Faculty
Dr. Himabindu Chintakunta
Assistant Professor
Alliance School of Film and Media Studies
Dr. Himabindu Chintakunta holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Hyderabad. She finished her MA(Communication) from the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad and BA(Hons) Mass Communication and Journalism from The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad.
Her Ph.D dissertation analyses the Telugu print and publishing scenario of the Princely State of Hyderabad by locating the socio-political and cultural context in which the regional elite engaged with modern forms of associational life. The thesis locates modern associational life as periodicals, publishing houses, changing networks of patronage, civil societal organisations and allied literary and political activities. Her upcoming (co-authored) journal article in Public Culture brings together perspectives from caste and media studies, indological studies, and science technology and society studies.
Before joining Alliance University, she worked as a Guest Faculty at the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad and was also a Visiting Faculty at Annapurna College of Film and Media. Apart from academic experience, she also has the experience of working as a Research Associate with Ideosync Media Combine, a not-for-profit organization based out of Delhi NCR. There she was involved in training and capacity building of community media practitioners in writing scripts, recording their stories on audio and video and conducting workshops in qualitative research.
Her research interests include Media Histories, Gender, media and Communication, Cultural Studies and Communication, and Film Studies. Apart from research and teaching she is regularly involved in translation projects, contributing subtitles for movies and writing on contemporary cultural themes along with collaborative movie podcasts.
- Thirumal, P, Narmada, P, Chintakunta, H. Notes towards a Theoretical History of Indic Media: On Elite Comportment and Technological Affordances. Public Culture, 36:2, Duke University Press (September 2024, Forthcoming)
- Chintakunta, H. (2022, July). Vernacular Elite, Literary and Political Confrontations in the Princely State of Hyderabad: Examining Golkonda Patrika as a Spatial Substrate (pp. 1-13). Caesurae: Poetics of Cultural Translation). Combined volumes 4:2 & 5:1. (ISSN: 2454-9495)
- Elavarthi, S & Chintakunta, H. (2018, April). Disruption and Reconstitution of Spectatorial Pleasures in Telugu Cinema. Phalanx, Issue 13. (ISSN: 2320-7698
Awards and Grants
- Travel Grant to attend the ICA Pre-Conference on “Repressed Histories of media and Communication”, June 2024 (Upcoming)
- UGC Junior(and Senior) Research Fellowship (NET/JRF) in Mass Communication and Journalism (December 2015)
Translations
- 1948 Police Charyanu ela artham chesukovaali?! (25th September, 2023). Translated for Saaranga: Telugu Literary Magazine. 1948
(saarangabooks.com)
Popular Writings
- A Revolutionary & A Rare Cultural Leader: How Gaddar moved a Generation of People (9th August, 2023). The Quint
https://www.thequint.com/south-india/gaddar-telangana-separate-statehood-cultural-icon-revolutionary-tribute
Others
- Was a part of the Organising Committee of a two-day international symposium on ‘Print Out: Archiving and Curatorial Practices of Alternative Publishing Ventures’, organized by Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad in collaboration with Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council, December 2018.
- Teaching Assistant for the course on ‘Introduction to Communication’, at Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad.
- Worked as an RJ at Bol Hyderabad 90.4 FM, a campus-community Radio station.
- Completed internships from various media and research organisations like the Centre for Media Studies, The HMTV (A Telugu News and Entertainment Channel) and The New Indian Express.
- Worked as a Research Assistant under UNESO Chair on Community Media, University of Hyderabad, assisting in field-testing and reviewing the Community Radio Continuous Improvement Toolkit (CR-CIT) developed for Community radio stations.
- Presented a paper titled “The City and the Samsthanas: Telugu Print in the Princely State of Hyderabad”, at the European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS-2023) held in Turin, Italy during July 2023.
- Invited speaker for the Khidki Collective’s series of Talks titled ‘Deccan Conversations’. Gave a talk on ‘Telugu Periodicals and the Networks of Public Life in the Princely State of Hyderabad’, on 15th April 2023.
- Presented a paper titled “Historical Research and Digitised Archives: Some Concerns using Vernacular Language Archives”, at the international conference on “The Digital Divides: Discontents, Debates and Discussions” organised by Digital Humanities Alliance for Research Innovations and Teaching (DHARTI) held between 21-25 February 2022.
- Presented a paper titled “Composing a Newspaper in the 20th Century: Vernacular Publishing in the Princely State of Hyderabad”, at the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) conference held in Nairobi/Online during July 2021.
- Presented a paper titled “Print and Power in Princely state of Hyderabad: The case of Emerging Telugu Public Sphere” at Two-Day National Seminar on “Histories of Media and Performance: The Political, the Cultural, and the Deep Pasts” organizedby the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication, University of Hyderabad, held between 14-15 March 2019.
