2021-2022
Workshop- Organizing your Writing: Academic Writing
12th July 2021, 10:00-14:00, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Dr. Suchetana Banerjee, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
Every year, the research cell conducts a series of research workshops aimed at providing the students, across all four batches, resources and guidance for proper research and writing. This year the Research Cell hosted the 4th Annual Research workshop series. The first workshop in this series was a session on ‘Organizing your Writing: Academic Writing’, conducted by Dr. Suchetana Banerjee. The workshop aimed to help students write a well organized academic paper. The session covered topics like - what makes an academic paper, how it is different from creative writing and the need for it to be clear, concise, focused, structured and backed up by evidence. After going over points which are a must for academic writing, the session moved on to talk about the title, abstract, introduction, paragraphs, conclusion, references and appendix sections of an academic article. Dr Banerjee briefly also covered literature review. The participants were split into breakout rooms where they engaged in paraphrasing and citation exercises. The workshop concluded with a question and answer session.
No: of participants - 36
Workshop - MS Excel
13th July 2021, 10:00 -14:00, Online via Zoom
Resource Person:Ms. Deepali Gunye,Visiting Faculty, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The second workshop in the 4th Annual Research Workshop Series hosted by the Research Cell involved visiting faculty member, Ms.Deepali Gunye teaching participants the functionalities and features in MS Excel that can serve to benefit one’s research endeavors. The session was conducted in a follow-along workshop format where participants followed Ms.Gunye’s instructions on their own devices. Ms.Gunye focused on the functions that can be used in data collection. The participants were taught how to use these functions with the data provided and were also assisted in making a chart for the same. Ms. Gunye also facilitated the participants in creating user-friendly and interactive pivot tables and ended the session with a question and answer section.
No: of participants - 21
Workshop- Organising your Writing: Reference Management using Zotero
14th July 2021, 14:00-17:00, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Dr. Manjari Jonnalagadda, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The third workshop in the 4th Annual Research Workshop Series hosted by the Research Cell was conducted by Dr. Manjari Jonnalagadda. The workshop aimed at helping students understand how to use the reference management software Zotero, and how to effectively make use of it in their daily academic life. The session gave an introduction to citations, references and its many purposes; particularly the need to search, collect and organise one’s collection of citations. The facilitator showed a real-time demonstration of Zotero covering the following topics: How to use the Zotero application and the numerous folders it contains, how to download papers and their citations using the Zotero extension (This was demonstrated for articles, books, chapters in a book etc) and finally how to in-text cite and add reference list according to the APA style using Zotero to a Word document. The workshop concluded with a question and answer session.
No of participants: 19
Workshop - Organizing Your Writing: Indexing Techniques
15th July 2021, 10:00- 13:00, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Dr. Afshan Majid, Visiting Faculty, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The fourth workshop in the Annual Research Workshop Series was a session on indexing techniques conducted by Dr.Afshan Majid, a visiting faculty member at the Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts.
The session aimed at guiding students on how to efficiently organise and conduct research to avoid the burnout one might face due to an overload of academic material after hours of research. The session involved a general discussion of the hurdles faced by participants while conducting research which were later addressed by Dr.Majid.
Dr.Majid provided tips on how to ensure retention while reading and surfing academic material. A template of an index was presented. According to Dr.Majid, the index serves as a skeleton for your research and therefore advised the participants to create such an index and update it while conducting research. Further, Dr. Majid provided participants with a few guidelines on how to begin writing a research paper with the help of an index. The session concluded with a question and answer session where participants could clarify their doubts with the facilitator.
No: of participants - 29
Workshop- Organising Your Writing: Writing a Literature Review
15th July 2021, 14:00-17:00, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The fifth workshop in the 4th Annual Research Workshop Series was conducted by Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet. The workshop aimed at helping students understand what a literature review is and how it is written. The facilitator discussed the elements needed in a literature review namely summary and evaluation of the text. Emphasis was made on the need to write a short summary. Further, the common mistakes made and the DOs and DON'Ts when writing a literature review was discussed along with the need to write a short summary at the end of the paper. The workshop concluded with a question and answer session.
No: of participants - 39
Workshop - What is Feminist about 'Feminist Research Methodologies' and is There More Than One Feminist Research Methodology?
16th July, 2021, 10:00-11:30, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Prof. Aparna Rayaprol, University of Hyderabad
This year, as a part of the 4th Annual Research Workshop series, the Research Cell hosted a Special Series on Feminist Methodology. The first session of this Special Series was conducted by Prof.Aparna Rayaprol from the University of Hyderabad. Through a presentation, Prof. Aparna Rayaprol highlighted the importance of perspectives involved in feminist methodology. Prof. Rayaprol provided participants with methods and ways through which one can conduct interviews, surveys and textual analysis in a feminist manner. Further, Prof. Rayaprol also explained the advantage of incorporating such a methodology in different disciplines to attain insightful research. Later on in the session, the participants were divided into groups. Each group was assigned a research topic and were asked to create a methodological plan for that topic. Each group presented their plans to Prof. Rayaprol who provided advice and her insights on the matter. The session ended with a question and answer session through which the participants could resolve their doubts regarding feminist methodology.
No: of participants - 30
Workshop - Ethics in Feminist Research Methodology (Special Series on Feminist Research Methodology )
16th July 2021, 11:45-13:15, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Prof (Retd.) Padmini Swaminathan, Madras Institute of Development Studies
The second session of the Special Series was conducted by Prof (Retd.) Padmini Swaminathan. Prof Swaminathan works at the Madras Institute of Development Studies. This workshop was conducted as part of a special series on Feminist Research Methodology to guide participants in their understanding and application of research methodologies and methods from a feminist perspective. The session began with a discussion of the 1938 Report, which was way ahead of its time. It promoted women’s rights and brought up the concept that housewives are also working women. The report concentrated on the economic rights of women and went further to say that such rights were contingent on each woman being treated as a separate unit in economic structure. The session moved on to discuss the 1974 Committee on the status of women (towards equality) report, which surprisingly makes no mention of the women behind or the ideas presented in the 1938 report. Hence, the question was raised if it is ethical to remain silent about an important document that today is almost forgotten. The participants were split into breakout rooms where they were made to ponder over different ethical questions. The workshop concluded with a discussion and a question-and-answer session.
No: of participants - 23
Workshop - Feminist Research Methodology in the Indian context: Water management in rural Maharahstra (Special Series on Feminist Research Methodology )
16th July 2021, 14:00-15:30 am, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Ms. Seema Kulkarni, Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management
The third session of the Special Series was conducted by Ms. Seema Kulkarni. Ms. Kulkarni works with the Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management. This workshop was conducted as part of a special series on Feminist Research Methodology to guide participants in their understanding and application of research methodologies and methods from a feminist perspective. The session began by talking about feminist research, particularly about transforming concepts and theories, transforming what it means to know and transforming the activity and organization of knowledge production. Ms. Kulkarni, from her own experience, narrated incidents of biases faced by women farmers and the gendered roles when it comes to water. She also talked about gender and land ownership by providing a pie chart showing predominant male operational ownership. A video on an incident about a woman facing these biases was shown particularly when it comes to securing loans and other resources. The workshop concluded with a discussion and a question-and-answer session.
No: of participants - 22
Workshop - Feminist Standpoint Epistemology: Lessons from India
17th July, 2021, 10:00-11:30 am, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Dr. Anagha Tambe, Savitribai Phule Pune University
The fourth session in the Special Series hosted by the Research Cell was conducted by Dr. Anagha Tambe from Savitribai Phule Pune University. Dr. Tambe discussed the epistemic advantage of a feminist standpoint in research while focusing on the Dalit Feminist Standpoint. Dr. Tambe spoke of the history of the Feminist Standpoint and the various characteristics of the same. The facilitator then spoke on the Indian Feminist Standpoint, specifically the Dalit Feminist Standpoint which led to a discussion on the situation of Dalit women and the Indian Feminist Movement. Dr. Tambe encouraged the paritcipants to adopt a feminist perspective in their research practices to achieve insightful analysis which can help drive social change.
No: of participants - 17
Workshop - Teaching Qualitative Research Methods from a Feminist Perspective
17th July 2021,11:45 - 13:15, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Dr. Anurekha Chari-Wagh, University of Hyderabad
The fifth session in the Special Series hosted by the Research Cell was conducted by the Dr. Anurekha Chari-Wagh from the University of Hyderabad. This session focused on the qualitative methods one should inculcate to create a more feminist methodology in research practices. Dr. Chari-Wagh emphasized the importance and diversity of experiences and the role of the researcher in understanding these experiences. Dr Chari-Wagh informed the participants of the qualities they should possess as researchers while conducting interviews and surveys of marginalized groups and communities. Later into the session, the participants were divided into two groups to discuss the academic material that was distributed beforehand. The groups provided their insight which was further supplemented by Dr. Chari-Wagh’s observations.
Workshop - The Science Question in Feminist Research (Special Series on Feminist Research Methodology )
17th July 2021, 14:00-15:30 am, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Dr Gita Chadha, Mumbai University
The sixth session of the Special Series was conducted by Dr Gita Chadha. Dr. Chadha is an assistant professor in the department of sociology with the University of Mumbai. This workshop was conducted as part of a special series on Feminist Research Methodology to guide participants in their understanding and application of research methodologies and methods from a feminist perspective. Dr. Chadha began her presentation by asking participants their individual experience with sciences. Drawing on these, she analyzed circumstances that lead to women being forced out of science. The session then moved on to talk about what is Feminist Science Studies (FSS) and its origin. Discussion on methodological shifts in four research domains of FSS and Methodological Shifts in understanding the low participation of women in science ensued. Emphasis was made on how the bias creeps when talking about science. The workshop concluded with a discussion and a question-and-answer session.
No: of participants - 15
Workshop - Research Ethics
19th July, 2021, 9:30 - 12:30 pm, Online via Zoom
Resource Person:Dr. Hansika Kapoor, Monk Prayogshala
For the 4th Annual Research Workshop Series Dr Hansika Kapoor from Monk Pragyoshala conducted a session on research ethics. The session began by tracing the history of ethics in research by looking at examples of some controversial experiments such as the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgram Experiment. Through these examples Dr. Kapoor highlighted the importance of weighing the costs and benefits of an experiment, not only on the researcher but also on the subjects. Later, the importance of informed consent was discussed and a template of a consent form was presented. Conversations about informed consent in an online atmosphere were discussed as well. Dr. Kapoor also spoke of the issues faced while publishing an academic paper and informed the participants on the prevalence of illegitimate or predatory journals.
No: of participants - 8
Research Communication
19th July 2021, 14:00-16:30, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Mr. Anirudh Tagat, Research Author, Monk Prayogshala
The final workshop in the 4th Annual Research Workshop Series was conducted by Mr. Anirudh Tagat, a guest facilitator at the Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. Mr. Tagat is a research author at Monk Prayogshala, with Economics as his field of specialization. The workshop aimed to provide students with tips and techniques to help present and communicate their research. The session highlighted the importance of presenting your research. Further, the methods of communicating research were divided into two – oral and written. For oral communication, Mr Tagat provided guidelines for making an effective oral presentation. The structure content for the same includes an introductory, content and a conclusion slide. The latter part of the session talked about guidelines for making an effective poster presentation. Formatting and designing content were discussed, this included templates, colours etc. Mr. Tagat further elaborated on the actual presentation of one’s work, talking about the chair, time to be taken and more. The workshop concluded with a question and answer session.
No: of participants - 11
2020-2021
Workshop on Research Methodology: Academic Honesty
12th September 2020, Batch A – 10:00 -13:00, Batch B – 14:00 – 17:00, Online via MS Teams
The Research Cell at SSLA organised a workshop on Academic Honesty for students of Batch 2020-2024 on September 12th, 2020, online via MS Teams. The workshop was mandatory for all students of Batch 2019-2024. The workshop was organized keeping in mind the importance of inculcating good research and writing practices among students to avoid plagiarism. The workshop focused on the differences between quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing, different types of plagiarism, citing sources correctly and other important aspects related to academic honesty. The workshop was particularly useful for students of Batch 2020-2024 since it served as an orientation to good academic practices a few months after they joined college which was a time when they could provide undivided attention to understanding issues concerning plagiarism. Students were divided into two batches for this workshop.
Number of participants: 116
Workshop on Research Methodology: Research Ethics
25th July 2020, 14:45-17:45, Online via Zoom
Resource Person: Dr. Hansika Kapoor, Research Author, Monk Prayogshala
The workshop on Research Ethics aimed at helping the students understand how to conduct research ethically, and how the ethics of research has evolved over time. Dr. Kapoor began by giving a history of the various ethically questionable researches that were conducted in the past years. The students were asked to brainstorm and think of the multiple ways in which the researches were unethical, and how the researchers could have worked in an ethical fashion. This proved to be a base for the workshop - helping students understand the importance of ethical research, and how there is a need to weigh the pros and cons before starting research. The workshop further discussed the importance of informed consent of the participants taking part in the research study. A template of a consent form was provided to the students and a discussion took place regarding the various kinds of information that need to be given to the participants of a study regarding the research being conducted. Another important topic discussed in the session was the ethics of publishing research papers.
Number of participants: 17
Workshop on Skill Development: Writing a Literature Review
25th July 2020, 12:30-14:30, Online via MS Teams
Every year, the research cell conducts a series of research workshops aimed at providing the students with all four batches of resources and guidance for proper research and writing. A part of this series was a workshop on the basics of a literature review called “Writing A Literature Review”. The workshop aimed to provide students with tips and techniques to help write a literature review for research and other resources that they need for their academic work in a neat organized manner in order to make their academic writing process easier. The instructor covered topic including what is a literature review, types of literature review, purpose of a literature review, and how to write a literature review.
Number of participants: 53
Workshop on Skill Development: Organising your Writing - Indexing Techniques
18th July 2020, 15:00 – 17:00, Online via MS Teams
The concluding workshop of a 3-part series on ‘Organizing your writing’ was a workshop on indexing techniques conducted by Dr. Afshan Majid. The aim of the workshop was to provide students with tips and techniques to help organize their literature and other resources that they need for their academic work. Dr. Majid focussed on how to read, highlight, and take notes on the literature that one aims to incorporate into their research, preparing a skeleton for the research paper, storing files and documents in organized folders, and saving and extracting important notes taken from the literature that was read, and on how to incorporate the information taken from other resources and other notes made into the writing. A technique of creating a synopsis for each chapter was also introduced, which would help in editing and rewriting chapters without losing important information.
Number of participants: 50
Workshop on Research Methodology: Research Communication
18th July 2020, 12:00 – 14:00, Online via MS Teams
As part of the series of workshops on research skills organized by the Research Cell, was a workshop on communicating and presenting research called "Research Communication". The workshop was conducted by Mr.Anirudh Tagat, a guest facilitator at the Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. Mr. Tagat is a research author at Monk Prayogshala, with Economics as his field of specialization. The workshop aimed to provide students with tips and techniques to help present and communicate their research and other resources that they need for their academic work in a neat organized manner in order to make their academic writing process easier. Purpose of communication - Why must one communicate their research to the world, what are the objectives and advantages of communicating research, and how is it important for the society to progress. Topic included ‘How to communicate research’ particularly through an oral presentation accompanied by slides, and ‘Poster presentation guidelines’. The workshop was two hours long that included explanations and demonstrations of the techniques, a question and answer session with the students, and general feedback.
Number of participants: 38
Workshop on Skill Development: Organising your Writing- Reference Management using Mendeley
11th July 2020, 15:00-17:00, Online via MS Teams
Resource Person: Dr. Sumithra Surendralal, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts.
Every year, the research cell conducts a series of research workshops aimed at providing the students across all four batches resources and guidance for proper research and writing. A part of these workshops was a three-part series on organization of writing called “Organize your Writing”. Reference management using Mendeley was the second workshop conducted in this series. Reference management softwares such as Mendeley are extremely useful for students writing their seminar papers and dissertations, as well as help them cite sources and organize resources efficiently for term papers and assignments as well. Learning to use the software at the beginning of an academic year would prove useful for future academic work of the students. The workshop instructor demonstrated the following: Creating an account of Mendeley and installing the application; adding, editing, and organizing the references to a library; automating additions to the library using the web import feature of Mendeley; adding references and resources directly from files downloaded on the computer; using the MS Word/ LibreOffice writer citation plugin to add citations from Mendeley directly to your document; using Mendeley to make directories and managing PDF documents on the application.
Number of participants: 49
Workshop on Skill Development: Organising your Writing - Basics of APA citation style
11th July 2020, 12:30-14:30, Online via MS Teams
Every academic year, the Research Cell conducts a series of research workshops aimed at providing the students of all four batches with resources and guidance for proper research and writing. A part of this series was a three-part series on the organization of writing called "Organize Your Writing". The first workshop of this series was conducted by Dr.Vaidyanatha Gundlupet, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. The workshop aimed to provide students with tips and techniques to help cite in the APA format and other resources that they need for their academic work in a neat organized manner in order to make their academic writing process easier. There was particular focus on the purpose of citation, format of citation, how to cite under APA style, and understanding capitalization.
Number of participants: 65
2019-2020
Workshop: Academic Writing (Research Proposal)
7th March 2020, 09:30-17:00, Multi Purpose Hall
Resource Person: Dr. Justin Scarimbolo, Visiting Faculty, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The Research Cell at SSLA organised a workshop on Academic Writing for students of Batch 2018-2022 on March 7th, 2020, at the Multi Purpose Hall, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Justin Scarimbolo, and was open to students of Batch 2018-2022 who engage in writing a research proposal for their dissertation in Semester 4. The workshop was organized keeping in mind the importance of sound academic writing including paying attention to the structure of an argument supported by evidence, style of writing, and the use of a consistent voice. Dr. Scarimbolo used a combination of lecture, discussion, and individual writing exercises to help students understandthe content better. This 6-hour workshop was held from 9:30 - 5:00 pm with a break for lunch. Attendance was based primarily on student signups. A few Research Methodology instructors mandated attendance for students in their sections.
Number of participants: 46
Workshop: Using Turnitin for Internship Reports
18th February 2020, Multi Purpose Hall
Resource Person: Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts.
Coordinators of the Research Cell at SSLA as ex-officio members of the institutional Academic Integrity Committee are responsible for the implementation of Symbiosis International (Deemed University) rules for the Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism. The Cell organised a workshop on using Turnitin for students of Batch 2017-2021 on February 18th, 2020, at the Multi Purpose Hall, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet, Assistant Professor, SSLA, for students of Batch 2017-2021 who submit their internship reports in semester 6. The workshop was organized to familiarize students with the use Turnitin software to check the Similarity Index (SI) of their report before the final submission to ensure that the SI is not more than 10% as mandated by the university. Dr. Gundlupet helped students familiarize themselves with uploading submissions on Turnitin, reading and interpreting a Similarity Index report, and also discussed sound academic practices such as citing sources correctly.
Number of participants: 36
Workshop: Using Turnitin for Dissertation
12th February 2020, Multi Purpose Hall
Resource Person: Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet, Assistant Professor, SSLA and Dr. Sumithra Surendralal, Assistant Professor, SSLA.
Coordinators of the Research Cell at SSLA as ex-officio members of the institutional Academic Integrity Committee are responsible for the implementation of Symbiosis International (Deemed University) rules for the Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism. The Cell organised a workshop on using Turnitin for students of Batch 2016-2020 on February 12th, 2020, at the Multi Purpose Hall, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet, Assistant Professor, SSLA, and Dr. Sumithra Surendralal, Assistant Professor, SSLA for students of Batch 2016-2020 who submit their dissertations in semester 8, as well as faculty members since they are members of dissertation committees. The workshop was organized to familiarize students with the use Turnitin software to check the Similarity Index (SI) of their report before the final submission to ensure that the SI is not more than 10% as mandated by the university. The resource persons helped students familiarize themselves with uploading submissions on Turnitin, reading and interpreting a Similarity Index report, and also discussed sound academic practices such as citing sources correctly.
Number of participants: 27
Workshop: Using Turnitin for Final Year Seminar Paper
7th January 2020, Multi Purpose Hall
Coordinators of the Research Cell at SSLA as ex-officio members of the institutional Academic Integrity Committee are responsible for the implementation of Symbiosis International (Deemed University) rules for the Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism. The Cell organised a workshop on using Turnitin for students of Batch 2016-2020 on January 7th, 2020, at the Multi Purpose Hall, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet, Assistant Professor, SSLA, and Dr. Sumithra Surendralal, Assistant Professor, SSLA for students of Batch 2016-2020 who submit their final year seminar paper in Semester 8, as well as faculty members who are seminar mentors. The workshop was organized to familiarize students with the use Turnitin software to check the Similarity Index (SI) of their report before the final submission to ensure that the SI is not more than 10% as mandated by the university. The resource persons helped students familiarize themselves with uploading submissions on Turnitin, reading and interpreting a Similarity Index report, and also discussed sound academic practices such as citing sources correctly.
Number of participants: 42
Workshop: Academic Writing
28th September 2019, 09:30-17:00, Multi Purpose Hall
The Research Cell at SSLA organised a 1-day workshop on Academic Writing open to students across all batches on September 28th, 2019, at the Multi Purpose Hall, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Justin Scarimbolo. Too often academic writing is assumed to produce logical and well-supported ideas in a vacuum. A common essay format, for example, requires students to write only a thesis statement and support it with evidence. This structure is good overall, but it leaves out the fact that arguments are almost always made in response to what someone else has said, thought, or done (or perhaps not said, thought or done). As a result, the underlying structure of most academic writing is left to be assumed, and those writers with less experience are put at a disadvantage. This workshop approached academic writing as a conversation. Drawing on Graff and Birkenstein’s book, “They Say/ I Say”: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2016), each component of the workshop focused on basic rhetorical methods for entering into that conversation. These methods included summarizing and quoting, taking a position, anticipating and responding to possible objections, and, perhaps most importantly, identifying what is at stake or why your position matters. The workshop incorporated guided practice on the concepts covered. This 6-hour workshop was held from 9:30 - 5:00 pm with three sessions of 2 hours each. Attendance was based primarily on student signups. A total of 16 students were present for the workshop.
Number of participants: 16
Workshop: Academic Honesty
7th September 2019, 09:30-13:00 and 13:30-17:00, Multi Purpose Hall
The Research Cell at SSLA organised a workshop on Academic Honesty for students of Batch 2019-2023 on September 7th, 2019, at the Multi Purpose Hall, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Justin Scarambolo, and was mandatory for all students of Batch 2019-2023. The workshop was organized keeping in mind the importance of inculcating good research and writing practices among students to avoid plagiarism. The workshop focused on the differences between quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing, different types of plagiarism, citing sources correctly and other important aspects related to academic honesty. The workshop was particularly useful for students of Batch 2019-2023 since it served as an orientation to good academic practices about two months after they joined college which was a time when they could provide undivided attention to understanding issues concerning plagiarism. Students were divided into two groups based on their majors. Group 1 had the workshop between 9:30 am and 1 pm and Group 2 had the workshop between 1:30 and 5:00 pm. A total of 100 students were present for the workshop.
Number of participants: 100
Workshop: Formal Analysis: Indexing Techniques
19th July 2019
Resource Person: Dr, Afshan Majid, Visiting Faculty, SSLA
As part of the annual Research Workshop Series, on 19th July 2019, the Research Cell at SSLA conducted a workshop on ‘Indexing Techniques’ open to all students and faculty members at SSLA. The resource person for the 2-hour workshop was Dr. Afshan Majid, visiting faculty teaching history at SSLA. This workshop was specifically aimed at helping participants organize their research writing. The workshop focused on the techniques of collecting data and then organising it. Participants learned methods of compartmentalisation of information, and preparing an index of the data for reference. Dr. Majid also gave participants writing tips and methods so that the collected and organised data could be easily converted into chapters or research papers. The workshop was meant to be helpful across most disciplines as the techniques could be adjusted to the respective subjects as well as modes of data collection.
Number of participants: 15
Workshop: Formal Analysis: Focus on the Visual Medium
18th July 2019
Resource Person: Ms. Ananya Parikh, Visiting Faculty, SSLA
As part of the annual Research Workshop Series, on 18th July 2019, the Research Cell at SSLA conducted a workshop on ‘Formal Analysis: Focus on the Visual Medium’ open to all students and faculty members at SSLA. The resource person for the workshop was Ms. Ananya Parikh, visiting faculty teaching film studies and literature at SSLA. This workshop was specifically aimed at introducing students to the key areas of investigation made possible with formal analysis. The workshop focused on visual and cinematic texts, and was designed to be particularly useful to those students who are working with visual iconography as a part of their dissertation, and also those students who are interested in studying audio-visual materials. Participants were taught that Formal Analysis aims to address how the formal elements of a text influence the representation of the subject matter and expressive content. The emphasis in Formal Analysis is on studying the formal elements and analyzing them, not on immediately interpreting the text and allows the researcher to work towards arriving at meanings of the text. In cinema studies, formal analysis is often termed as mise en scene analysis. While the workshop focused on visual art and cinema, Ms. Parikh said that the key ideas were equally valid for work on any kind of text- including literary and performative. All texts have a certain distinct form, and even if researchers are interested in socio-historical questions or content related questions, it is important to address the form in which the material reaches them and its nuances.
Number of participants: 10
Workshop: Close Reading of texts
Resource Person: Ms. Sheila Menon and Mr. Pramod Menon, Visiting Faculty, SSLA
As part of the annual Research Workshop Series, on 18th July 2019, the Research Cell at SSLA conducted a workshop on ‘Close Reading of Texts’ open to all students and faculty members at SSLA. The resource persons for the workshop were Ms. Sheila Menon, and Mr. Pramod Menon, visiting faculty teaching literature at SSLA. The workshop was organized as two 2-hour sessions on understanding, analyzing, interpreting and explaining literary texts. “‘Close Reading’ involves examining a selected passage or short work of literature in minute detail in order to appreciate two things: the way that the passage itself is constructed word-by-word and line-by-line; and the way that its structural details contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole.” During the workshop, the resource persons focussed on acquaintance of participants with the method of close reading using a single text.
Number of participants: 14
Workshop: Efficient Survey Research
16th July 2019
Resource Person: Mr. Anirudh Tagat
As part of the annual Research Workshop Series, on 16th July 2019, the Research Cell at SSLA conducted a workshop on ‘Efficient Survey Research’ open to all students and faculty members at SSLA. The resource person for the workshop was Mr. Anirudh Tagat, Research Author, Department of Economics, Monk Prayogshala, Mumbai, as well as Consultant Research Analyst, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Endowment Unit. Mr. Tagat is also involved in conducting training workshops to build research capacity for early-career and student researchers in India. During the workshop, the resource person focussed on the principles for item development and item construction. The association between different types of items and types of data collected was also highlighted. Participants who attended the workshop developed sample items in session, and also developed rating scales for the same.
Number of participants: 5
Workshop: Statistical Analysis using Software
As part of the annual Research Workshop Series, on 15th July 2019, the Research Cell at SSLA conducted a workshop on ‘Statistical Analysis using Software’ open to all students and faculty members at SSLA. The resource person for the workshop was Mr. Anirudh Tagat, Research Author, Department of Economics, Monk Prayogshala, Mumbai, as well as Consultant Research Analyst, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Endowment Unit. Mr. Tagat is also involved in conducting training workshops to build research capacity for early-career and student researchers in India. During the workshop, the resource person demonstrated the use of MS Excel, JASP, and R for statistical analysis. Participants were given hands-on experience navigating the graphical user interface (GUI) of each software.
Number of participants: 8
Workshop: Qualitative Content Analysis
Resource Person: Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet, Assistant Professor, SSLA
The Research Cell at SSLA is responsible for encouraging and creating an atmosphere conducive for research for both students and faculty members. On 16th July 2019, the Research Cell conducted a six-hour workshop on Qualitative Content Analysis for which Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, was the resource person. Qualitative content analysis focuses on latent content and analyses the text situating it in the content in which the text was produced. The workshop was aimed at helping participants use qualitative content analysis in their research projects and included exercises on coding data and analysing content. The workshop was conducted over three sessions. During the first session, Dr. Gundlupet summarised the main points of content analysis, discussed major kinds of content analysis and provided an example of qualitative coding of data. The second and third sessions focussed on participants’ research projects. Participants were expected to attend the workshop with a research problem which can be answered with qualitative content analysis and some data on which such analysis can be conducted. The sessions focussed on helping participants undertake qualitative content analysis (code data and draw out interpretations). Participants were split into groups, guided to conduct independent coding and undertake analysis based on the coding data.
Number of participants: 6
Workshop: Writing a Literature Review
15th July 2019
As part of the annual Research Workshop Series, on 15th July 2019, the Research Cell at SSLA conducted a workshop on ‘Writing a Literature Review’ open to all students and faculty members at SSLA. The resource person for the workshop was Mr. Anirudh Tagat, Research Author, Department of Economics, Monk Prayogshala, Mumbai, as well as Consultant Research Analyst, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Endowment Unit. During the workshop, Mr. Tagat discussed the importance of a literature review, identifying relevant literature, and compiling a succinct literature review. The workshop also included a discussion of the three pass approach to reading a research paper. Workshop participants were given hands-on training with database navigation for purposes of literature review including optimizing search with keywords.
Workshop: Reference Management using Mendeley
Resource Person: Dr. Hansika Kapoor
As part of the annual Research Workshop Series, on 15th July 2019, the Research Cell at SSLA conducted a workshop on ‘Reference Management using Mendeley’ open to all students and faculty members at SSLA. The resource person for the workshop was Dr. Hansika Kapoor, Research Author, Department of Psychology, Monk Prayogshala, Mumbai, who leads research activities in the areas of creativity, personality theory, information exchange, gender studies, and behavioural economics. Dr. Kapoor is also involved in conducting training workshops to build research capacity for early-career and student researchers in India. During the workshop, Dr. Kapoor demonstrated the use of Mendeley, a research management software, as well as the use of the MS Word Mendeley plugin for citations and references. Workshop participants were given hands-on training in the use of Mendeley, primarily for the purpose of citation and reference management, but also to annotate journal articles they were reading and maintaining notes.
Number of participants: 12
Workshop: Research Ethics
As part of the annual Research Workshop Series, on 15th July 2019, the Research Cell at SSLA conducted a workshop on ‘Research Ethics’ open to all students and faculty members at SSLA. The resource person for the workshop was Dr. Hansika Kapoor, Research Author, Department of Psychology, Monk Prayogshala, Mumbai, who leads research activities in the areas of creativity, personality theory, information exchange, gender studies, and behavioural economics. Dr. Kapoor is also involved in conducting training workshops to build research capacity for early-career and student researchers in India. During the workshop, Dr. Kapoor covered the fundamentals of research ethics before, during, and after a research project. She also led discussions on classic experiments that sparked controversy such as the Tearoom Study, the Tuskegee experiment, Milgram’s experiment, and Little Albert. Dr. Kapoor also discussed publication ethics.
Workshop: Academic Honesty (Avoiding Plagiarism)
16th March 2019, Multi Purpose Hall
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Academic Honesty (Avoiding Plagiarism, etc.) for students of Batch 2021 on March 16, 2019 at Multipurpose Hall, SSLA. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Justin Scarimbolo. During the Jan-May 2019 semester, students of Batch 2021 were writing research proposals for their dissertation projects. This was an ideal time for them to understand plagiarism and how to write without plagiarizing. The workshop covered different kinds of plagiarism and provided examples of each kind. The instructor also gave instructions on proper tenets of academic writing including citations of sources It included group and individual activities on paraphrasing and common mistakes in writing and how to avoid them. 85 students attended the workshop.
Number of participants: 85
2018-2019
Workshop: Academic Honesty (Avoiding Plagiarism etc.)
17th November 2018, Computer Lab
Resource Person: Dr. Aardra Surendran, Visiting Faculty, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Academic Honesty (Avoiding Plagiarism, etc.) for students of Batch 2019 on November 17, 2018 at the Computer Lab, SSLA. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Aardra Surendran. During the Jan-May 2019 semester, students of Batch 2019 were expected to submit their dissertation projects. This was an ideal time for them to understand plagiarism and how to write without plagiarizing. The workshop covered different kinds of plagiarism and provided examples
of each kind. The instructor also gave instructions on proper tenets of academic writing including citations of sources It included group and individual activities on paraphrasing and common mistakes in writing and how to avoid them. 60 students attended the workshop.
Number of participants: 56
Workshop: Statistical Analysis
27thth October 2018, Computer Lab
Resource Person: Ms. Deepali Gunye , Visiting Faculty, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Statistical Analysis on October 27, 2018, at Computer Lab, SSLA. The workshop was open to all students and was conducted by Ms. Deepali Gunye. The objectives of the workshop were help students to a) use statistical tests to analyse the data and perform hypothesis tests, b) use MS Excel to conduct analysis and apply right tools and techniques to present the analysis, and c) enhance their analytical skills
Workshop: Comparative Case Study and Process Tracing
22nd September 2018, Room 314
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Comparative Case Study and Process-Tracing on September 22, 2018, at Room 314, SSLA. The workshop was open to all students and was conducted by Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet. The six- hour workshop sought to introduce research methods of comparative case study (CCS) and process tracing and included exercises analysing examples of the application of these methods to understand their benefits and limitations. Comparative case study is best understood as
“a systematic analysis of small number of cases,” while process-tracing seeks to “identify the intervening causal process – the causal chain and causal mechanism – between an independent variable (or variables) and the dependent variable” thereby helping to prove causality. The workshop was conducted over three sessions. The first session provided an introduction to comparative case study and process-tracing with a focus on understanding the purpose and place of these techniques in research methodology, particularly in proving causality. There were group discussion sessions focused on examples of published studies try gain a better understanding of the application of the method. The second session focused on comparative case study and discussed issues like for selecting cases, avoiding section bias. There was also a group discussion exercise relating to structured-focused comparison. The third session focused on process tracing and provided guidance on rigorous use of the method, particularly focusing on the nature of data necessary for the method and also had a group discussion exercise analysing examples of the application of the method.
Number of participants: 25
1st September 2018, Multipurpose Hall
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Academic Honesty (Avoiding Plagiarism, etc.) for students of Batch 2022 on September 1, 2018. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Justin Scarimbolo. Batch 2022 students had started the undergraduate program in July 2018. The Liberal Arts program strongly emphasizes writing methodologically rigorous academic papers and hence it is particularly important to gain a good understanding issues surrounding plagiarism. This was an ideal time for them to
understand plagiarism and how to write without plagiarizing The workshop covered different kinds of plagiarism and provided examples of each kind. The instructor also gave instructions on proper tenets of academic writing including citations of sources It included group and individual activities on paraphrasing and common mistakes in writing and how to avoid them. 107 students attended the workshop.
Number of participants: 107
Workshop: Content Analysis
21st July, 2018, Room 314
Resource Person: Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School for
Liberal Arts
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Content Analysis on July 21, 2018, at Room 314, SSLA. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Vaidyanatha Gundlupet. The six-hour workshop sought to introduce content analysis as a research method and included exercises on coding data and analysing content. Content analysis can be understood as a method “for making systematic, credible, or valid and replicable inferences from texts and other forms of communication.
Workshop: Qualitative Fieldwork
17th July 2018, Room 314
Resource Person: Khaliq Parkar, Visiting Faculty, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Qualitative Fieldwork on July 17, 2018, at Room 314, SSLA. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Khaliq Parkar. The workshop introduced students to the basics of conducting fieldwork and provided tips in undertaking field research. It included exercises where students were sent on “field” within the campus of Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts and had to collect data by conducting interviews. 34 students attended the workshop.
Number of participants: 34
Workshop: Textual Analysis
19th-20th July 2018, Room 314
Resource Person: Ms. Ananya Parikh, Visiting Faculty, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Textual Analysis on July 19th and 20th of 2018 at Room 314, SSLA. The workshop was conducted by Ms. Ananya Parikh. The workshop was spread over two days. On the first day, students were introduced to the foundations of textual analysis method ad provided examples of works completed using the technique. On the second day, students, under the close supervision of the instructor, undertook exercises of reading a text to understand its deeper meanings. Students were provided comments on the exercises and an opportunity to revise. 27 students attended
the workshop.
Workshop: Historical Analysis
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Historical Analysis on July 19th and 20th of 2018 at Room 314, SSLA. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Afshan Majid. The workshop was spread over two days. On the first day, students were introduced to the foundations of historical analysis method ad provided examples of works completed using the technique. On the second day, students, under the close supervision of the instructor, undertook exercises of reading a historical text with an emphasis on the insights it can provide to understand the context and society. Students were provided comments on the exercises and an opportunity to revise
Number of participants: 20
Workshop: Legal Analysis
18th July 2018, Room 314
Resource Person: Ms. Swati Sharma, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Historical Analysis on July 18th of 2018 at Room 314, SSLA. The workshop was conducted by Ms. Swati Sharma. During the first session, students were introduced to the foundations of legal analysis method and provided examples of works completed using the technique. During the second session, students, under the close supervision of the instructor, undertook exercises of reading legal texts including court judgments to understand the reasoning behind and implications of language used. Students were provided comments on the exercises and an
opportunity to revise.
Number of participants: 18
Workshop: Visualising Data
Resource Person: Dr. Sumithra Surendralal, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Visualizing Data using Python on July 18, 2018 at Room 314, SSLA. The workshop was open to all students and was conducted by Dr. Sumithra Surendralal. The goal of the workshop was to help students understand that academic writing in several disciplines can be improved when complex data that complements textual material is presented in a visual format. In the 4-hour hands-on workshop, participants learnt the basics of data visualization in Python by working
through several pre-designed tasks, guided by the workshop instructor. Students were provided comments ion these tasks, which helped them to revise and resubmit the exercises. The instructor emphasized that the right visualizations allows researchers to extract as well as convey the most relevant details about the dataset and that this was especially significant in the case of large datasets where the sheer amount of information available often obscures crucial content. The workshop also introduced students to different minds of visualizations including charts, and graphs, overlays on geographical maps, biological images and infographics and explicated on using visuals to strengthen the narrative. It also provided tips on choosing the most appropriate kinds of visualizations for different purposes
Number of participants: 26
Workshop: Technical Writing/Academic Mechanics: Using Citations, References and Academic ‘Voice’
Resource Person: Khaliq Parkar, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Technical Writing on July 18, 2018 at Room 314, SSLA. The workshop was conducted by Mr.Khaliq Parkar. The Liberal Arts program strongly emphasizes writing methodologically rigorous academic papers including seminar papers and research dissertations and hence it is very important to learn to write well. The workshop emphasized citations of resources and provided an overview of the APA citation style. The workshop also covered different kinds of plagiarism and provided examples of each kind. It included group and individual activities on paraphrasing and common mistakes in citing resources and how to avoid them.
Number of participants: 33
2017-2018
16th July 2018, Room 314
Resource Person: Ms Karishma Katrak, Visiting faculty, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Academic Writing on July 16, 2018 at the Multipurpose Hall, SSLA. The workshop was open to all students and was conducted by Ms. Karishma Katrak. The Liberal Arts program strongly emphasizes writing methodologically rigorous academic papers including seminar papers and research dissertations and hence it is very important to learn to write well. The workshop focused on both structure of an academic paper and language used in academic writing. It dealt with common mistakes and emphasized the difference between formal language and informal/ slang. The workshop covered different kinds of plagiarism and provided examples of each kind. The instructor also gave instructions on use of citations. It included group and individual activities on paraphrasing and common mistakes in writing and how to avoid them.
Number of participants: 51
24th February 2018, Computer Lab
Resource Person: Dr. Aardra Surendra , Visiting faculty, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The SSLA Research Cell organized a workshop on Academic Writing for students of Batch 2020 on February 24, 2018 at the Computer Lab, SSLA. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Aardra Surendran. During the Jan-May 2018 semester, students of Batch 2020 were writing research proposals for their dissertation projects. This was an ideal time for them to understand the basic requirements of academic writing. The workshop focused on both structure of an academic paper and language used in academic writing. It dealt with common mistakes and emphasized the difference between formal language and informal/ slang. The workshop covered different kinds of plagiarism and provided examples of each kind. The instructor also gave instructions on use of citations. It included group and individual activities on paraphrasing and common mistakes in writing and how to avoid them.
Number of participants: 68
Workshop: How to Podcast
10th February 2018, Computer Lab
Resource Person: Mr. Avadhoot Khanolkar , Visiting faculty, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
Mr. Khanolkar addressed the technical issues one faces when starting a podcast series. How to make sure the sound is properly, what device should one use to record the podcast, how to maintain the decibel, etc are some of the questions he answered and considerably simplified the initial technical problems that one might face. Mr. Khanolkar then spoke about the themes of a podcast and how to make your podcast more interesting by inviting guests, introducing sound effects and music, etc.
2016-2017
Pune as an Innovation Hub: Towards an SSLA-SEAP Collaboration
28th September 2016, Hotel Westin, Pune
Resource Person: Ms. Anita Patankar, Dr. Shweta Sinha Deshpande, Mr. Ashutosh Parasnis. Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
The workshop-styled collaboration was a one of a kind opportunity for students to work on an Action Research Project that was envisioned as collaboration between Industrial and Educational institutions.