The First National Conference and Workshop on Empowerment and Resistance in Contemporary Indian Women’s Literary and Cultural Discourses

Patrons

Dr. Yajulu Medury
Patron
Vice Chancellor, 
Mahindra University, Hyderabad

Dr. Bishnu Pal
Co-patron
Dean (Academics)
Mahindra University, Hyderabad

Keynote speaker

Conference

Concept note

The conference seeks to explore how women’s engagements with questions of empowerment, agency, and resistance have evolved over time. Each articulation of these concepts is shaped by its specific historical, social, political, and cultural context, reflecting both continuity and change.

Therefore, the conference encourages participants to examine these concerns through one or both of two analytical frameworks: the “event,” which focuses on specific historical moments or incidents, and the “episodic,” which attends to ongoing, everyday practices—what James Scott describes as “everyday forms of resistance.” Together, these frameworks allow for nuanced readings of both visible and subtle modes of resistance.

Representations of empowerment and resistance recur across a wide range of literary and cultural forms produced by women, including fiction, poetry, life writing, cookbooks, blogs, YouTube videos, digital media, and other creative and cultural practices. These representations often serve as sites for negotiating gender in relation to caste, class, sexuality, region, religion, and nationality.

The conference is particularly interested in how women’s choices of aesthetic forms and media shape their articulations of agency, as well as how traditional narratives—such as mythological stories, fairy tales, and inherited cultural —are reworked for contemporary artistic and political purposes. In addition, the conference welcomes critical engagements with ongoing debates surrounding the category of the “woman” itself, and how contemporary literary and cultural practices challenge, complicate, or redefine this category.

By fostering interdisciplinary conversations, the conference aims to contribute meaningfully to current scholarship on gender, culture, and resistance in the Indian context.

Submissions may address a wide range of related concerns aligned with the authors’ research interests, including—but not limited to—critical examinations of how women:

• Conform to, strengthen, negotiate, and reject their roles in patriarchal structures.
• Experience both empowerment and exploitation to different degrees based on their participation in economic systems where they perform affective and other forms of labor.
• Respond to experiences of precarity contingently where issues related to gender intersect with class, caste, religious, and national identities.
• Use generational and traditional Indian knowledges available to them as important elements of their resistance.
• Choose and employ different aesthetic forms and media technologies to represent themselves and present their concerns.
• Use different embodied, affective, and discursive practices to address the question of what it means to be a “woman.”
• Politicize acts of remembrance and commemoration that can supplement and challenge hegemonic narratives.
• Build networks of solidarity to shape resistance at both individual and collective levels.
• Innovate new forms of resistance that help us rethink what it means to resist.
• Resist exploitative systems at both intimate and planetary levels and lead humanity toward sustainable futures by ameliorating ecological and other forms of incipient crisis.

Abstract submission

You can click here to submit your proposal.

The abstract can be submitted under any one of the following tracks:

• Regional feminist literatures and local story-telling practices
• Role of technological mediation in shaping forms and contents of expression
• Performance, embodied resistance and cultural practices
• Labour, economy and feminist political praxis
• Intersectional feminist futures and environmental justice
• Memories, archives and collective histories
• Solidarity, networks and community building
• Genre, form and aesthetic innovation
• Theories and praxis of weak resistance

Important Dates

Conference Dates: March 5-7, 2026

Abstract Submission Deadline: January 31, 2026

Notification of Acceptance: Feb 9, 2026

Registration

Registration Category	Participants from India		Participants Outside India
		Early Bird Fee	Regular Fee	Early Bird Fee	Regular Fee
UG/PG Student	INR 2000	INR 2500	USD 50	USD 60
PhD/Research Scholar	INR 3000	INR 3500	USD 60	USD 75
Faculty/Scientist	INR 5000	INR 6000	USD 125	USD 150
Government/ Industry Professionals	INR 8000		USD 150	USD 175

Click here for Registration (Early bird)

Click here for Registration (Regular)

Click here for Accommodation 

​Registration Fee Cancellation Policy:

• Registration Fee cancellation request must be submitted by the registered author(s) only through email at ctsem2026@mahindrauniversity.edu.in, on or before 30^th June 2026.
• Registration fees will be refunded after deducting 18% GST and 10% cancellation charges.
• The refund will be initiated after the conference.
• No refund request will be entertained after 30^th June 2026.

Schedule

Schedule for the Conference on Empowerment and Resistance in Contemporary Indian Women’s Literary and Cultural Discourses

 5^th March 2026 – Colloquium on Contemporary Indian Women’s Literary and Cultural Discourses

Time	Event
10.00 am – 10.30 am	Inauguration
10.30 am – 11.00 am	Tea Break
11.00 am – 12.30 pm	Colloquium 1 – Women’s writing from the Medieval Indian Sub-Continent Prof. Sowmya Dechamma, Professor, Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Hyderabad
12.30 pm – 1.30 pm	Lunch
1 .30 pm – 3.00 pm	Colloquium 2 – Women Rewriting the Clinic: Taking Cues from Feminist Disability Studies  Prof. Shilpaa Anand, Associate Professor (Head), Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS Hyderabad
3.00 pm – 3.30 pm	Tea Break
3.30 pm – 5.00 pm	Colloquium 3 – Embodied Resistance: Appearance Bias and Contemporary Women’s Narratives Prof. Srirupa Chatterjee, Associate Professor, Department of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad

6^th March – Conference Day 1 

Time	Event
9.00 am – 9.30 am	Conference Inauguration
9.30 am – 11.00 am	Plenary 1 – Stains and Solidarities in Women’s Writing Prof. K. Suneetha Rani Dean, School of Social Sciences University of Hyderabad Plenary 2 – Challenged and Challenging: Feminine Litural (Literary+Cultural) Discourse Prof. P. L. Rani Professor (Dept of Languages and Literature) and Director (Anantapur Campus) Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Anantapur Campus
11.00 am – 11.15 am	Tea Break
11.15 am – 1.15 pm	Paper Presentation Session 1: Digital Cultures  Chair: Prof. Nisha Mary Mathew, Mahindra University  1.     “Thinking Like English: Mridula Garg’s Chittacobra and the Spectral Comparator in Hindi Literary Criticism” Shubham Gupta, Research Scholar, Ashoka University 2.     “The No-Man’s Land of Feminist Nonconformism: Migration and Sexual Humour in the Stand-up Comedy Performances of Kaneez Surka” Ashwathy Nair, Research Scholar, Mahindra University 3.     “Instagram and Dalit Womanhood: Networked Affects in Malayalam Digital Cultures” Dr Parvathi M S, Faculty, K L University, Hyderabad 4.     “Disability Blogs, Access, and Feminist Cultural Production in India” Dhwani N Sudhi, Research Scholar, Mahindra University 5.     “Culturally Reconstructing the Usage of the Word ‘Women’ in Contemporary Digital India” Vijay S, Research Scholar, Mahindra University
1.15 pm – 2.00 pm	Lunch Break
2.00 pm – 3.00 pm	Plenary 3 – The Precarity of Resistance: An Intersectional Perspective Prof. Anandita Pan, Assistant Professor, Department of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad
3.00 pm – 3.15 pm	Tea Break
3.15 pm – 5.15 pm	Paper Presentation Session 2: Subaltern Studies  Chair: Prof. Salome Ben Hur, Mahindra University  1.     “Narratives of the Margins: Intersectionality and Internalized Oppression in Feminist Discourses” Nesa Medona. M, Research Scholar, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras 2.     “Poetry as space of Resistance in Nirmala Putul’s Poetry” Sonam Kumari, Independent Researcher, Eklavya Foundation, Bhopal 3.     “Hasina Pasina: Examining Work and Its Imbrications Using Three Films as Catalysts” Garima S, Student, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and Carol Blaizy D’Souza, Independent Researcher 4.     “Bodies at Work: Sanitation and Everyday Resistance in Asangadithar” Nirupama R, Research Scholar, IIT Hyderabad 5.     “Agrarian Justice and Women’s Empowerment in India: Interrogating Tribal and Non-Tribal Agricultural Experiences” Soumya Gupta, Independent Researcher 6.     “Writing Caste, Remembering Gender: Dalit Feminist Counter-Archives in Telugu Short Fiction” Spoorthi Reddy Bonagiri, Student, Manipal Academy of Higher Education
5.30 pm – 6.00 pm	Dushala – A Solo Act (premiere)  A performance by Prof. Mythili Sushil Maratt in association with Sutradhar Hyderabad

7^th March, 2026 Conference Day 2 

Time	Event
9.30 am – 10.30 am	Plenary 4 – Staging Femininity/ Embodying Womanhood: Some Practice-based Reflections in Indian Dance Prof. Mythili Sushil Maratt, Associate Professor, Department of Fine and Performing Arts, GITAM School of Humanities and Social Sciences
10.30 am – 10.45 am	Tea Break
10.45 am – 1.00 pm	Paper Presentation 3: Performance  Chair: Prof. Paromita Bose, Mahindra University  1.     “Kummi As a Feminine Folk Practice of Resistance, Remembrance and Cultural Revival” Dorothy M, Independent Researcher, Madurai Kamaraj University 2.     “Reimagining Women Performers as Markers of Time” Subhra Subhasmita, Research Scholar, IIT Hyderabad 3.     “Beyond the boundary – Indian Women’s Cricket as a Site of Empowerment, Resistance, and Progress” Siddhartha R, Faculty, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning 4.     “Everyday Acts, Lasting Resistance: Trauma and Agency in Anuradha Roy’s Sleeping on Jupiter” Soumya Jose, Research Scholar, Mahindra University 5.     “Quiet Acts of Courage” Akshitha Isukapalli and G Divitha Reddy, Students, Sreenidhi University
1.00 pm – 2.00 pm	Lunch Break
2.00 pm – 4.00 pm	Paper Presentation 4: Space and Geography   Chair: Prof. Sreeja Ghanta, Mahindra University  1.     “Negotiating Empowerment: Women’s Voice, Representation, and Cultural Resistance in Colonial Odisha” Bebina Majhee, Research Scholar, University of Hyderabad 2.     “Writing the ‘Ordinary’: Miya Women Poets, and their narratives of Everyday Survival and Literary Resistance” Anamika Sukul, Faculty, St. Mary’s College, Hyderabad 3.     “Mapping Vernacular Feminism: Language and Resistance in R. Rajashree’s Kalyaniyennum Dakshayaniyennum Peraya Randu Sthreekaude Katha” Amrutha E T, Independent Researcher 4.     “Not So Indian, Not So Pakistani Woman: Rejecting and Embracing Suicide in Khamosh Pani” (2003) Harshit Nigam, Research Scholar, University of Delhi 5.     “Bodies Across Borders: Embodied Resistance and the Cultural Circulation of Feminist Solidarity” Yashvi Pandit, Research Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 6.     “Women’s Climate Writing:   Environmental Narrative through the lens of Eco-Feminism in Sonali’s Prasad Glass Bottom” Priyanka Singh Raj, Research Scholar, Mahindra University
4.00 pm – 5.00 pm	Plenary 5 – Translating Voices of Resistance and Empowerment Prof. Alladi Uma and Prof. M. Sridhar, Dept. of English, University of Hyderabad
5.00 pm – 5.30 pm	Distribution of Certificates and Valedictory

Sponsorship opportunities

Industry sponsors are welcome to participate and support the 12^th CTSEM conference. The sponsorship categories with details regarding delegates, exhibition stalls and industry product/service presentation are provided below.

Note: The sponsorship amount does not include GST.

Particulars	PlatinumINR 5 Lakhs	GoldINR 2 Lakhs	SilverINR 1 Lakh	BronzeINR 0.5 Lakh
Exhibition Space (3 x 3 sq. m.)	Yes	Yes	No	No
Logo on all promotional material	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Logo hyperlinked on the conference website	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Brochure/Literature Distribution in the Delegate Kit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Public announcement and display during the conference recognizing the sponsor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free registrations	5	2	1	1
Display in the session hall	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Promotional video display (during lunch/poster session)	10 min	5 min	No	No
Technical Presentation	10 min	No	No	No

For any queries, Contact:

Dr. Saladi S. V. Subbarao, Associate Professor: saladi.subbarao@mahindrauniversity.edu.in

Registration

Registration fee (in-person paper presentations)

• Students & Research Scholars: INR 1500
• Academics & Industry Professionals: INR 3000

The registration fee includes:

• A conference kit
• Access to the workshop, keynote sessions, and paper presentations.
• Lunch and tea on all workshop and conference days

Note:

• In case of co-authored papers, all the listed authors have to register separately for the conference.
• Limited paid accommodation is available for outstation participants. The details regarding this will be updated soon.

Register Now

Publication

• Selected papers will be considered for publication in a peer-reviewed edited volume with a reputed publisher.
• Selection based on full papers submitted within stipulated deadline.
• Publication subject to peer review and editorial approval.
• All the selected abstracts will be published in the book of abstracts.

Venue

The conference will take place at Mahindra University, Hyderabad, in a serene, green campus equipped with world-class infrastructure. The venue features modern auditoriums, seminar halls, and meeting rooms, supported by high-quality AV systems, robust IT support, and excellent logistics to ensure a smooth conference experience.

Address: Mahindra University, Survey: 62/1A, Bahadurpally (Near Tech Mahindra), Jeedimetla, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, Pin: 500043.

Access from Major Transport Hubs:

• 30–35 kilometers away from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) Hyderabad.
• 20–25 kilometers away from Secunderabad Railway Station.
• 25–30 kilometers away from the main bus stations in Hyderabad, such as the MGBS (Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station) or Jubilee Bus Station