Vinod Balakrishnan

 

Associate Professor 

Office: +91 (431) 2503694
Fax: 0431 – 2500133
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Vinod Balakrishnan is an Associate Professor in English in the Department of Humanities at National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli. He earned his Ph.D in “Popular Fiction and the Use of History” from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala. He was a Fellow at the School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University, New York in 2008. He is a recipient of a Bronze Medal for poetry by the National Library of Poetry, USA. His poems have been archived and widely anthologized. He is the author of Indian Classics in English Translation and has coauthored a book on Literary Theory. His articles have appeared in The Quest, CIEFL Bulletin, Journal of English Language Teaching and Indian Express. His research concentrates on Pop Culture Studies, Cultural Studies, and Indian Poetics. His current research interests include East-West Peace Studies, Pop Fiction, Politics of Representation and History of Thought. Currently, he is working on “Networks and Mobility in Literature”.

Awards and Honors

  • 1997: Third Prize Bronze Medal: in the International Poetry Writing Competition conducted by the National Library of Poetry, USA
  • 1997: Editor’s Choice Award: For Outstanding Achievement in Poetry judged by the International Library of Poetry, USA.
  • 1999: Editor’s Choice Award: For Outstanding Achievement in Poetry judged by the International Library of Poetry, USA.

Workshops Attended

  • 21st-23rd December, 2008- In-House Program on “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Training Program” at NIT, Trichy.
  • 27th and 28th February, 2009- National Workshop on Technical Communication at IIITM-K.

Keynote Address/ Invited Lectures

  • 11-11-2008 – National Seminar on Essential Employability Skills at the Centre for Academic Excellence, Anna University, Tiruchirappalli- Spoke on “Language Learning and Staying Motivated.”
  • 18-8-2009- “Books that can Change your life”. – Talk at the Institution of Engineers (India), Tiruchirappalli Local Centre, at BHEL, Tiruchirappalli.
  • 09-9-2009- Lecture on “Circumstances Leading to Foucault’s fascination for the Marginalized.” To Research Scholars at Anna University, Chennai.
  • 28-10-2009- “Milestones in the Discourse on Indian English.” At the National Seminar on Promotion of Standard English in Teaching- at ULTRA College of Engineering and Technology for Women , Madurai.
  • 5-12-2009- “Reading for Empowerment: Discovering spaces for Improvement.” National Seminar on English Language Teaching-at Oxford Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli.

Resource Person

  • 24-1-2009- Canada-India Institutional Co-operation Project: Workshop for Teachers on Multimedia Language Lab and Communication Skills- Spoke on “Language Acquisition through Newspapers.”
  • 30-1-2009, 18-6-2009 and 13-8-2009- Handled sessions at TNPL, Karur for Engineers on “Business Communication.”
  • 31-7-2009- At the UGC-Academic Staff College, University of Kerala, Trivandrum- spoke on “Approaches to Foucault.”
  • 15-8-2009- Two-Week Program on Soft Skills and Personality Development at Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi- Spoke on “Attitudes to Learning English.”
  • 18-9-2009- Quiz Master at the Inter-University Literary Festival- Symphony- at Gandhigram Rural University, Dindigul.

Poems published (National and International)

By the Poetry.com

  • “As I See It.”
  • “Lecture Routines.”
  • “The Way it is With Journeys.”
  • “So Much Darkness Lets Us See.”

Poems published by Host Publications, INC. Austin,Texas.

  • “History: VERILY, verily.”
  • “Shantiniketan.”

Poems published by the Poetry Society of India

  • “Round and Round the Maypole.”
  • “Virgin Syllables.”
  • “Paper Boats in the Rain.”

Poems published by Indian Literature (Sahitya Akademy)

  • Red Cross Mind

Books Authored/Co-authored

  • Indian Classics in English Translation. Textbook for the Postgraduate program of Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamilnadu.
  • Literary Theory. Co-authored the Textbook with S.Lakshmi for the Postgraduate program of Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamilnadu.

Seminal Publications:

  • “Location of History in a Spiritual Eco-System: Looking at Madhuram Gayati by O V Vijayan.” Indian Literature. March-April 2009, 180-185.
  • “Looking at the Woman in the Airport Novel.” CIEFL Bulletin. Vol.12. Nos. 1 and 2. Dec 2002. 71-81.
  • “Drama as a Criticism of Life: Hayavadana.” The Plays of Girish Karnad: Critical Perspectives. Edited by Jayadipsingh Dodiya. New Delhi: Prestige, 1999. 218-225.
  • “A Time for Words: Further Thoughts on Newswatch.” The Journal of English Language Teaching (India). Vol XLV. No. 5. Sep-Oct 2007. 38-42.

Selected Conferences

  • 07-2-2009- National Seminar on Indian Drama in English- 7-8th Feb at Gandhigram Rural University, Dindigul. Presented paper titled: “Who Possesses the Body of Harvest?”
  • 25-3-2009- National Seminar on English and Communication Skills for Employability- 25-26th March at Department of Enlgish, College of Engineering, Anna University, Chennai. Presented paper titled: “Putting News to Use: The Newspaper as a Resource for Second Language Learning.”
  • 30-12-2009- International Seminar on “The Novel in the Twenty-First Century: Text and Context” organized by the Department of English and Modern European Languages, University of Allahabad, Allahabad- 29th Nov-1st Dec, 2009- Presented paper titled: “Bombay as Image, the Imagined and the Imaginary in Q and A and Sacred Games.”
  • National Seminar on Indian Drama in English at Gandhigram Rural University, Tamilnadu. 7-8 Feb, 2008. Paper Titled: “Appropriating the Body: Performing Harvest.”
  • National Conference on Innovations in English Language Teaching: IELT-2007 at Karunya University, Coimbatore. 27 Oct, 2007. Paper Titled: “Is there a Textbook in the Classroom?”
  • State –Level Seminar on Value Education at Gandhigram Rural University, Gandhigram. 30-31 Mar, 2002. Paper Titled: “Re-visiting the Hindu: The Emotive Content.”
  • National Seminar on The Awakening of the Marginalized in the Post-Colonial Indian Milieu at Auxilium College, Vellore. 23-25 Jan 2003. Paper Titled: “From Reading the Symbolic to an Acceptance of the Symbol.”
  • UGC National Seminar on Human Rights Education at National College, Tiruchirappalli. 25-26 Mar, 2000. Paper Titled: “Designing the Syllabus for Human Rights Education in the Indian Secular Context.”

Summer School

2008: The School of Criticism and Theory (SCT) at Cornell University, Ithaca, USA.

Courses Taught

  • Technical Communication (Undergraduate)
  • Professional Communication (Undergraduate)
  • Corporate Communication (Graduate)
  • Creative Writing through Literature

External Expert

  • 08-4-2008- Board of Studies for BA and MA at Tasim Beevi Abdul Khader College for Women, Keelakarai
  • 18-19th September, 2009- Academic Inspection for Undergraduate and Postgraduate program in English at Karunya University, Coimbatore