kumar as PI in 2018. (INR 6,00,000)
Books:
- Nayar, Rana, Alpna Saini and Tania Bansal. Trans. and Ed. Critical Discourse in Punjabi, India: Routledge, 2023.
- Sharma, Rajesh and Alpna Saini Trans. and Ed. Blood Flowers: Selected Poetry of Harbhajan Hundal, CreateSpace Publishing, USA, 2015.
- Saini, Alpna and Neetu Purohit. Eds. Negotiating Boundaries: A Study of Bushra Ejaz’s Writings. Chandigarh. Unistar Books, 2013.
- Saini, Alpna. Subjectivity as a Locus of Conflicts in Girish Karnad: a Discussion of his Plays. Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2012.
Articles/Research Papers:
- “Subjectivity of Gender in Mahesh Dattani’s Bravely Fought the Queen” in Journal of English Language and Literature (Vol. II, Number 2). December 2008 ISSN: 2368-2132, p. 86-91.
- “Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq: Rewriting History for Politics” in a literary magazine, Remarkings (Vol. 8, March 2009). ISSN 0972-611X. p. 36-40
- “Sakharam Binder: A Study in Contemporary Indian Subjectivity” in English Journal (Vol. 9 No. 1). ISSN: 0975-4091, June 2009 p. 57-62
- “Recovering a Theory of Subjectivity: Some Explorations in Indian Philosophical Tradition” in South Asian Ensemble (Vol. 3, No. 1). Winter, 2011. ISSN 1920-6763. p. 90-95
- “Girish Karnad’s Wedding Album: The Mythical Discourse of Culture” in Literary Voice (Vol. 1 No. 1). April, 2012. ISSN 2277-4521. p. 42-46
- “The Goa Diary” in South Asian Ensemble (Vol. 4, No. 2 & 3). Spring & Summer 2012. ISSN 1920-6763. p.106-108
- “Sedimented Gender Norms in Women-Oriented Cinema: Mahesh Manjrekar’s Astitva” in South Asian Ensemble (Vol. 4, No. 4). Autumn, 2012. ISSN 1920-6763. p. 111-117
- “Scarred and Silenced Subjectivities: Mahesh Dattani’s Thirty days in September” in The Vedic Path, a quarterly English Journal of Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar (Vol. LXXXVI No. 1 & 2). July-Sep/ Oct-Dec. 2012. ISSN 0970-1443. p. 85-96
- “A Study of Deepa Mehta’s Videsh as a Cinematic Adaptation of Girish Karnad’s Nagamandala” in The Literati. Winter 2012. ISSN 2248-9576. p.119-125
- “Demystifying Theatre: Badal Sircar” in Alchemist (Volume I No. II). June 2013. ISSN 2320 – 9216. p. 26-31
- “Is this the End for Ghazal?” in Alchemist. (Volume I No. III). August 2013. ISSN 2320 – 9216. p. 82-83
- “In a Time Machine” in South Asian Ensemble (Vol. 5 No. 3 & 4). Summer & Fall 2013. ISSN 1920-6763. p. 104-108
- “Shyam Benegal’s Kalyug: A Mythical Revisiting” in International Journal of Communication. Special Issue on Film Studies and Communication. 23(1-2): 191-196. ISSN: 0975-640X.
- “Manjula Padmanabhan’s Lights Out: An Exploration of Voyeurism” in The IIS University Journal of Arts. 3(1): 63-68. ISSN: 2319-5339. July 2014.
- “Divided Space and the Divided Subject: A Comparative Analysis of Shauna Singh Baldwin’s What the Body Remembers (1999) and Tahmima Anam’s A Golden Age (2007)” (Sandeep Kaur and Alpna Saini) in Literary Voice (Vol. 1 No. 4). March, 2015. ISSN 2277-4521. p. 26-36
- “Psycho-Sexual Construction of the Subjects in Sudhir Kakar’s The Ascetic of Desire” (Neha Sharma and Alpna Saini) in Journal of Literature and Art Studies (Volume 5, Number 5). May 2015 (Serial Number 42). ISSN2159 5836. p. 320-326
- “Representation of Atrocities Committed against Women with Special Reference to Media in Manjula Padmanabhan’s Lights Out” (Sapanpreet Kaur and Alpna Saini) in Quote Unquote (Vol. 2, No. 1-2), August, 2015. ISSN2320-8759. p. 7-19.
- “The Volition of Religion in the Devadasi Tradition with Special Reference to Amita Kanekar’s A Spoke in the Wheel”(Smriti Thakur and Alpna Saini) in International Journal of English Language, Literature And Translation Studies (Vol.2. Issue 3) July-September, 2015. ISSN2349-9451. p. 231-237
- “Amita Kanekar’s A Spoke in the Wheel: A Study of Materialisation of Devadasi Tradition and Cultural Objects” (Smriti Thakur and Alpna Saini) in Literary Voice (Vol. 1 No. 5). March, 2016. ISSN 2277-4521. p. 12-22
- “The Alienation and Manipulation of Geisha in Cultural Structures of Japan with Special Reference to Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha” (Smriti Thakur and Alpna Saini) in Criterion (Vol. 8, Issue-VIII) July 2017 ISSN: 0976-8165. p. 343-349
- Screening the White Women’s Dilemma in Colonial India: New Historicist Study of A Passage to India (1985), and Heat and Dust (1982) (Jagdish Singh and Alpna Saini) in Criterion (Vol. 8, Issue-IV) August 2017 ISSN: 0976-8165. p. 339-343
- “A Postcolonial Critique of Mahasweta Devi’s Draupadi” (Padma Mohapatra and Alpna Saini) in Literary Voice (Vol. 1 No. 9). September, 2018. ISSN 2277-4521. p. 36-41
- “Analytical Study of the Social Structure of Bagri Society” (Dr. Rajinder Kumar Sen and Alpna Saini) in Journal of Current Science (Vol. 19 No. 9). September, 2018. ISSN 9726-001X. np.
- “Re-Vision of Myths in Post-Colonial Indian English Drama as an Avenue for the Empowerment of Women” (Priyanka Chandel and Alpna Saini) in International Journal of English Language, Literature in Humanities (Vol.6. Issue 10) October, 2018. ISSN: 2321-7065. p. 58-67
- “Trends in Contemporary Indian Drama” in Literary Voice (Vol. 1 No. 10). March, 2019. ISSN 2277-4521. p. 32-37
- “Poetry as a Literary Device in Githa Hariharan’s I have Become the Tide” (Gurjeet Singh and Alpna Saini) in Literary Voice (Vol. 1 No. 12). March, 2020. ISSN 2277-4521. p. 132-137
- “Revisiting Partition of Punjab: Retrieving Women’s Experience through Khamosh Pani” (Barjinder Singh and Alpna Saini) in Journal of Sikh & Punjāb Studies (Vol. 27, No. 1), SPRING 2020. ISSN 0971-522. p. 255-276
- “Performativity and Undoing Gender Roles in Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey (2022)” (Don Joseph and Alpna Saini) in Literary Voice (Vol. 1 No. 22). March, 2024. ISSN 2277-4521. p. 206-215
Book Chapters:
- “Negotiating the Ethical Crisis: A View of Contemporary Indian Drama” in a book titled Trends in Indian English Literature edited by Dr. T. S. Anand (Creative Books, 2008). ISBN 81-8043-049-9. p.159-168
- “Subaltern Categories in Girish Karnad’s Nagamandala” in a book titled Voices from the Margins in World English Literature edited by Bhim S. Dahiya and Resham Sharma, Shanti Prakashan, 2012. ISBN 987-93-81090-86-2. p. 185-192
- “The Comic and the Surreal: an Analysis of Death and Destruction in Satish Alekar’s The Terrorist and Mahesh Dattani’s Brief Candle” in a book titled Indian Drama in English: Some Perspectives edited by Abha Shukla Kaushik, Atlantic Publishers, 2013. ISBN 978-81-269-1772-3. p. 264-271
- “The Queen and the Queer: Gendered Subjectivity in Mahesh Dattani’s Bravely Fought the Queen” in a book titled Mahesh Dattani and Metatheatre: A Study of New Social Issues edited by Nagraj G. Holeyannavar, Mangalam Publications, 2015. ISBN 978-93-82983-52-1. p. 119-126
- “Myth, History and Folklore: A Study of Girish Karnad's Nagamandala and Hayavadana” in a book titled Contemporary Literature in English: Recent Trends edited by Jaswinder Kaur, Adhyayan Publishers, New Delhi. ISBN: 978-81-8435-576-5. p. 11-25.
Translation
- Translated Poems of Harbhajan Hundal in South Asian Ensemble (Vol. 2, No. 4). Autumn, 2010. ISSN 1920-6763. p. 29-35
- Translated Poems of Nilesh Raghuvanshi in South Asian Ensemble (Vol. 4, No. 4). Autumn, 2012. ISSN 1920-6763. p. 33-36
- Translated Poems of Harbhajan Hundal in Indian Literature (Vol. LVII, No. 3). May/June, 2013. ISSN 0019580-4. p. 56-61
Reviews
- Book Review of Performing Women/ Performing Womanhood: Theatre, Politics and Dissent in North India by Nandi Bhatia in South Asian Ensemble (Vol. 3, No. 1). Winter, 2011. ISSN 1920-6763. p. 131-134
- Book Review of Seven Plays on Sikh History by Sant Singh Sekhon in South Asian Ensemble (Vol. 3, No. 2). Spring, 2011. ISSN 1920-6763. p. 125-127
- Film review of Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan in South Asian Ensemble (Vol.3 No.3). Spring, 2011. ISSN 1920-6763. p.132-133
- “Bloodless Violence”: a film review of Maqbool Khan’s Lanka in The Daily Post (Vol. 1, Issue 139). 18 December, 2011. p.3
Editing:
- Co-edited the seminar proceedings of UGC sponsored seminar on Rediscovering Humanities in Literature and Classroom Teaching held in September, 2010.
- Edited University Newsletter CUPB Newsletter since April 2013 to June 2023 (34 issues)
- Summary of Research Guidance
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Ph.D. Thesis |
6 |
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M. Phil. Dissertation |
13 |
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P.G. Dissertation |
30 |
- Details of P.G. Guidance
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Sl. No. |
Name of Scholar |
Title of Dissertation |
Date of Award |
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Medlina Jolish |
Bonding, Resistance and Survival: An Analysis of Female Friendships in Getting Away with Murder and Sonata |
July 2023 |
|
|
Abhiram Krishna |
Tracing the Concepts of Reification, Private Property and the Dialectic of Technology in Autonomous by Annalee Newitz |
July 2023 |
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Meera Rajendran |
Healthy Children to Dysfunctional Youths: Using Trauma Theory to Analyse the Victims of Child Abuse in Selected Webtoons |
July 2023 |
|
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Rinsha VP |
SUBJECTIVITY AND POWER: A READING OF GLORY BY NOVIOLET BULAWAYO |
July 2023 |
|
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Sujata Virendra Tidke |
EXAMINING LANGUAGE, POWER DYNAMICS, AND IDEOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS IN THE PARIKSHA PE CHARCHA SPEECHES (2018-2023): A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS |
July 2023 |
|
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Nandana Shaji |
Representation of Class Inequality in the Selected Movies: Parasite and The Florida Project; a Reading Based on the Theory of Hegemony |
July 2022 |
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Alen Rose |
Sisterhood Amongst Black Women: A Comparative Analysis of Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place and Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other |
July 2022 |
|
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Anna Sanoba Sabu |
Indian Diaspora in America: An Analysis of Nawaaz Ahmed’s Radiant Fugitives and Sanjena Sathian’s Gold Diggers |
July 2022 |
|
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KN Anjana |
Feminist Analysis and Female Bonding in the Select Novels of Kristin Hannah |
July 2022 |
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Jasna Mol V.P. |
Women on the Go: Feminist Analysis of Selected Movies |
July 2022 |
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Deepthi Dinesh |
Performativity: A Study to Explore Gender and Sexual Identity in Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish and The Danish Girl |
July 2022 |
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S. Shilpa |
A Critique of Female Masculinity in LGBTQ families as Represented in the Selected Movies |
July 2021 |
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Pratheeksha K |
Abrogation and Appropriation of English in Michelle Cliff’s Abeng and No Telephone No Heaven: An Experimentation of the Language of the Centre in a Polyglossic World |
July 2021 |
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Raghav Baraily |
Exploring the Traits of Alienation in Selected Novels – Chinatown Days by Rita Choudhary and The Point of Return by Siddhartha Deb |
July 2021 |
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Ammu Unnikrishnan |
The Voice and Silence of Gendered Subaltern in Thrity Umrigar’s The Space between Us and Jahnavi Barua’s Rebirth |
July 2021 |
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Gurjeet Singh |
Poetry as A Means of Expression in Selected Novels of Githa Hariharan |
September, 2020 |
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Don Joseph |
Beyond Heteronormativity: Exposition of Gender Performativity, Sexual Subaltern and Lesbian Continuum in Selected Indian Films |
September, 2020 |
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Moksha Shridhar |
Remaking of Mythology through Feminist Lens in Kavita Kane’s Ahalya’s Awakening |
September, 2020 |
|
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Savan Kumar |
A Study of Double Marginalisation of Dalit Women with reference to Bama’s Karukku and Urmila Pawar’s The Weave of My Life: A Dalit Woman’s Memoir |
September, 2020 |
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Rahul Doley |
An Ecocritical Study of the Selected Works of Mamang Dai and Temsula Ao |
September, 2020 |
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Harris Thomas |
A Critique of Beauty Myth as Represented in Indian Cinema: A Study On Selected Films |
September, 2020 |
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Satyam Tiwari |
Diasporic Dislocation: Theme of Memory, Home and Identity Crisis in the Lowland and Oleander |
May, 2019 |
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Sugandha Jha |
Memory, Trauma, And Politics In The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness And The Hungry Tide: A Psychoanalytical Study |
May, 2019 |
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Megha Khanna |
Abhigyan Shakuntalam: A Comparative Study of the Adaptation with the Original Myth in the Mahabharata |
May, 2019 |
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Ganesh Krishna |
Exploring The Significance Of Gender In Transcultural Literary Spaces: Reading Cauvery Madhavan’s Paddy Indian And Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland. |
May, 2019 |
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Anagha Adipparuthiyil |
Myth Of Neelkanth And Representation Of Women In Meluha: A Feminist Critique Of Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy |
May, 2019 |
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Harpreet Singh |
Comparative study of Class Struggle in Aravind Adiga’s “The White Tiger” and Ram Saroop Ankhi’s “Kankan Da Katlam” |
May, 2018 |
|
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Padma Mohapatra |
Indigenous self-representation and decolonisation in Jayanta Mahapatra’s “Hesitant Light” |
May, 2018 |
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Aiswarya John |
Women at the Crossroads in Indian Fiction: ‘Hangwoman’, ‘The Thousand Faces of Night’ and 'Ancient Promises’. |
May, 2018 |
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Susmita Mohanta |
The Divided Space of Art: Gender, Class and Caste Divide in Dance Like a Man by Mahesh Dattani and The Fire and The Rain by Girish Karnad. |
May, 2018 |
- Details of M.Phil. Guidance
|
Sl. No. |
Name of Scholar |
Title of Dissertation |
|
1 |
Disha |
“Historico-Mythical analysis of Swarajbir’s Krishna and Girish Karnad's Tughlaq” in December 2013. |
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2 |
Vandana Bathla |
“The Mythico-patriarchal Construction of a Woman in Githa Hariharan’s The Thousand Faces of Night and Selected Short Stories of Mahasweta Devi” in December 2013. |
|
3 |
Priyanka Chandel |
Engendered Subjectivities: Construction of Queer Identity in Vijay Tendulkar's A Friend's Story and Selected Plays of Mahesh Dattani" in May 2014. |
|
4 |
Jagdish Singh |
"A Filmic-Historic Mapping of 1857: A Comparative Study of Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khilari and Shyam Benegal’s Junoon " in May 2014. |
|
5 |
Sumeet |
"Construction and Treatment of Social Taboos in Contemporary Indian Cinema with Special Focus on Sexual Taboos" in May 2014. |
|
6 |
Sapanpreet Kaur |
“Representation of Victim Women in Socio-Cultural Sphere with Special Reference to Media: A Comparative Analysis of Vijay Tendulkar’s Kamala and Manjula Padmanabhan’s Lights Out” in July, 2015. |
|
7 |
Neha Sharma |
“A Psychoanalytical Reading of Mythical Elements in Githa Hariharan’s When Dreams Travel and Sudhir Kakar’s The Ascetic of Desire” in July, 2015. |
|
8 |
Sandeep Kaur |
“Construction of Individual and National Identity in the process of Nation-Formation: A Comparative Study of Shauna Singh Baldwin’s What the Body Remembers (1999) and Taslima Anam’s A Golden Age (2007)” in July, 2015. |
|
9 |
Smriti Thakur |
“A Comparative Study of the Representation of the Tradition of Devadasi and Geisha with Special Reference to A Spoke in the Wheel and Memoirs of A Geisha” in July, 2015. |
|
10 |
Amandeep Kaur |
“Deconstructing the Myth of Modern Woman in Selected Contemporary Indian Television Advertisements, Short Films and Documentaries” in October, 2016. |
|
11 |
Jaspreet Singh |
“Ideology and Suppressed Narratives: A Marxist Study of Arvind Adiga’s The White Tiger and Uday Prakash’s Mohandas” in May, 2017 |
|
12 |
Amandeep Kaur |
“Queering through the Marginal Lines of Caste & Class: A Study of the Selected Writings of Abha Dawesar, R.Raj Rao and Living Smile Vidya” in March, 2017. |
|
13 |
Ravneet Kaur |
“A Postmodernist Critique of Harvest (1998) by Manjula Padmanabhan and Wedding Album (2008) by Girish Karnad” in March, 2017. |
- Details of Ph.D. Guidance
|
Sl. No. |
Name of Scholar |
Title of Dissertation |
|
1 |
Manpreet Kaur |
“Violence as a Psycho-Social Discourse in Women’s Writing: A Study of Selected Writings of Tehmina Durrani, Meena Alexander and Anita Nair” awarded in 2017. |
|
2 |
Tania Bansal |
“Negotiations between History and Literature: Readings of Anita Rau Badami's Can You Hear The Nightbird Call? and Shauna Singh Baldwin's What The Body Remembers” awarded in 2017. |
|
3 |
Barjinder Singh |
“The Subaltern Speaks: the Construction of Marginal Identities in Selected Partition Films” awarded in 2018. |
|
4 |
Amandeep Kaur |
“The Patriarchal Perspectives on Female Subjectivities in the Selected Plays of Atamjit and Mahesh Elkunchwar” awarded in 2019. |
|
5 |
Priyanka Chandel |
“The Construction of the Mythical subject in Postcolonial Context: A Study of Select Indian Plays” awarded in 2019 |
|
6 |
Jagdish Singh |
“The Legacy of the Empire: A New Historicist Study of the Colonial and Postcolonial Agenda in Selected Indian and Western Cinema”. awarded in 2020 |
- Orientation Course at Panjab University, Chandigarh in June, 2005.
- Refresher Course at GNDU, Amritsar in June, 2007.
- Refresher Course in Languages at ASC, Punjabi University Patiala from 17 November-6 December, 2014.
- Attended 15-day summer school organised by IIAS, Shimla on Mahabharata as a Conceptual Resource from 12-27 June, 2011.
- “Negotiating the Ethical Crisis” in a national seminar at Punjabi University, Patiala in February, 2008
- “Subjectivity in the Selected Plays of Mahesh Dattani” in a national seminar at Punjabi University, Patiala in February, 2009
- “Gender and the Subaltern” in a national seminar at Punjabi University, Patiala in February, 2010
- “A Study of Videsh as Cinematic Adaptation of Nagamandala” in a national seminar at DAV College, Bathinda in November, 2010
- “Postcolonial Consciousness and Dalit Experience” in a national seminar at A. S. College , Khanna in November, 2010
- “The Construction of a Terrorist” in a national seminar at GHG College, Sudhar in January, 2011
- “The Comic and the Surreal” in a national seminar at Punjabi University, Patiala in February, 2011
- “Revisiting the Mythical Patterns of Mahabharata” in the Summer School at IIAS Shimla on June 26, 2011.
- “Exploring the Silences and the Scars in Mahesh Dattani's Selected Plays” in an international seminar at BHU, Varanasi on 15-17 November, 2011.
- “Probing Alternate Sexuality in Mahesh Dattani’s A Muggy Night in Mumbai” in an international seminar at Punjabi University, Patiala on 25-26 November, 2011.
- “Girish Karnad’s Wedding Album: The Mythical Discourse of Culture” in a national seminar at Baba Farid College, Bathinda on 1-2 March, 2012.
- “The Rapist and the Voyeur: Paraphiliac Subjectivities in Manjula Padmanabhan’s Lights Out” in an international seminar at Punjabi University, Patiala on 16 November, 2012.
- “Subjectivity, Indian Drama, and Translation” in a University level seminar at Central University of Punjab, Bathinda on 10 May, 2013.
- “The Mis/Appropriation of Dalit as Marginal Identity: A Study of Prakash Jha's Arakshan" at the 15th Annual SALA Conference—Borders Boundaries, and Margins—on 6 & 7 January 2015 in Vancouver, Canada.
- “The Use of Folklore and Myth towards an Understanding of Female Subjectivity: An Analysis of Girish Karnad’s Nagamandala and Hayavadana” in 3rd All India Conference on Linguistics & Folklore at PAU, Ludhiana on May 28, 2015
2 Extension Lecture on "Feminism in Indian Context", October 25, 2013 at Gopichand Arya Mahila College, Abohar
3 Extension Lecture on "How to Improve Your Writing Skills", May 3, 2016 at Mata Sahib Kaur Girls College, Talwandi Sabo
4 Resource Person in a 7-day workshop/FDP on ‘Research Methodology and Pedagogical Skills’ fo "Academic Writing", May 2-8, 2016 at SSD Girls College, Bathinda
5 Resource Person in ICSSR Sponsored Capacity Building Programme for Social Science Faculty Members for "Academic Writing", June 7, 2017 at CUPB
6 Resource Person in ICSSR Sponsored Capacity Building Programme for "Academic Writing", 18th to 31st May 2018 at CUPB
7 Chairperson in a Seminar on "English in Postcolonial India", March 3, 2020 at Akal University, Talwandi Sabo
8. Expert Talk in Induction Programme on August 18, 2023 at Chandigarh University titled "New Paradigms in English Literary Studies"
9. Invited Lecture on October 13, 2023 at DAV College, Bathinda titled "What is Literature: Contemporary Trends"
10. Invited Lecture for “Inter-disciplinary Lecture Series” (Dept. of Punjabi) on October 19, 2023 titled "Contemporary Concerns of Literature" at CUPB
11. Invited Lecture and Interactive session on "Literary Translation" in a Translation Workshop on February 13-15, 2024 at CIIL, Mysore