Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad

05/05/2026

Department of Communication is delighted to announce that our research scholar Abdul Rahiman U P has successfully defended his PhD thesis titled, "Memory From Diaspora and Pilgrimage: A Case Study of Kathupatt Among the Mappilas of Malabar" under the supervision of Prof. Usha Raman. Prof. T.T. Sreekumar of the English and Foreign Languages University and Dr. Burce Celik from Loughborough University were the external examiners.

The department congratulates Dr. Abdul Rahiman, and wishes him the best for his future endeavours!

08/04/2026

The Department of Communication, in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Community Media, organised a Golden Jubilee Distinguished Lecture on April 7, 2026, at the newly inaugurated Sarojini Naidu School Auditorium on the campus. The lecture, titled 'Citizens’ Media and Conflict: Lessons from Community Media in Colombia,' was delivered by Dr. Clemencia Rodríguez, Professor at the Klein College of Media and Communication, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA.

Opening the session, Prof. Sathya Prakash, Head of the Department of Communication, welcomed the gathering and invited the dignitaries, including Prof. J. Anuradha, Vice-Chancellor (in-charge), Prof. M.S. Siva Raju, Dean, Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, Prof. M. Ghanashyam Krishna, Institute of Eminence (IoE) Director, and Dr. Clemencia Rodríguez, to the dais for felicitation.

Prof. M.S. Siva Raju delivered the welcome address. Vice-Chancellor Prof. J. Anuradha, who presided over the session, noted that it was the first event to be held at the venue and thanked Prof. Vinod Pavarala, Senior Professor & Advisor, School of Digital Media & Communication, Mahindra University, for facilitating the lecture.

Please read the full story here:

https://herald.uohyd.ac.in/community-media-act-as-pockets-of-peace-during-war-clemencia-rodriguez-at-uoh-distinguished-lecture/

08/04/2026

07/04/2026

GENTLE REMINDER: Department of Communication, in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Community Media, is organising a Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Clemencia Rodríguez, Professor at Klein College of Media and Communication, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA, titled:

“Citizens’ Media and Conflict: Lessons from Community Media in Colombia”

Day & Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2026
Tea: 2:40 PM
Lecture Time: 3:00 PM
Venue: S. N. School Auditorium, Annexe Building, S. N. School of Arts & Communication, University of Hyderabad

All are invited.

Those who would like to attend the lecture online, please find the live link here:
https://www.youtube.com//live

01/04/2026

The Department of Communication, in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Community Media, is organising a Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Clemencia Rodríguez, Professor at Klein College of Media and Communication, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA, titled:

“Citizens’ Media and Conflict: Lessons from Community Media in Colombia”

Day & Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2026
Tea: 2:40 PM
Lecture Time: 3:00 PM
Venue: S. N. School Auditorium, Annexe Building, S. N. School of Arts & Communication, University of Hyderabad

All are invited.

01/04/2026

📢 Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Clemencia Rodriguez

​The Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Community Media, is organising a Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Clemencia Rodríguez, Professor at Klein College of Media and Communication, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA.

​🎙️ Title: “Citizens’ Media and Conflict: Lessons from Community Media in Colombia”
​Event Details:

​🗓️ Day & Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2026
​☕ Tea: 2:40 PM
​⏰ Lecture Time: 3:00 PM
​📍 Venue: S. N. School Auditorium, Annexe Building, S N School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad

​All are welcome to join us for this insightful session!

​

28/03/2026

Department of Communication is delighted to share that our alumnus Munsif Vengattil has won one of India's most prestigious Journalism honours - the Ramnath Goenka Award - for business and economic Journalism. Munsif had completed his Master's at our Department in 2016.

He was awarded this honour for an investigation he worked on with his colleagues Praveen Paramasivam and Aditya Kalra. The story revealed that Foxconn, Apple’s largest iPhone assembler, was systematically and secretively rejecting married women from production jobs at its India plant, citing family responsibilities. The investigation triggered widespread debate and forced Foxconn to revise its hiring practices.

The story had previously won the 2025 South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) award for Outstanding Business Story about South Asia as well.

At the ceremony, Raj Kamal Jha, chief editor of the Indian Express, singled out the story in his remarks. He called it “a wonderful investigation into how a supplier to the world’s richest company refused job applications because the women were married,” and called it “good journalism” at a time when, as he put it, “we have all got spooked” and are “very unsure of what good journalism is.”

Please read the award-winning story here:
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/foxconn-apple-india-women/

As an MA Communication alumnus of the University of Hyderabad, Munsif says he remains grateful for the foundation the Department gave him.

We congratulate Munsif for this great achievement!

28/03/2026

UoH Alumnus Munsif Vengattil Wins the Prestigious Ramnath Goenka Award! 🏆

We are delighted to congratulate Munsif Vengattil, alumnus of the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad from the M.A. Communication (2014–2016) batch, on being honoured with the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in Business & Economic Journalism.

He shares this honour with fellow Reuters journalists Praveen Paramasivam and Aditya Kalra.

Munsif received the award from the Hon’ble Vice President of India, Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan. 🇮🇳

📰 About the Award-Winning Investigation

The Reuters investigation, “Apple supplier Foxconn rejects married women from India iPhone jobs,” uncovered deeply concerning hiring practices at Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur plant in Tamil Nadu. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/foxconn-apple-india-women/

The report revealed that:
Married women were systematically excluded from assembly-line roles

Hiring decisions were influenced by assumptions around “family responsibilities,” pregnancy, and absenteeism

Even cultural factors such as wearing traditional jewellery were cited as reasons for exclusion

The investigation highlighted that such practices were in direct conflict with the stated codes of conduct of both Apple and Foxconn, which prohibit discrimination based on marital status.

⚡ Impact of the Story
The impact of this powerful piece of public-interest journalism was far-reaching:

Apple and Foxconn acknowledged lapses in hiring practices

Recruiters were instructed to remove age, gender, and marital-status criteria from job advertisements

The report sparked nationwide debate and scrutiny on women’s access to employment in India’s manufacturing sector

🌟 A Moment of Pride for UoH
This recognition is a proud moment for the University of Hyderabad community.
Munsif’s achievement reflects the highest values of journalism — rigour, courage, integrity, and impact — and underscores the importance of reporting stories that drive meaningful change.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations and wish him continued success in all his future endeavours. 👏

26/03/2026

Department of Communication is happy to share that our alumnus Aniruddha Jena has recently joined the School of Management at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi as an Assistant Professor. Prior to this appointment, he served as an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Management Kashipur, Uttarakhand. Alongside his institutional responsibilities, he continues to be actively engaged with the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), where he serves as Co-Vice Chair of the Participatory Communication Research Section.

He is also an incoming Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow at King’s College London for the 2025–26 academic year.

He remains grateful for the academic grounding and mentorship he received at the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad which continue to shape his research and teaching trajectory.

Aniruddha completed his PhD (2017–2022) under the supervision of Prof. Vasuki Belavadi at the Department of Communication. During this period, he also contributed closely to various projects and activities of the UNESCO Chair on Community Media.

We wish Dr Aniruddha Jena all the best for his new role!

21/03/2026

Department of Communication is delighted to share a podcast episode on Prof. P. Thirumal's edited anthology 'Inhabiting Technologies/Modernities: Media and Cultural Practices in South Asia (Orient BlackSwan, 2025).'

The episode was hosted on the New Books Network, which is a consortium of podcast channels that interview authors of academic works and is dedicated to public education. It is hosted by Khadeeja Amenda, a PhD candidate in the Cultural Studies in Asia programme at the Department of Communication and New Media, National University of Singapore. Khadeeja is an alumnus of our Department.

The book featured on this podcast was co-edited by Dr. K. A. Nuaiman. The podcast has interviewed Prof. Thirumal and Dr. K. J. Carmel Christy, one of the authors in this anthology. Both Dr Nuaiman and Dr Christy did their PhDs under the supervision of Prof. Thirumal at our Department.

The book explores how media and technologies shape the human condition even as they are created by it.

Please listen to the podcast here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/inhabiting-technologies-modernities-media-and-cultural-practices-in-south-asia

12/03/2026

Department of Communication is delighted to share that Prof. Kanchan K. Malik and PhD research scholars Treesa Reena John and Vamsi Krishna Pothuru recently participated in the two-day SPARC (Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration) Conclave organised by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. This conclave was held at the IIT Kharagpur Research Park in Kolkata on March 8–9, 2026.

Please read more here:
https://herald.uohyd.ac.in/uoh-faculty-and-scholars-present-community-media-research-at-the-sparc-conclave-in-kolkata/