See the University of Hyderabad Herald post of this event here
Ms Devina Sarwatay, PhD Student and Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Communication (DoC), University of Hyderabad (UoH), India organised this 5-day event with support from the Faculty Advisory Board (FAB) comprising Prof. Usha Raman, Prof. Vinod Pavarala, and Dr Madhavi Ravikumar and the Local Student Organising Committee (LSOC).
The IAMCR Hyderabad Event opened on the 11th of July 2021 with an inaugural address by Prof. Vinod Pavarala, Senior Professor, DoC, UoH. This was followed by the streaming of the recorded IAMCR 2021 opening plenary and a live discussion led by Prof. Pavarala. Following the streaming, a lively discussion led by Prof. Pavarala foregrounded various themes addressed by the plenary panel and how one might think through the complexities of transgressing the global/local dichotomy.
Day 2 featured three presentations from DoC students, Ramakrishna Bhargawere, Ratan Naga Deepika and Jharna Brahma, followed by a live discussion led by Ms Sarwatay. Jharna Brahma's presentation consisted of a nine-minute video related to her research work from the inaugural IAMCR/UNICEF C4D grant in 2020.
Day 3 consisted of the GSCC and the screening of two IAMCR Flow 34 videos. One of the Flow 34 videos screened was by Amritha Mohan, PhD Student at the Department. A total of seven papers that were selected for the judges’ round after two series of previous review were presented by PhD and PG students from various institutes. Each presentation was followed by questions and remarks from the judges.
Day 4 of the event started with the screening of IAMCR "Decolonizing Communication" Plenary video. The screening was followed by a live discussion led by Prof. Radhika Parameswaran, Indian University and A/Prof. Dr Sangeet Kumar, Denison University.
The virtual event closed with the IAMCR plenary on "Media Scholarship as Resistance" chaired by Prof. Usha Raman, University of Hyderabad with Dr Leonardo Da Costa. The five-day IAMCR Hyderabad Event concluded with closing remarks by Prof. Usha Raman.
Devina Sarwatay reflected on this experience:
We all were wishing and hoping for an in-person IAMCR but the pandemic had other plans. Nonetheless, the "No Travel" Event was great to infuse a sense of live-ness for the organisers as well as attendees. The graduate students certainly got an idea of what it might feel to participate in a conference because for many this was their first experience! Many people might not be able to afford to fly out to international conferences either and events like these will certainly help their learning and career.