Dr. Abhijith P
Assistant Professor, Department of Arts and Humanities
Profile
Dr. Abhijith P
Assistant Professor of English
A dedicated educator with a Ph.D. in English specializing in Urban Spatiality and Leisure Studies. My research interrogates the socio-spatial dynamics of South Asian cities, specifically bridging the gap between literary theory and urban sociology. As an educator, I am committed to a pedagogy that integrates classical literary foundations with contemporary cultural critique, preparing students to navigate complex global narratives.
My research bridges Post-Colonial Urbanism and Cultural Studies to examine how “Leisure” serves as a site of political and social exclusion in modern India. Based on my doctoral dissertation, Conceptualizing Leisure, I introduce a new framework for understanding “Smart Cities” as systems that enforce thermal and spatial exclusion. By tracing these practices to colonial-era segregation by race and class, and highlighting urban lived experiences, I analyze how the built environment has regulated bodies and social behaviors over time. I am now developing a series of articles that critique how neoliberal planning uses comfort and infrastructure to shape social belonging in today’s cities. I also maintain active interests in queer studies, disability representation, digital subcultures, and popular culture.
My research bridges Post-Colonial Urbanism and Cultural Studies to examine how “Leisure” serves as a site of political and social exclusion in modern India. Based on my doctoral dissertation, Conceptualizing Leisure, I introduce a new framework for understanding “Smart Cities” as systems that enforce thermal and spatial exclusion. By tracing these practices to colonial-era segregation by race and class, and highlighting urban lived experiences, I analyze how the built environment has regulated bodies and social behaviors over time. I am now developing a series of articles that critique how neoliberal planning uses comfort and infrastructure to shape social belonging in today’s cities. I also maintain active interests in queer studies, disability representation, digital subcultures, and popular culture.
Area
Urban Cultural Studies
Qualification
M.A, JRF , PhD
Experience
6 Years
Publications
- “Indugopan’s Gendered Spaces: A Comparative Study of Twinkle Rosayum Panthrandu Kamukanmarum and Pushpavalliyum Yakshivasanthayum” in Ishal Paithrukam (UGC CARE Listed, ISSN: 2582-550X).
- “Foregrounding Leisure as Resistance in M. Mukundan’s Delhi” in South India Journal of Social Sciences (UGC CARE Listed, ISSN: 0972-8945).
- “Dismantling Killer Croc: From Monster to Man”, a book chapter in Wounded Wings: Cultural Politics of Disability in Literature and Cinema.
- “Dealing with Disaster: Metaphysical and Oblique Reactions in Haruki Murakami’s After the Quake” in Reyono Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies (ISSN: 2277-7652, Volume 8, No. 2).
- “Internet Trolls and Memes – A Carnivalesque Perspective” in the International Journal of Language, Literature and Humanities (ISSN: 2321-7065, Volume 6, No. 11).
- “Myth, Pseudoscience and Contemporary Politics as Envisaged in Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy” in Myth and Fairy Tales: Telling and Retelling (ISBN: 978-93-5265-659-2).
Paper presentations
- Cultural Intersections: A Genealogy of Urban Leisure in British Cochin at Urban Metamorphoses: Understanding the Dynamics and Diversity of South Asian Cities, organized by IISER, Bhopal – 2024.
- Exploring the Leisure Behaviour Among Youth: A Study with Special Reference to Kochi at Cityscapes: Interstices of Space, Memory, Retelling Metropolitan Chronotopes, organized by Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru – 2023.
- “Tracing the Ghazal Roots in Kerala: Musical Subcultures in Kochi and Kozhikode” at Making Heritage: Rethinking Methods, Policies and Practices, organized by the Amity Institute of English Studies and Research and the Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Hooghly, Kolkata – 2023.
- Indugopan’s Gendered Spaces: A Comparative Study of Twinkle Rosayum Panthrandu Kamukanmarum and Pushpavalliyum Yakshivasanthayum, presented at the International Conference jointly organized by Bharata Mata College, India, and Yonphula Centenary College, Bhutan – 2022.
- “Women and the Screen: Studying the Characters of Mary Harron” at the National Seminar on Celluloid Ceiling: Women Directors’ Struggle, Transition and Growth, held at St. Teresa’s College, Kochi, Kerala – 2019.
- “The Evolving Theoretical Space of Queer Feminism: Analyzing Roopa Rao’s Web Series The Other Love Story” at the International Seminar on New Feminist Writings: Emancipation to Representation, Central University of Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu – 2018.
- “Alternate Realities and Fantasy Worlds: Blurring the Lines Between Real and Fictional” at the National Seminar on Of Robots, Ray Guns and Spaceships: Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, TM Jacob College, Kerala – 2017.
- “Recognizing Voices and Shattering Myths: A Political Reading of Mahasweta Devi’s Draupadi” at the Mahasweta Devi Memorial Talk and Inter-Collegiate Paper Presentation Competition, organized by St. Xavier’s College, Aluva, Kerala – 2017.
- “Moral Geographies and Death of Community: Mobility and Modernity in Red Dead Redemption 2,” presented at the National Conference on Affective Landscapes, Bharata Mata College – 2025.
- “An Affective Field of Negotiation: Queer Resistance and Belonging in Vasudhendra’s Mohanaswamy,” presented at SRM University, Delhi NCR–Sonepat – 2025.
Certifications
Post Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of English,
English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Telangana, 2023.
FDPs / Workshops / Seminars
- Navigating the Future: Innovations and Strategies in Teaching and Research, Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru, 2024.
- Integrating Humanities in STEM: Suggestions from NEP 2020 for S&T Institutes, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirappalli, 2024.
