A Round-up of the Kreaverse
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It’s the time of the year when we dip into the learnings from the past, in turn, inspiring excitement for the brand-new beginnings in store. It’s the season of reflection and gratitude.
What kept the campus buzzing this week at the Kreaverse? There was something for everyone, traversing the spectrum of interests, disciplines, ideas, and concepts. The calendar was busy, to say the least, with classrooms packed with eager minds and, students ushering in the festive spirit with a bunch of activities. Faculty continue to mould these young minds through knowledge and bolster them through ethics. This week also witnessed several academics and experts come to Krea to share knowledge with us.
What happens when we re-imagine learning? A transformative experience is born. Krea’s commitment to re-imagine learning for the world of tomorrow has set us apart. And this week, we raise a toast to the unwavering dedication of the Krea community to work towards this vision every day. Especially the ones working behind the scenes, some of them affected critically by Cyclone Michaung. The Krea community had initiated a fundraiser to support them in their re-building initiatives, details of which can be found as you scroll below. At the time of writing this note, the fundraiser had met its target and had been closed for contributions. We thank everyone who contributed through the means of funds, thoughts, or ideas.
As we near the term break and students and faculty for a gentle year-end break, we will also dedicate efforts to revamping our newsletter, to fit the needs of our ever-evolving audience, because adapting and recalibrating is what we firmly believe is the only way to move in this rapidly evolving world.
To catch a glimpse of the weekly happenings, read on. For real-time updates, please follow us on our social media channels. If you have stories or news to share with the Krea community, we invite you to connect with us at all.commsteam@krea.edu.in.
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The Krea University - University of Sussex Partnership
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Krea University inks partnership with University of Sussex, Brighton (United Kingdom). The partnership between Krea University and University of Sussex will facilitate the progression of Krea students into the postgraduate programmes at University of Sussex. This adds to the diverse bouquet of opportunities available to the undergraduate students at Krea in the way of promising choices for higher education.
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Admissions to the full-time and part-time PhD Programme at IFMR GSB, are open. The PhD programme combines rigorous coursework with in-depth research requirements, well-aligned with Krea’s vision of Interwoven Learning, ethical values, critical thinking, and interdisciplinary education. If you know an aspiring researcher who may be interested, please do let them know.
Know more
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Round 2 Admissions to the undergraduate programme at IFMR GSB, Krea University is now open. If you know anyone interested in the 5 year Integrated BBA+MBA programme, please direct them here.
Admissions to the 2 year postgraduate MBA programme are also open, please direct interested candidates here.
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School of Interwoven Arts and Sciences (SIAS)
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Round 2 Admissions to the undergraduate programme at SIAS, Krea University are also open. The programmes on offer are 4 year BA (Honours) and BSc (Honours) with an option to exit after three years with a BA or BSc degree. If you know someone who aspires to join Krea, here's where they can apply.
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Do you know someone who aspires to join Krea and wants to tour the Krea campus? Ask them to register to visit Krea's sprawling campus at Sri City, and experience the academic and residential facilities on offer, first-hand. The campus is located 55 kms from Chennai and is well connected by road and air.
Register here
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Here is the latest book section publication by Dr Swarnamalya Ganesh, Assistant Professor of Practice, Global Arts, SIAS, Krea University. Major Breakthrough in Minor Drama Forms- Understanding Uparūpaka-s through Places, Performances, and Indigenous Custodians as part of Uparūpaka-s- in Indian Performing Arts published by The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan ISBN 978-93-91622-83-1.
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In this critical research, Dr Ganesh draws connections; textually, historically (inscriptional and archaeological ) as well as performatively between Sanskrit treatises on Rūpaka-s or drama traditions and the Pān communities of the Sañgam literatures, tracing them to the tribal Pānā custodians, such as the servicing communities like Pardān-s and many others. This research brings us closer to and more definitively placing many theatrical and performing traditions in the continuum of tribal and early practices of various communities, thus helping answer some long-standing "origin theories" tied around prestige networks like that of Sanskrit and the gentrification of performing arts.
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The inaugural ceremony for the first batch of the Profitability Analytics & Enterprise Performance Management certificate course was held on December 2, 2023, at Krea University admin office, with Prof Lakshmi Kumar, Dean of IFMR GSB, Krea University, presiding over the event.
Senior professors, including Prof Balasubramanian, Senior Professor and Advisor - Finance, Accounting & Quantitative Finance, IFMR GSB and Prof N Chandrasekaran, Professor, Operations Management, IFMR GSB welcomed the participants. Mr Muraliprasad SA, Director at Sam Consultancy Services P Ltd, served as the chief guest, discussing the impact of Artificial Intelligence on manufacturing.
The 30-hour certificate course is spread over five weekends (Saturdays, 10 am - 5 pm). The cohort comprises mid-management executives from various leading manufacturing, auto ancillary, and engineering industries. The list of companies enrolled in the programme comprises - Sona Comstar, Rane Group, Rane NSK Steering Systems Ltd, Lucas TVS, Turbo Energy Limited, ABI Showatech India Pvt Ltd, ABI Soorai Green, and ABI LRE Division.
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Krea's Centre for Writing and Pedagogy (Krea-CWP) held a workshop Grammiracle Tuesday on December 12, 2023, a workshop to visit sentence construction and pay attention to elements of grammar in it. The aim of the first workshop is also to facilitate a few more of the kind to help participants get a better handle on sentencing that can otherwise be quite punishing. Participants were requested to bring their laptops and a piece of writing, even just a paragraph, that they may want to rewrite following the exercises in the workshop. The workshop was open to all members of the Krea community - students, staff, and faculty.
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Cyclone Michaung Fundraiser
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Krea community members initiated a fundraiser for support staff from the housekeeping, security, and gardening teams at the University who had been adversely affected by Cyclone Michaung. There were significant damages to their homes, including but not limited to flooding inside their houses, extensive seepage in the walls, and collapse of roof sheds. Many houses specifically, the ones that are not made of concrete need immediate rebuilding. The support staff hail mostly from the nearby villages of Edur and Chengambakkam.
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Funds will be distributed among 35 beneficiaries according to the extent of damage and loss incurred. This fund will primarily go towards the cost of rebuilding their houses and providing essential relief material such as bleaching powder for cleaning purposes, as requested by village residents of Chengambakkam.
At the moment, the fundraiser remains closed as it has met its target amount.
Know More
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To kick off the Christmas festivities and spread the Christmas spirit around, HerCampus hosted a wreath-making workshop on December 9, 2023 at the Atrium of the JSW Academic Building. The twinkling lights and fresh, locally-sourced foliage caught the eye of more than 30 participants. All of them dove into an afternoon of wreath-making magic. While being guided by enthusiastic volunteers from the events team, each of them transformed simple wreath frames into unique masterpieces.
The creative expression was endless, from big and tiny bows to flowers and ferns! The festive enchantment was alive and thriving even after the workshop ended. The workshop marked the perfect beginning to Christmas festivities, spreading warmth and creativity throughout our community. HerCampus also organised a Christmas decoration-making workshop today at 11 am in the Atrium.
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Kaustav Mehta will be leading a Research Seminar titled, Charting Complexity: Graph Based Insights into Disease Comorbidities in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients. Do certain diseases pave the way for other diseases? This research seminar presents an exploration of disease associations arising from traumatic brain injury (TBI) using a comprehensive database of TBI patients (TBI model systems national database, United States). Through the construction of network graphs that establish links between co-occurring diseases, the seminar aims to discover structural properties that hold powerful insights into how TBI patients may develop distinctive disease comorbidities.
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The findings from this study hold potential implications for informing post-trauma care strategies, offering a nuanced understanding of the intricate relationships between TBI and associated health complications. As an interdisciplinary project that draws from neurobiology, mathematics, and data science, with implications for psychiatry, health economics, and policy (to name only a few), there is something for everyone in this.
Kaustav Mehta has an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Chemistry.
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Dr Veena Srinivasan, Executive Director, Water, Environment, Land and Livelihoods (WELL) Labs, has won the International Water Association's Water and Development Award for Research. She was recognised for advancing research in emerging fields such as socio-hydrology, and for her efforts in translating science into impact through WELL Labs, a centre based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) Society.
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Under the mentorship of Dr Soumya Pal, Assistant Professor of Economics at IFMR GSB, Krea University, Namrata Gupta, Shivam Khandelwal, and Bandi Sai Krishna, from the MBA Cohort of 2024, successfully advanced to the zonal round of the RBI Policy Challenge 2023. The event took place at the Reserve Bank Staff College in Chennai on December 11, 2023.
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Dissent, Nation-State, and Violence
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The Moturi Satyanarayana Centre for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Krea University is presenting a talk titled Dissent, Nation-State, and Violence by Prof Ashis Nandy on December 20, 2023, at 2.30 pm at SH2. Ashis Nandy is a political psychologist, social theorist, and critic.
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Anunaad, the IFMR GSB all-batch Alumni Meet will be hosting its Chennai Chapter tomorrow, December 16, 2023 at The Raintree, Alwarpet, Chennai. For all the alumni reading this edition, please do join in.
Prof Lakshmi Kumar, Dean, IFMR GSB, Krea University and Prof G Balasubramanian, Senior Professor and Advisor - Finance, Accounting & Quantitative Finance, IFMR GSB, Krea University welcome one and all to this exclusively curated occasion with a promise of nostalgia and steps into the future forward.
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Today on December 15, 2023, participants joined in for an insightful exploration of Walter Benjamin's Task of the Translator by Prof Bishnu Mohapatra, Director of the Moturi Satyanarayana Centre for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Krea University.
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Delving into the profound reflections of Walter Benjamin on the art of translation, as he transcends the conventional boundaries and explores the essence of 'kinship' between languages. Prof Bishnu Mohapatra guided the audience through this thought-provoking piece, shedding light on the yearning towards ‘the pure language’, which is ‘the totality of (the) intentions (of all languages) supplementing one another’.
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On December 12 and 13, 2023, the Atrium of JSW Academic Building, Krea University was abuzz with many vibrant experiments and activities. Facilitated by Dr Sushant Raut, Assistant Professor of Physics, SIAS, Krea University, the Physics Φ-esta (read as Physics Fiesta) was a two-day event organised by the students and faculty of Physics at Krea. A creative approach to understanding the phenomena around us and how it’s enmeshed with Physics, the event entailed seminars, engaging demonstrations, spontaneous competitions, laboratory tours, and a stargazing night.
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All the activities in the Physics Φ-esta were geared towards ensuring that even an audience that is not well-versed in the discipline can truly enjoy and add to the repository of their knowledge. The incentivised competitions unfolding in the JSW Academic Building were a great outlet for students to unwind during the midterm season. The experiments, demonstrations, and seminars were equally fruitful for both the participating faculty members and students.
Contributed by: Amandeep Singh, Cohort of 2027
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On the December 12, 2023, the Literature Department at SIAS, Krea University organized Authorspeak: Dystopias and Worldbuilding in Speculative Fiction, an engaging book reading followed by a discussion with resident authors Prayaag Akbar (Visiting Assistant Professor of Literature, SIAS, Krea University), Prof Ruchir Joshi (Visiting Professor of Global Arts, SIAS, Krea University), and moderated by Dr Joya John (Assistant Professor of Literature, SIAS, Krea University).
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The session was attended by students and faculty at SIAS alike, and entailed Prayaag Akbar, and Prof Ruchir Joshi reading excerpts from their novels Laila (2017), and The Last Jet Engine Laugh (2001) respectively. This was followed by an engaging discussion amongst the writers and attendees where both speakers highlighted the importance of weaving narratives and worldbuilding in their works. The discussion also tackled the phenomena of some present-day writers crippling their fiction and fostering a creative disconnect from their original vision, while trying to tailor their writing to cater to the addressees. There were also discussions about how hyper-fixating on a genre while writing can also be artistically restrictive for an individual. Additionally, the creative discrepancies between different forms of media (for instance, writing and film) were talked about at length too.
Contributed by: Amandeep Singh, Cohort of 2027
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Dr Prajna Desai, an independent scholar, writer, curator, and translator, held a talk titled What is to be given: Chittaprosad's alt-Cold War satire, or a little history of empathy on November 17, 2023.
The agony of the Korean War (June 1950–July 1953) ended seventy years ago. But mainstream history has yet to register the neutralist Indian Prime Minister's game-changing role in curbing America's hawkish interventionism and mediating the peace resolution.
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In light of this year's seventieth war anniversary of the conflict's conclusion and non-alignment's comeback in the global south, this talk revisits those events through the little-discussed Korean War period foreign-policy-themed political cartoons of Bengali artist Chittaprosad not only for insights into the past but also geopolitics of the present. It delves into the satirical endeavour, or how an artist mined the human and philosophical depths of humour to turn the political image into art.
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If you have time this weekend, please check these productions and publications from the recent past, give them a listen, watch or read.
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Dr Veena Srinivasan on The Krea University Podcast
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Admin office: 196, T.T.K. Road, Alwarpet, Chennai - 600018
Campus: 5655, Central Express Way, Sri City, Andhra Pradesh - 517464
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