9 yrs teaching, 1.5 industry
Piyashi Dutta completed her PhD from Department of Sociology and Masters from Department Mass Communication & Journalism, Tezpur University, Assam. Her PhD thesis is titled “Matriliny and Folk Media: A study of the Khasis of Meghalaya”. She has qualified UGC NET in Mass Communication & Journalism. She began teaching at ASCO from 2017. Prior to starting her career as an academic, she has worked as a Content Developer, and continues to work as a freelance Academic Content Developer and Consultant, having developed content for various central and state university distance learning programs. Her research interest lies at the intersection of inter-disciplinary studies in Social Sciences, with focus on Sociology of Northeast India, Tribal Studies, Gender Studies, Folk Studies and Sociology of Media. She has been conferred with the ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship 2014-16. As a mark of her academic merit, she has received the Gold Medal: T&I Best Post Graduate Award and Gold Medal for securing 1st Position in Master’s Program, Tezpur University. She writes regularly for The New Leam. Some of her notable publications include i) The Whistling Village, Economic & Political Weekly; ii) Folk Practices of the Khasi Tribe: A Description of Jingrwai Iawbei in Kongthong Village, Sociological Bulletin: SAGE Journals; iii) Digital photography and Anthropological Documentation in the Context of Northeast India, Global Media Journal. In line with her research and publication work, she is the co-editor for a forthcoming book titled Indigeneity, Citizenship and the State: Perspectives from India’s Northeast. She is also a member of the Indian Sociological Society. Learning new languages is her leisure pursuit; she fluently speaks Assamese, Khasi, along with Hindi, Bengali and English. She has a Bachelors’ Degree (Visard) in Rabindra Nritya from Rabindra Bharati University. Additionally, she takes keen interest in literary activities like youth parliaments, MUN and the like. She is a national level debater and has won accolades like Best Speaker National Youth Parliament, Best Speaker, 2016 and Winning Team Inter University Annual Debate Competition, organised by the Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata, 2015.
Doctoral Level: Advanced Studies in Communication Theory & Practices.
PG Level: Development Communication; Gender, Human Rights & Media; Cross-Cultural Communication; Mass Communication Models & Theory; Community Outreach.
UG Level: State and Politics; Media Ethics and Laws; Mass Communication Theory & Practice; Global Media Scenario; Understanding Mass Communication; Inter-cultural Communication;
Specialized Writing and Editing
Tribal Studies, Gender Studies, Communication Studies
Mass Communication Theories, Gender and Society, Media and Society
Life Member Indian Sociological Society
Life Member Indian Association for Women’s Studies
Ph.D. Supervision
Degree Awarded
1. Dr. Malvika Singh, Title- Folk Media and Health Communication in Rural Bihar- 2021
2. Saima Pervez
Topic - Social Media and Cancer Awareness: A Study of Women Cancer
Survivors - 2023
Ongoing
1. Kamna Kandpal
Topic - Maternal Health Communication: A Study on ASHA Workers in Uttarakhand
2. Manju Yadav
Topic – Trolling of Indian Journalists on Twitter: A Study of Implications Personal-Professional Behaviour and Response
3. Nitin Mane
Topic - Chhau Dance and its Utility in Actor Training
Completed Courses:
Feminist Writings, IIT Madras, NPTEL. 2019
Introduction to Digital Humanities, Harvard University, HarvardX. 2021
Doctoral Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). 2014-16
Gold Medalist, 1st Position MA Mass Communication & Journalism, Tezpur University. 2010
Gold Medalist, T&I Best Post Graduate Award, 2010, Tezpur University, India. 2010
Media Coverage on Ph.D. Work
BBC Kongthong: The Indian Village Where Your Name is a Song" 24th Nov 2021
THE WEEK MAGAZINE 30th May 2021
Kongthong: Welcome to the Village Where People have Tunes Instead of Names"
Times of India Whistling Village Pins Hope on UNESCO Tag" 18th April 2021
Amity School of Communication (ASCO)