CHITRA SANKARAN - FASS STAFF PROFILE

Brief Introduction

PERSONAL PARTICULARS
NAME CHITRA SANKARAN

MAILING ADDRESS Department of English Language & Literature, National University of Singapore, AS5, 7 Arts Link, Singapore 117570.

OFFICE TEL: (65) 6516-3935

OFFICE FAX: (65) 6773-2981
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EDUCATION
Ph.D (University of London)

BA; MA; M.PHIL (University of Madras)

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

START DATE	END DATE	APPOINTMENTS	DEPT/PROG
September 2017 June 2020	2020 [first term] June 2023 [second term]	Deputy Head of Department (Chair of Literature)	Department of English Language and Literature.
January 2022	October 2022	To serve as acting Head of Dept while HOD is on Sabbatical	Dept of Eng Lang & Litt.
1 July 2019	30 June 2021 [renewable]	Joint-Appointment with USP.	Dept of Eng Lang & Litt and University Scholars Programme.
Jan 2008	Present	Associate Professor with tenure.	English Language & Literature [ELL]
July 1999	Dec 2007	Assistant Professor	ELL
July 2005	Dec 2005	Writing Fellow	Asia Research Institute (NUS)
July 2001	June 2003	Assistant Prof. on Joint appointment	University Scholars Programme (NUS) and ELL
June 1997	June 1999	Teaching Fellow	ELL

Teaching Areas

CURRENT TEACHING MODULES:

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE:

EN4267: Literature and Ecology
EN 4266:South Asian Literatures in English
EN 3245: Feminism - Text and Theory
EN 5880A: Literature and the Environment

UNIVERSITY SCHOLARS PROGRAMME:

NHS2050: Gender and Ecology in Asia

GENERAL EDUCATION MODULE

GEN2004 - Green Communities in Action: Climate, Species, Crisis.

TEACHING INTERESTS

1. Ecocriticism

2. Postcolonial Fiction (South Asian and Southeast Asian)

3. Feminist theory; Gender Studies

TEACHING AWARDS

2019-2020 - Nominated for the ATEA Award (University Scholars Programme)

2019-2020 - Received "Induction Award" of $3000/- (University Scholars Programme)

2018-2019 - Awarded Faculty Teaching Excellence Award [FTEA] @ Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

2017-2018- Nominated by the Department for Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

2015-2016 Nominated by the Department for Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

2012-2013 Nominated by the Department for Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

2003-2004 University Scholars Programme /NUS, Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

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DETAILS OF ALL EARLIER MODULES TAUGHT IN NUS:

Modules I Developed and Taught in the Department of English Language and Literature

Postcolonial Women Novelists – Graduate module. It examines fictional works of women writers from Canada, West Indies, South Asia, Southeast Asia, South Africa and Australia.
South Asian Literatures in English – Undergraduate module. Analyses fiction, poems, short stories and drama from South Asian countries such as India, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The module is also cross-listed with South Asian Studies Programme, NUS.
Feminism: Text and Theory – This is an introductory module to feminist studies. It is also part of the “Gender Minors” program offered by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS. The module introduces students to some central concepts in feminism, to enable them to apply these to the analysis of literary texts and to arrive at an understanding of how gender concerns influence the writing and reading of texts. Students are encouraged to explore a range of texts by women writers and also analyze some male (canonical) texts for their sexist assumptions.
Singapore Literature in Context – I co-designed this module with a colleague. Using select Singaporean texts from a variety of genres, this module enables students to explore the historical roots and contemporary relevance of literary production in Singapore. Beginning with colonial writing, the module moves through considerations of national and postcolonial literatures to contemporary social concerns. In the first year, the module was cross-listed as a ‘Singapore Studies’ (SS) module. But in subsequent years it ran solely as an EN module.
Introduction to Literary Studies – I helped to re-design this foundation level module. This foundation (core) module introduces literary studies to students who have had no previous exposure to literature and/or to those who have previously accessed literature during their junior college and secondary school. It focuses on a variety of texts, both print and visual, to induct students into literary modes of reading.
Feminist Theory and Feminist Discourse – An interdisciplinary module I designed and co-taught along with a colleague, a critical discourse analyst, from 1998 onwards until I left on joint appointment to the University Scholars Programme in 2001. Again when I returned to ELL in 2003, I continued teaching this module.
Writing in the Electronic Era – I helped design and teach this module for two years. This module was largely to do with writing for the virtual media. We taught the students to analyze web-design, web documentation, use of hyper-texts, and ventured into the analysis of cyber art. On the theoretical side, we prioritized Reading and Writing theories.
Professional Writing – I co-lectured on this module during my first year of teaching full-time at NUS. This module was designed to teach students to create professional documents such as brochures, business letters, curriculum vitaes, memos, sales letters, email etiquette, report writing; abstracts etc.

Modules developed and taught at the University Scholars Programme while on joint appointment [July 2001 - June 2003]

Cultural Constructions of Femininity versus Feminist Beliefs - A Writing and Critical Thinking module.
The Female Self in a Postcolonial World – A Literature module that examines representation of women in several South and Southeast Asian novels.
Femininity: Mind, Body or Culture? A Writing and Critical Thinking module.
The Horror of the Other: Based on Postcolonial Theory, this is a General Education Module that explores the concept of the "Self and Other" by using several sets of binaries including ‘imperial versus colony’; ‘global versus national’; ‘West and the Rest’; ‘living and dead’, centre and periphery.

Graduate Supervision

I Welcome Graduate Students working in

South or Southeast Asian Fiction
Ecocriticism
Ecofeminism
Postcolonial Ecocriticism
Postcolonial Fiction

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Current Research

PUBLICATIONS

BOOK PROJECTS (ONGOING)

Sankaran, C. & Chi Pham Phui. Humans and Other Animals: Animal Fictions from Vietnam. Translated with a Critical Introduction. (Contract signed with Penguin Random House.)

Sankaran, C. Ecomaterial Affinities: Environmental Crisis in South and Southeast Asian Literary, Philosophical and Cultural Narratives. (Advance Contract Received from Routledge Studies in World Literatures and the Environment)

MONOGRAPHS & EDITED VOLUMES:

Sankaran, Chitra. (2022) Women, Subalterns and Ecology in South and Southeast Asian Women’s Fiction. University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, USA. (Selected Book of the Week by Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, USA);

Sankaran, C., Pham, C., & Kaur, G. (2019). Ecologies in Southeast Asian Literatures: Histories, Myths and Societies.

Sankaran Chitra (Ed.) (2016). Aalam - The Banyan: A Bilingual Volume of Edwin Thumboo's Poems. Translation to Tamil with a bilingual Introduction by C. Sankaran. Singapore: Jhivajothe Publishers.

Sankaran C & Rajesh Rai (Eds.) (2014). Religion and Identity in the South Asian Diaspora (1 ed.). New York, London: Routledge.

Sankaran, C. (2012). History, Narrative, and Testimony in Amitav Ghosh's fiction, New York: SUNY Press.

Sankaran, Chitra (2007). Myth Connections: Use of Hindu Myths and Philosophies in R K Narayan and Raja Rao (1 ed.). New York & Berne, Switzerland: Peter Lang. [Note: When Peter Lang acquired Allied Publishers, my monograph was one of the few chosen for republishing. The original was revised with a new Introduction and two additional chapters]

Sankaran Chitra (1993). The Myth-Connection - A Comparative Study of R.K. Narayan and Raja Rao. (1.0 ed.). India: The Allied Publishers Ltd (Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta & Madras). [This was my Revised Doctoral thesis that was recommended for publication by the Panel of Examiners, University of London.]

Sankaran Chitra & SP Thinnappan. (Eds.) (2004). First Step: Tamil in an International Arena, Singapore: UniPress, Centre for the Arts, National University of Singapore.

Sankaran Chitra., & RS Patke and Leong Liew Geok (Eds.) (2003). Complicities: Connections and Divisions: Perspectives on Literatures and Cultures of the Asia-Pacific Region Berne, Switzerland: Peter Lang.

CREATIVE WRITING:

NOVEL

Sankaran, C. (2012). Void of Reason. Slough, Berkshire, UK: New Dawn Publishing, 400 pp. [A murder mystery]

SHORT STORIES

Sankaran, C. (2010) “Online with God”; Strange Circle Magazine, London. First Runners Up, Strange Circle Magazine Competition 2010.

Sankaran, C. (2010) “Alone and Palely Loitering” in Mohammad A Quayum (Ed.) A Rainbow Feast: New Asian Short Stories, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish. Pp. 249-258. Image of book page. Click to open preview. Void of Reason by Chitra Sankaran Complicities: Connections And Divisions by Chitra Sankaran Void Of Reason - Chitra Sankaran - H�ftad (9781908462060) | Bokus

amitav ghosh book cover.jpg |

Publications

ARTICLES IN JOURNALS

INTERNATIONAL REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES:
Sankaran, C., & Pillai, G. T. (2023). The Journey Home: Nature and Power in Somerset Maugham’s Tales of Southeast Asia. Green Letters: Studies in Ecocriticism.
Sankaran, C. (2022). Posthuman Nature in Amitav Ghosh’s The Great Derangement. Postcolonial Text, Special Issue on Amitav Ghosh, 17 pages.
Sankaran, C., & Pillai, G. T. (2021). Fallen Women: Land, Nature and Memsahibs in Maugham's Southeast Asian Stories. Asiatic : IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, 15(2), 30-46.
Toh, H. J., Ballantyne, A., Ong, S. A. K., Sankaran, C., Tay, H. Y., Singh, M., . . . Lysaght, T. (2021). Religious Perspectives on Precision Medicine in Singapore. Asian Bioethics Review, 13(4), 473-483. doi:10.1007/s41649-021-00180-4
Sankaran, C. (2020). Retrieving the Margins: Use of Thinai by Three Contemporary Tamil Women Writers. ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 27(4). doi:10.1093/isle/isaa141
Sankaran, C., & Nkengasong, J. (2018). Forests and ecocultural disequilibrium in two postcolonial novels from Cameroon and Singapore. Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 53(1), 43-60.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2018). Introduction - Ecology and Indigeneity: An Exploration of ASEAN Literatures (2018). The Journal of Ecocriticism, 8(1), 1-4.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2018). Apocalyptic Vision in the Laotian Short Story “The Roar of a Distant War” by Viliya Ketavong. The Journal of Ecocriticism, 8, 52-61.
Sankaran, C. (2018). An Ecofeminist Reading of Beth Yahp's The Crocodile Fury. Asiatic, 12(2), 100-109.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2017). Ecological Predicaments in Niaz Zaman’s The Baromashi Tapes. Texture: A Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(1), 1-8.
Sankaran Chitra., & Nkengasong, J. (2016). Forests and Ecocultural Disequilibrium in Two Postcolonial Novels from Cameroon and Singapore. Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 51(2).
Sankaran, C. (2015). Materiality, Devotion and Compromise: A Study of Goddess Films of South India. Material Religion, 11(4), 443-464. doi:10.1080/17432200.2015.1103470
Sankaran, Chitra. (2015). Reworlding Asian Female Locations through Literature: An Analysis of Three Novels by Asian Women Writers. Journal of English Studies and Comparative Literature, 15(1).
Sankaran, C. (2014). Writing back: Ethics and Aesthetics in Joss and Gold. Asiatic, 8(1), 173-184.
Sankaran, C. (2014). Problems with Feminine Empowerment in Goddess Films: A Feminist Analysis of South Indian Goddess Films. Studies in South Asian Film and Media, 6(1), 3-22.
Sankaran Chitra. (2013). Ecology, Nature and the Human in Edwin Thumboo’s Poetry. Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, Special Issue on Edwin Thumboo, Vol. 7(2). 208-217
Sankaran, C., & Chng, H. H. (2012). From Pedagogy to Activism: The AWARE Saga. Australian Feminist Studies, 27(74), 421-437.
Sankaran, C. (2012). Women, Rivers, and Serpents: Reifying the Primordial Link in Gita Mehta's A River Sutra. Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 47(3), 429-446.
Sankaran, C., & Pillai, S. (2011). Transnational tamil television and diasporic imaginings. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 14(3), 277-289.
Sankaran, C & Rajesh Rai (2011). Religion and the South Asian diaspora. South Asian Diaspora, 3(1), 5-13.
Sankaran Chitra. (2011). Transnational Tamil television and Diasporic Imaginings. International Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 14 (No. 3).
Sankaran Chitra. (2008). Narrating to Survive: Ethics and Aesthetics in Githa Hariharan's When Dreams Travel. Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, Vol. 2(2).
Sankaran, C., & Chng, H.H. (2007). Negotiating Crisis in a Feminism Classroom. Australian Feminist Studies, 22(52), 127-140.
Sankaran, C., & Chng, H. H. (2004). "We women aren't free to die" Transacting Asian Sexualities in a feminism classroom in Singapore. Critical Asian Studies, 36(2), 285-301.
Sankaran, C. (2003). Gendered Spaces in the Taipuçam festival, Singapore. Theatre Research International, 28(3), 245-258.
Sankaran, C. (2003). "The Sounds of Silence": An Analysis of two stories by Singaporean Women. Ariel, 34(2-3), 151-170.
Sankaran Chitra. (2003). The Abject and the Subject in Shobha De's Novels. Madrid, Spain: World Englishes, (20:1).
Sankaran Chitra. (2000). The Gypsy of Kuttralam: A Feminist Archetype in Tamil Literature. Journal of South Asian Literature, Vol. 31 & 32(1 & 2).
Sankaran, C. (1998). Ideology in Language Use: An Examination of Raja Rao's Kanthapura and The Serpent and the Rope. World Literature Written in English, 37(1-2), 169-176.
Sankaran Chitra. (1995). Mysogyny in Raja Rao's The Chess Master and His Moves. Journal of Commonwealth Literature, XXXVI(1).pp. 87-95.
Sankaran Chitra. (1991). The Patterns of Story-Telling in Guide by R.K. Narayan. Journal of Commonwealth Literature, XXVI (1), pp.127-150.

REVIEW ARTICLES
Sankaran, Chitra. (2020). Review of Shazia Rahman’s Place and Postcolonial Ecofeminism: Pakistani Women’s Literary and Cinematic Fictions. ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment. 20 May 2020. Oxford University Press. 1-3.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2002). '"Review of Ariels: Departures and Returns - Essays for Edwin Thumboo" Eds. Tong Chee Kong, Anne Pakir, Ban Kah Choon, Robbie B H Goh. World Englishes, 21(3), 457-464.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2000). Review of Word as Mantra - The Art of Raja Rao by Robert L. Hardgrave. World Englishes, 19(2), 239-245.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2000). Review of "The Best of Raja Rao" Ed by Makarand Paranjape, World Englishes, 19(2), 258-261.

JOURNAL SPECIAL ISSUE [EDITORSHIP]
Sankaran, Chitra. (Ed.) (2018) Ecocriticism in ASEAN. The Journal of Ecocriticism: A New Journal of Nature, Society and Literature. (Special Issue). Vol 8, No 1 (2018); University of British Coumbia. See: ASLE-ASEAN SPECIAL ISSUE (unbc.ca

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS
Published:
Sankaran, Chitra. (2023) Environmental and Colonial Disequilibriums in Southeast Asian Literature. In Sushila Shekawat, Rayson K Alex and Swarnalatha Rangarajan. New York: Routledge. 81-98.
Sankaran, Chitra and Pillai, GT. (2023) Tamil Literature and Ecofeminism. In Douglas A Vakoch (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Ecofeminism and Literature. New York, 68-78.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2021) “Climate Justice and Literatures of the Global South” in Adeline Johns-Putra and Kelly Sultzbach (Eds.) Climate Change in the Global South, Cambridge Companion Series, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2021) “Posthumanism in Raja Rao's The Cat and Shakespeare: Redrawing the boundaries.” In Lety Alterno (ed.). New York: Routledge.
Sankaran, Chitra (2021) “Trauma, Food and Female Spaces in Asian Female Fictions” in Hannes Bergthaller (Ed.) Foodscapes of the Anthropocene, Berne: Peter Lang.
Sankaran, Chitra (2021) “Rust and Recovery: A Study of South Indian Goddess films” in Rina Garcia et al (Eds.) Empire and Environment, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.

PUBLISHED:
Sankaran, Chitra. (2019). Risk, Resistance and Memory in Two Narratives by Asian Women. In S. Slovic, S. Rangarajan, & V. Sarveswaran (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Ecocriticism and Environmental Communication. New York: Routledge.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2019). Imaginings of Disasters in two Southeast Asian Narratives: Trauma, Risk and Management. In C. Sankaran, P. Chi, & G. Kaur (Eds.), Ecologies in Southeast Asian Literatures: Histories, Myths and Societies, Wilmington, Delaware: Vernon Press.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2019). Amitav Ghosh. In Alex Tickell (ed.) The Novel in South and Southeast Asia since 1945; Oxford History of the Novel in English: Vol 10. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2017). Terror, Narrative, and Ecology in Merlinda Bobis's Novel Fish-Hair Woman. In John Charles Ryan (Ed.) Southeast Asian Ecocriticism Theories, Practices, Prospects, Washington DC: Lexington Books, pp.113-132.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2017). Common Man in Indian Literature. In Jayaraman, Harini, V. P. Akhil, & Bhattacharya, Sudakshina (Eds.), Configuring the Common Man: Trends and Perspectives in Contemporary Indian Literature, Delhi, India: Authors Press, pp.13-24.
Sankaran, Chitra & Chng HH. (2015). Interrogating Gender in a Singapore Classroom. In Adeline Koh and Yu Mei Balasingamchow (Eds.) Women and the Politics of Representation in Southeast Asia: Engendering Discourse in Singapore and Malaysia New York: Routledge. 16pp.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2014). "The Ecology of Disaster: A Reading of Divakaruni's One Amazing Thing” in Dwivedi, Om Prakash (Ed.) Tracing the New Indian Diaspora, Brill: Rodopi, pp.175-190.
Sankaran, C & Rajesh Rai. (2013). Introduction: Religion and the South Asian Diaspora. In Religion and Identity in the South Asian Diaspora, London: Routledge, pp.1-10.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2012). Beyond Borders and Boundaries - An Introduction. In C. Sankaran (Ed.) History, Narrative and Testimony in Amitav Ghosh’s Fiction, New York: SUNY Press. 20pp.
Sankaran, C. (2012). Sharing landscapes and Mindscapes: Ethics and Aesthetics in Amitav Ghosh's The Calcutta Chromosome. In C. Sankaran (Ed.) History, Narrative, and Testimony in Amitav Ghosh's Fiction, New York: SUNY Press.
Sankaran, C. (2012). Diasporic predicaments: An interview with Amitav Ghosh. In C.Sankaran (Ed.) History, Narrative, and Testimony in Amitav Ghosh's Fiction, Albany, New York: SUNY Press, pp. 1-15.
Sankaran Chitra. (2012). Developing Social Literacy: Assessment Strategies in a Feminism Class. In Ganakumaran Subramaniam and Shanthini Pillai (Eds.) Developing Literacies through Alternative Assessments. Puchong, Malaysia: August Publishing Sdn Bhd., pp.33-60.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2011). Questions of Ethics and Aesthetics in Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss. In Jacqueline Hurtley, Michael Kenneally & Wolfgang Zach (eds.) Literatures in English: Ethnic, Colonial and Cultural Encounters Germany: Stauffenberg Verlag.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2011). Narrating Race, Gender & Sexuality in R. K. Narayan's The Painter of Signs. In Goh BH Robbie (Ed.) Narrating Race: Asia, (Trans)Nationalism, Social Change. Brill: Rodopi.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2008). Whither Postcolonial Fiction? Ethics and Aesthetics in Indian Fiction in English. In Literatures in English: Priorities of Research: Germany: Stauffenburg Verlag, pp. 339-346.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2006). Ethics, Aesthetics and the Globalised Other in Roy's The God of Small Things. In Clara AB Joseph and Janet Wilson (Eds.) Global Fissures: Postcolonial Fusions, Cross/Cultures Series; Brill: Rodopi, pp.103-120.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2005). Beyond Good and Evil? Ethics and Aesthetics in Rushdie's Fury. In Dennis Haskell and Ron Shapiro (Eds.) Interactions: Essays on the Literature and Culture of the Asia-Pacific Region: Perth: University of Western Australia Press, pp. 95-104.
Sankaran, C & Chung HH. (2003). Looking to East and West: Feminist practice in an Asian classroom. In Laura Gray-Rosendale and Gil Harootunian (Eds.) Fractured Feminisms: Rhetoric, Context, and Contestation, Albany, New York: SUNY Press, pp. 215-229.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2003). "Introduction to Language, Gender & Empowerment". In Chitra Sankaran, RS Patke and Leong Liew Geok (Eds.) Complicities: Connections and Divisions; (1.0 ed.). Berne: Peter Lang.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2003). "Intersections of Nationhood in the Plays of Robert Yeo". In Chitra Sankaran, RS Patke and Leong Liew Geok (Eds.) Complicities: Connections and Divisions (1.0 ed.). Berne: Peter Lang.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2002). Nirad C. Chaudhuri's: A Passage to England: A Site of Colonial Anxiety. In Andrew Benjamin, Tony Davies & Robbie B.H. Goh (Eds.) Postcolonial Cultures and Literatures: Modernity and the (Un)Commonwealth (1.0 ed.). New York: Peter Lang.
Sankaran, Chitra. (2002). Colonialism, Hegemony & After in Nayantara Saghal's Rich Like Us. In Gerhard Stilz (Ed.) Missions of Interdependence. Cross/Cultures 58. Brill: Rodopi, pp. 229-238.
Sankaran Chitra & KK Seet. (2001). Imagining a Nation: Singapore in Robert Yeo's Trilogy. In The Singapore Trilogy (1.0 ed.). Singapore: Landmark Books. Pp: 7-20.

CHAPTERS IN TEXTBOOKS
Sankaran, Chitra. (2001). The Woman Poets of Singapore and Malaysia. In Post-colonial Literatures in English Asia-Pacific Version: Anthology, Open University Press (Singapore & Milton Keynes, UK; (Vol. 1, 1 ed.), pp. 109-111)
Sankaran, Chitra. (2001). The Non-Conformity of the Singaporean and Malaysian Experiences. In Post-colonial Literatures in English Asia-Pacific Version: Anthology, Open University Press (Singapore & Milton Keynes, UK; (Vol. 1, 1 ed.), pp. 135-136).
Sankaran, Chitra. (2001). Post-Coloniality and Women Writers. In Post-colonial Literatures in English Asia-Pacific Version: Anthology, Open University Press (Singapore & Milton Keynes, UK; (Vol. 1, 1 ed.), pp. 19-24).
Sankaran, Chitra. (2001). Heretic and Ideology. In Post-colonial Literatures in English Asia-Pacific Version: Anthology, Open University Press (Singapore & Milton Keynes, UK; (Vol. 1, 1 ed., pp. 87-95).
Sankaran, Chitra. (2001). Gender and Experience: Women Poets from India. In Post-colonial Literatures in English Asia-Pacific Version: Anthology, Open University Press (Singapore & Milton Keynes, UK; (Vol. 1, 1 ed., pp. 61-70).
Sankaran, Chitra. (2001). Ambivalent Reinscriptions of the Woman in Post-Coloniality. In Post-colonial Literatures in English Asia-Pacific Version: Anthology, Open University Press (Singapore & Milton Keynes, UK; (Vol. 1, 1 ed., pp. 136-139).

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS ON SINGAPORE TAMIL LITERATURE
Sankaran, Chitra (1998). Sadasiva Pundit – A Pioneering Tamil Literary Figure in Singapore. In Edwin Thumboo (Ed.) Memories and Desires: A Poetic History of Singapore, Singapore: UniPress. 18 pp.

COMMUNITY JOURNAL [EDITORSHIP]
Sankaran, Chitra. (Editor in Charge) -Tamil Section in Thumboo, Edwin. (Ed.) (1997). Singa: Literature in Singapore Volumes 20-27; Centre for the Arts, NUS, Singapore: UniPress.
Sankaran, C. (Chief Editor) Omkara: The Journal of Vedic Hinduism. The Hindu Centre, Singapore. Jhivajothe Publications. 12 Issues (2010-2020)

COMMUNITY BOOKS [EDITORSHIP]
Sankaran, C. (Ed.) (2020) Ramayana 108: Questions and Answers on The Ramayana, The Hindu Centre: Singapore. Jhivajothe Publications.
Sankaran, C (Ed.) Krishna 108: Questions and Answers on Lord Krishna. [Forthcoming 2021]
Sankaran, C & SP. Thinnappan: Muthalppadi: Ulaga arangil Thamizh. (Unipress: Centre for the Arts: 2004) Tamil Edition.

TRANSLATIONS
Vietnam; Translated with an Introduction. [Under Review by NIU Press: An Imprint of Cornell University Press.
Sankaran, C. (2002) Translation of Tamil Poems to English. Singapore Poetry Anthology, National Arts Council, Singapore.
Sankaran, C. (2000) Tamil Poems (Translation) in Kirpal Singh (ed.) Rhythms: A Singaporean Millennial Anthology of Poetry in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. National Arts Council, Singapore.
Sankaran, C. (2018) My article, "The Ecology of Disaster: A Reading of Divakaruni’s One Amazing Thing" (Translated into Vietnamese and Published in What is Ecocriticism ? in Vietnamese: Phê bình sinh thái là gì? .

ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRY:
Sankaran, C. (2006) “History of Tamil Literature in Singapore” in Koh, Tommy, Auger, Timothy and Yap, Jimmy (Eds.) Singapore: The Encyclopedia, New York: (USA )Editions Didier Millet & Singapore: National Heritage Board. P.534.
Sankaran, C. (2001) “Edwin Thumboo” in Thieme, John (Ed.) The Literary Encyclopedia Vol.10.4.2: Hong Kong, Singaporean, Malaysian and Myanmar Writing and Culture.

Other Information

GRANTS, RESEARCH AWARDS AND PROFESSIONAL ACCOLADES

2018 apr ASLE INTERNATIONAL TRANSLATION AWARD. Joint recipient with Chi Pham Phui, University of Hanoi. We have used this grant to translate contemporary Vietnamese ecofictions entitled The Revenge of Gaia. It is currently under review by NIU Press: An Imprint of Cornell University Press.

2017 July Awarded MOE Tier 1 Combined Grant Awarded January 2018 to Chitra Sankaran and Tania Roy: “World Literature Workshop- Collaboration with University of Warwick”.

2016 -19 Aug Elected president of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (asle-asean) for a three-year term.

2016 Jan – 2017 sept Awarded Faculty of Arts Grant to organize the ASLE-ASEAN eco-conference and to edit a special issue of the Journal of Ecocriticism on ASEAN.

2016 August: Received seed money from Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE, USA) for launch ASLE-ASEAN.

2015 January – June 2015 Grant Awarded by the National Arts Council of Singapore to convene a Southeast Asian panel on ecocriticism to present at the ASLE Biennial Conference in Idaho, USA, in June 2015.

2011 Jan to Dec Awarded Visiting Research Fellowship by The Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, UK. I guest-lectured on two modules – One on Gender and the other on Postcolonial Texts.

2005 July – 2005 Dec Awarded the Asia Research Institute (ARI) Writing Semester for Assistant Professors. I was the first member of the English Department to have received this.

2003 June –2007 Dec Awarded Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Academic Research Fund. This led to the publication of several book chapters and journal articles on ‘ethics and aesthetics’ in Asian literatures.

2002 july – 02 dec Awarded Visiting Research Fellowship by The Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Studies, University of London. London. I was invited to give guest lectures to graduate students. I also presented at two research seminars on “Amitav Ghosh” and Arundhati Roy.

2002 I was selected to visit the Expository Writing Centre at Harvard University while on joint appointment at University Scholars Programme/NUS. I

2002 jan I visited and consulted with faculty at the Women Studies Centre, Harvard. This was useful in a number of ways such as in the designing of my feminist modules both at ELL and at USP.

1998 june – 01 dec Awarded FASS Group Project Grant for investigating NUS Writers. I was one of the four investigators. Principle Investigators were Prof. Wong Yoon Wah and Robbie Goh. I was asked to cover the entire Tamil Section of this multi-language project that was engaged in looking at creative works of writers in all four official languages of Singapore namely, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil and English.

Invited Plenary Speaker in WEBINARS in 2020:

“Feminized Rivers, History and Myth”, 10 July 2020. International Web Lecture Series on World Literature and Culture, West Bengal, India, 9-12, 2020.
“Revisiting English Language and Literature in the Digital Era,” 15 October 2020; Tamil Nadu India, 12 Oct 2020 - 17 Oct 2020. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-F_5wLJchI

KEYNOTES, PLENARIES, INVITED CONFERENCE TALKS

Dec. 2019. Plenary Speaker, Ecocritical Workshop: Foodscapes in the Anthropocene, University of Taichung, Taiwan. (Fully funded by hosts).
9-10 October, 2019. Keynote Speaker, 7th Literary Studies Conference, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. “Rethinking Environmental Issues through Literature”. (Fully funded by hosts)
26-27 Jan.2018. “Imaginings of Disasters in two Southeast Asian Narratives: Trauma, Risk and Management”; ASLE-ASEAN Conference Series (2); Hanoi, Vietnam. (Partially funded by hosts)
2 March 2018. “Climates of the Anthropocene” National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung. [Airfare and Accommodation paid by Organisers].
June 6-7, 2018. Keynote Speaker: “India in the Victorian Imagination”, [Airfare and Accommodation paid by Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India].
13-15 July 2018: University of Warwick, “World Literature as Crisis: Subalternity and Urbanity” – Grant Collaboration between Warwick University and NUS. [Airfare and Accommodation paid by Warwick University].
7 July 2017: Invited: Public University Lecture; University of Philippines, Diliman; “Postcolonial Ecologies in South Asian Fiction” on 7 July 2017. 2.00-5.00pm at Palma Hall. [Airfare and accommodation fully borne by hosts].
June 20-24, 2017. Invited Panelist for “Ecology and Religion’ Panel at ASLE Conference at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. Chair, Prof Curtis Whitaker (Idaho State University). [Self-funded]
7 November 2017. “The State of Malaysian Literature in the 21st Century: An ASIATIC Symposium”. Airfare and Accommodation paid by Monash University, Malaysia. Paper published in Special Issue of Asiatic Journal.
6-7 January, 2016. Invited Plenary Speaker: International Conference on “Configuring the Common Man: Trends and Perspectives in Contemporary Indian Literature.” [Airfare and accommodation fully borne by hosts]
2009: Invited Plenary Speaker at UNISIM Language Seminar: Crossing Cultures: Bridging Minds, 15 August, 2009.

Academic Journal Editorship

2020: Chief Editor, Journal of Southeast Asian Ecocriticism (NUS – ELL Department Affiliated). First Issue Ready for publication. To be launched in ASLE-ASEAN Conference, KL, Malaysia, August 2020.

2010 - Ongoing - I currently serve on the editorial board of IIUM: Journal of English Language and Literature, Malaysia. This focuses on South Asian and Southeast Asian literatures.

2004–2011: I was an invited member of the Editorial Panel for the journal Postcolonial Text (University of Calgary, Canada). I resigned in 2011 due to pressure of work.

1997-2001 - Invited Member of Editorial Team of multilingual Creative Writing Journal Singa: Literatures in Singapore, Centre for the Arts, UNIPRESS, Singapore.

SERVICE

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY:

2007-2008: Appointed by invitation of The Commonwealth Foundation, UK. Served as Regional Judge, Commonwealth Writers Prize 2008 for the Asia-Pacific Region from October 2007 to March 2008 along with Prof. Chris Prentice (U of Otago, Dunedin, NZ) and Prof. Dennis Haskell (UWA, Perth, Australia).

OVERSEAS & OTHER LOCAL UNIVERSITY COMMUNITIES:

2016 onwards (ongoing) Founding President, Association for the Study of Literature and Environment in ASEAN (ASLE-ASEAN). ASLE-ASEAN – The Official Website of ASLE-ASEAN (wordpress.com)

2020: Appointed by invitation to serve as external reviewer for the Master of Arts in Postcolonial Literatures in English Programme, National University of Malaysia, Malaysia.
2019: As president of ASLE-ASEAN, co-organised eco-conference in University of Manila. May 2019. 3rd Conference in ASLE-ASEAN Series.
2006 onwards [ongoing]: Invited by Dean of the School of Arts and Social Sciences of [then UNISIM, now] SUSS to serve as Member, Curriculum Advisory Panel for BA Degree and Diploma programmes in Tamil Literature.
2018 – As president of ASLE-ASEAN, co-organised eco-conference in Hanoi, Institute of Literature, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam, 26 & 27 January, 2018, 2nd Conference in ASLE-ASEAN Series.
2017: I was invited by University of the Philippines to serve as Visiting Professor and to give a series of lectures to Faculty members on South Asian Literatures. [June 2017].
2010: Served as External Assessor for Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Research Applications on South Asia. [January 2010].
2009: Invited Plenary Speaker at UNISIM Language Seminar: Crossing Cultures: Bridging Minds, 15 August, 2009.
2006 – September 2006 onwards (ongoing) Invited and appointed by UNISIM, Dean, School of Arts and Social Sciences, to be on the Programme Advisory Panel to provide strategic advice and recommendations to UNISIM towards running BA degree programme in Tamil Language & Literature.
2004 –Guest of Honour for Public Seminar: “The Role of Information Technology in Teaching and Learning of Tamil Language, organized by the Tamil Language Unit, School of Arts, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 14 February, 2004

ACADEMIC COMMUNITY:

I am regularly invited to review articles submitted to several journals in my field, including Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment [ISLE], OUP; Interventions [Duke UP]; Journal of Commonwealth Literature [ SAGE]. All three are top-tier journals in my fields of ecocriticism and postcolonial studies.
I am also regularly invited to serve as external examiner for Masters and Doctoral Thesis from Chinese University of Hongkong, National University of Malaysia and several Indian Universities. Time permitting, I occasionally accept. Examples below:
- University of Malaysia (Kebengsang) Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities: external examiner for Shangeetha A/P Raja Kumaran “Heterogeneity and Diasporic Consciousness of Malaysian Indian Writings in English”; June 2013 (PhD)
- University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Arts: external examiner for Goh Ching Fai : “The Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore (1941-45): Narrating Trauma and Memory in 21st Century Malaysian Novels in English”; August 2013. (M.Phil)
Invited to serve as external reader for book-length monograph by Cambridge University Press: Rosemary George, Indian English and The Fiction of National Literature. 2012.

NUS UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY:

2020-2021 – Invited by Dean of Humanities, Yale-NUS to serve as member of DEC for Matthew Schneider.
2019: Presented to a Chinese Delegation on English Literary Studies. 7.11.2019.
2017: External Evaluator for Yale-NUS Internal Grant submission.
2003-2018: Served as Staff Advisor to NUS Tamil Language Society. I resigned on 1 April 2018 due to pressure of work after serving for 15 years.

FASS COMMUNITY:

2012-2018: I served on the Annual Review Committee for South Asian Studies Programme
2013: Invited Member for SASP Search Committee for Assistant Professor in Cultural Studies.
2012-2013: Invited Chair, SASP Search Committee for Assistant Professor and Associate Professor Posts for Tamil Studies Sept 2012- July 2013.
2012: DEC Member for Dr Ingrid Maria Hoofd, Department of Communications and New Media.
2011: Invited Plenary Presenter for the launch of the Singapore Research Nexus by FASS. “Status of Tamil Language in Singapore”.

DEPARTMENT:

I have agreed to serve as acting HOD in 2022 when current HOD goes on 10-month sabbatical leave.

1 October, 2017 onwards: (2nd term) Deputy Head of Department; Chair for Literature (ongoing). As part of my duties:
- I serve on the Annual Review Committee for EN Faculty.
- I oversaw a Literature Curriculum Review that was unanimously supported and implemented.
- I look after scheduling all PhD Vivas and I chair them
- I oversee the scheduling of all modules and the time-tabling
- I oversee sabbatical leave of EN Staff and advise HOD on matters relating, etc.
2020-2021: Chair, DEC for President Assistant Professor Irving Goh.
2013: Member, DEC for Dr Tania Roy (Education Track).
2013-2016 – Department Coordinator for Department Outreach Programme. We conducted one-day seminars over three years for all Junior College Students interested in applying to our department for their tertiary education.
2008-2015 – Department Staff Peer-Review Coordinator
2008-2015 – Department USP-ISP Coordinator.
2000 – 2008 – Department Staff Seminar Coordinator
1998-2000 – Staff Pantry Coordinator.

SINGAPORE COMMUNITY:

2018 ongoing: Vice Chair, Publications Consultative Panel, Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore. (IMDA)
2017 November: Invited Plenary Speaker for the bilingual forum, in Singapore Writers Festival - Panel on ARAM (Tamil word for Dharma).

2017: Invited Member of Education Committee, SINDA. Chaired by Deputy Prime Minister, Tharman and Dr N Varaprasad. Served for 1 year.
2015-2017: Appointed by Director General of MOE, Ho Peng to serve on the Assessment Committee of National Bilingual Projects. I served for one term.

2014-2018: Appointed by National Arts Council as Consultant/External Assessor for Tamil Literary Arts. Served for four years.
2013-2015: Deputy Coordinator for the Tamil Digital Heritage Project, which was sponsored by all these organisations: National Heritage Board, National Library Board, National Book Development Council and National Arts Council. We organized the digitization of 95% of Singaporean Tamil Literary Works from 1965-2015 with consent from authors. This was a major undertaking for the SG50 festivities.
August 2013: Received Special Recognition Award by Minister Yacob Ibrahim (Trade & Industry) for Service to MCI.
2012-2014: the sole NUS Academic to serve as an administrative board member of The Lee Kuan Yew Bilingualism Fund. Chaired by Minister of Education.
2012: Served as Chief Judge for English Category for Singapore Literature Prize.
2009-2018: Appointed my Ministry of Education as Member of Advisory Panel for the Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre, Singapore. I served for nine years.
Invited by Ministry of Education to serve on the Curriculum Review Committee of Secondary School English and Tamil Literature Curricula at two different times. To my knowledge, I am the only person who has been invited by MOE to serve on both English and Mother Tongue Curriculum Review.
2009 onwards (ongoing) Chief Editor, Omkara, an annual community journal on Vedic Hinduism.

2014-2018: Member, Working Committee, Singapore Writers Festival, National Arts Council.
2009- 2012 – AWARE [Association of Women for Action and Research] by invitation: appointed Consultant for Gender Core-Curriculum. I also conducted classes for Staff at AWARE during this period on feminist theory and its impact on culture and society.
1998-2018: Invited Member of Indian Programme Advisory Committee for TV and Radio Programmes: Ministry for Information and the Arts (MITA); Chaired successively by Mr S Dhanabalan, Minister S Shanmugam; Minister S Eswaran, Minister Indrani Raja, MP Vikram Nair. This committee advises television, radio and news outlets on matters related to Indian Cultural and Community matters in Singapore. Served for maximum tenure of 20 years. I also published an Article in The Straits Times on
2002-2005 – Appointed Member of The National Arts Panel by MITA. I served for one term.
1992-2000 –Invited Member, National Internet Steering Committee. Served on the National Tamil Internet Steering Sub-Committee, set up at the national level to create an awareness of the vast potential waiting to be exploited in Tamil software and websites. The sub-committee observed and advised the national committee on the progress and development of Tamil websites and software, both regional and global. I also helped organize the NUS Stall at the International Tamil Internet Conference held at Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore, 22-24 July, 2000.
2002-2004 – I was appointed member of The National Library Board, Advisory Panel (Tamil); I served for a term.

II. CONTRIBUTIONS TO TAMIL COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS, SINGAPORE:

July 2015 – Received Avvaiyar Award for lifetime service to Singapore- Indian Community. Awarded by Singapore Tamil Language and Cultural Society.
I November 2015, Appointed moderator for National Arts Council Sponsored “Four Languages Symposium”.
April 2008 – Served as Judge for the National Tamil Debate conducted at National Junior College.
2005 – 2006 Member of Tamil Language Review Committee under Dr N Varaprasad {former Deputy President, NUS}; The Committee worked for a year from January to September 2005 and submitted its recommendations to the Minister.
2006 - 2009 – emerging out of the recommendations of the above committee, a Committee for the Development of Spoken Tamil was set up under Chair – Minister S Iswaran. I have been appointed as Chair of one of the sub-committees on Developing Spoken Tamil through Tamil Literature for students at all levels.
2006 Invited as Guest of Honour to the Prize Award Ceremony organized by Tamil Language Unit of Curriculum Planning and Development Division, Ministry of Education at Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre (Ministry of Education Language Centre) on 27 May 2006.

PUBLIC SERVICE: (GENERAL)

Being effectively bilingual in English and Tamil, I am asked to contribute to discussion forums in Tamil, or Indian matters on Radio and Television and in debates on and off campus and on public forums. Some select contributions are listed below.

2020: Invited Key Note Address by Singapore Tamil Writers Association: “Role of Literary Theory in Tamil Creative Writing” 28 November, 2020.
2020:Invited Plenary Speaker by Indian Singaporean Islamic Forum on Launch of a Book of Tamil Poems on Prophet Mohammed. Nov. 2020.
Periodically interviewed on Tamil TV Channels for opinions regarding academic/educational matters; gender issues; community issues, etc.
Chair of the three-member Judging Committee for National Inter-school Tamil debate, aired live on Television, 17 August, 2005.
Interviewed about Reading habits of Bilingual speakers for TV Channel: Vasantham. Interview aired on 21 December 2003.
Interviewed for the Central Channel Talk Show “Let’s Converse” on “the problems faced by adult learners in Singapore and how they can combat stress”. My opinions were solicited in my capacity as an adult part-time educator at the Open University Degree Programme. Aired on 30 June, 2001.
Invited to be one of the award presenters for the Pradaana Vizha ( Premier Event) on Vasantham Central Television Channel, 14 April, 2001.
Invited by the Head of Language department of National Junior College to be Judge for the Final Inter-collegiate debates in Tamil, April 2001.
Invited to be the judge for the final round for the televised National Tamil debate telecast over 7 weeks on Central TV in Singapore. My programme appeared on 20 Feb.2000.
Interviewed by TCS for a Current Affairs programme on 16Feb.2000. This was broadcast on 14 March 2000.

Solicited by Life ! section of The Straits Times to contribute to a forum on “What women should expect in the 21 Century” which appeared in the Life ! Section on International Women’s Day, 2000.

_____________________

Fun Writing...

Read My Novel…

I have published a murder mystery novel – Void of Reason. It is set in Singapore and India. It is published by New Dawn Publishers, Slough, United Kingdom. It is available on Kindle and in Amazon Bookstores worldwide. In Singapore it is available in 'Books Actually' bookstore in Tiong Bahru.

Some Comments on the novel:

""Void of Reason...casts its spell on us from its opening chapters. Sankaran's very original investigators, Christopher Lim, an imperturbable, Confucius-like Tai Chi practitioner, and Sub-inspector Selvi, a tough female police officer breaking the barriers of gender, are a delight and should easily take their places beside Miss Jane Marple and Hercule Poirot"

Dr Charles R Johnson, author of Middle Passage, winner of U.S. National Book Award for Fiction.

"A feat of plotting, the unusual setting and the weaving together of Indian threads brings a cast of original characters vividly to life. The book does what all good mysteries must do, pulls the reader deep into an inescapable web of intrigue, and keeps you reading until the very last word."

Meira Chand, author of A Different Sky.

Void of Reason by Chitra Sankaran Void Of Reason: Sankaran, Chitra: Amazon.sg: Books

Sidebar

FASS: Quick Links

FASS Staff Profile

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR CHITRA SANKARAN
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT of ENGLISH, LINGUISTICS & THEATRE STUDIES

Brief Introduction

Teaching Areas

CURRENT TEACHING MODULES:

TEACHING INTERESTS

TEACHING AWARDS

DETAILS OF ALL EARLIER MODULES TAUGHT IN NUS:

Graduate Supervision

Current Research

PUBLICATIONS

Publications

Other Information

Invited Plenary Speaker in WEBINARS in 2020:

KEYNOTES, PLENARIES, INVITED CONFERENCE TALKS

Academic Journal Editorship

SERVICE

SERVICE

Fun Writing...

"A feat of plotting, the unusual setting and the weaving together of Indian threads brings a cast of original characters vividly to life. The book does what all good mysteries must do, pulls the reader deep into an inescapable web of intrigue, and keeps you reading until the very last word."

Sidebar

FASS: Quick Links

FASS Staff Profile

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR CHITRA SANKARAN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DEPARTMENT of ENGLISH, LINGUISTICS & THEATRE STUDIES

Brief Introduction

Teaching Areas

CURRENT TEACHING MODULES:

TEACHING INTERESTS

TEACHING AWARDS

DETAILS OF ALL EARLIER MODULES TAUGHT IN NUS:

Graduate Supervision

Current Research

PUBLICATIONS

Publications

Other Information

Invited Plenary Speaker in WEBINARS in 2020:

KEYNOTES, PLENARIES, INVITED CONFERENCE TALKS

Academic Journal Editorship

SERVICE

SERVICE

Fun Writing...

"A feat of plotting, the unusual setting and the weaving together of Indian threads brings a cast of original characters vividly to life. The book does what all good mysteries must do, pulls the reader deep into an inescapable web of intrigue, and keeps you reading until the very last word."

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR CHITRA SANKARAN
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT of ENGLISH, LINGUISTICS & THEATRE STUDIES