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Dr Rituparna Bhattacharyya

Phone: +44(0)7832332714
Email: rituparna.bhattacharyya@accb.org.uk

Rituparna is a Research Consultant (Google Scholar Profile).

She obtained her PhD from the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University in July 2009. As a Research Consultant, Rituparna pursues either independent or collaborative research in different universities across the UK (Loughborough University), India (Banaras Hindu University, Gauhati University), Bangladesh (Shahjajal University of Science and Technology), and Australia (Australian Catholic University). Most of her projects are interdisciplinary and span across the disciplinary boundaries of Human Geography, Sociology, Social Work and Women’s Studies but fall under the broad spectrum of gender and development in South Asia. To accomplish her projects, Rituparna applies qualitative methods in triangulation with questionnaire survey and quantitative techniques. 

Rituparna is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the open access peer-reviewed journal Space and Culture, India.

Since 2012, Rituparna has been mentoring PhD students/research scholars of different universities of India to obtain their respective PhDs/publish articles in outlets of high quality peer-reviewed international standing. Currently, Rituparna is invited to teach in universities across India, notable amongst them are—Gauhati University, KK Handique University, University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya and Banaras Hindu University.

Before joining PhD at Newcastle University, Rituparna worked as a Lecturer in Geography in different colleges of India (1996-2003). And during her PhD, she worked as a Teaching Assistant, Department of Geography, Newcastle University. Rituparna actively renders her voluntary service in remote parts of India through Alliance for Community Capacity Building in North East India (registered charity number: 1106666) and Pragfoundation for Capacity Building, a public charitable trust in India.

Qualifications

2018:

Associate Fellow, Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom

2009:

PhD: Newcastle University — Overseas Research Students Awards (ORSA),            Department of Employment and Learning, UK and Newcastle University Overseas Research Scholarship (NUORS) funded this project. Thesis title: Changing Status and Role of Indian Middle-Class Women

1996:

MA in (Geography),  Department of Geography, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, First Class First (in MA Geography)

Award/External Grants/Scholarships

A grant from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, UK to conduct the field study  in India  on Access to Drinking Water in Humanitarian Crisis, 2018

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) institutional supported (Loughborough University) project titled Decentralised Water Treatment System (DWTS) for Provision of Clean Drinking Water in Humanitarian Crises under Dr Diganta B Das, Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, November  2016- February 2017

Research Grant for the project titled Domestic Violence Against Women in Sylhet, Bangladesh, University Research Center, Shahjalal University of Science & Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh; Prof. Tulshi Kumar Das (PI), Rituparna Bhattacharyya (Co-PI), Md. Fakhrul Alam (Co-PI) and Ms Amina Parvin (Co-PI), Department of Social Work, 2012 - 2016

Grant from Sunshine University, Australia to review , edit and create the book index of the book project: The Lhotsampa People of Bhutan: Resilience and Survival, London: Palgrave Macmillan, Hardback ISBN: 978–1–137–55721–6, E-PUB ISBN: 978–1–137–55139–9, E-PDF ISBN: 978–1–137–55142–9, DOI: 10.1057/9781137551429 (2014-2015)

New and Emergent Scholar, 2011 Journal Gender, Place and Culture, A Journal of Feminist Geography, Routledge,  Taylor & Francis group for contribution to Gender Geography in India.

Overseas Research Students Awards (ORSA), Department of Employment and Learning, UK and Newcastle University Overseas Research Scholarship (NUORS) to pursue PhD at Newcastle University, UK

National Merit Scholarship (Government of India) to pursue Masters in Geography, Banaras Hindu University (1994-1996)

Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial award for standing ‘first class with first position' in BA Geography (Honours), 1993

Anonymous Journal Reviewer

2016 - present

Journal World Development, Elsevier

2016 - present

Journal Asian Social Work and Policy Review, John Wiley and Sons, Australia

2012 - present

Journal Gender, Place and Culture, Routledge, Taylor & Francis

Ongoing Projects

Currently working on the book project: Discrimination, Challenge, and Response: People of North East India. This is an edited book to be published by Palgrave Macmillan. I am one of the co-editors. The other two editors are Dr Venkat Pulla, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Work, Australian Catholic University, Australia and Professor Sanjai Bhatt, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, 2017-2018

Probing the Unexplored: Trafficking of Young Women and Children in Assam (a joint project with Professor Madhushree Das, Gauhati University), 2018-2023

Feminisation of Poverty, 2017- 2022

Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), Gender and Security (Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict), 2015-2020

Missing Children of India, 2015-2022

Lives of Widows in Varanasi, 2013-2023 (a joint project with Dr Suman Singh, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi- 221005).

Continuous Professional Development

Water Research Day and Relaunch of ‘Changing Environments and Infrastructure (CEI)’ Global Challenge, Loughborough University, 22 May 2017

10 tips for writing a truly terrible journal article, Elsevier Publishing Campus, 1 March 2017

Information Security Training, Loughborough University, 15 December 2016

Diversity in the Workplace, Loughborough University, 13 December 2016

Plagiarism, Elsevier Publishing Campus, 07 December 2015

Structuring Your Article, Elsevier Publishing Campus, 03 December 2015

Preparing Your Manuscript, Elsevier Publishing Campus, 03 December 2015

Using Proper Manuscript Language, Elsevier Publishing Campus, 03 December 2015

Successful Grant Applications: Getting it Right, Elsevier Publishing Campus, 02 December 2015

How do Editors Look at Your Paper, Elsevier Publishing Campus, 30 November 2015

How to respond to reviewers' comments, Elsevier Publishing Campus, 30 November 2015

Equality and Diversity (2013), NCFE, Level 2, Credit Value 13

World Bank Data and Research: Opening the Vault, co-sponsored by the World Bank, and Library Journal, 15 June 2011

Training on Nvivo 8, QSR international, 2011

GIS training in 2011, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University

Dissertation writing, Language Centre (now Writing Development Centre), Newcastle University, 2009

Mentor Training, Newcastle University, 2009

Presentation skills for conferences, Language Centre (now Writing Development Centre), Newcastle University, 2005

Academic writing, Language Centre (now Writing Development Centre), Newcastle University, 2005

Fellowship/Membership

Associate Fellow, Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom

American Association of Geographers

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Bhattacharyya, R., Das, T., Alam, F and Parvin Amina (forthcoming, in press). Researching Domestic Violence in Bangladesh: Critical Reflections, Journal Ethics and Social Welfare, https://doi.org/10.1080/17496535.2018.1458889 (Taylor and Francis)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2018). Living with Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) as Everyday Life, GeoJournal, 83(1), 31-48, DOI: 10.1007/s10708-016-9752-9 (Publisher: Springer)

Bhattacharyya, R. and Singh, S. (2017). Exclusion (and seclusion): Geographies of Disowned Widows of India, GeoJournal, 82 (4), 1-18, DOI: 10.1007/s10708-017-9800-0 (Publisher: Springer)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2017). Sociologies of India’s Missing Children, Asian Social Work and Policy Review, 11(1), 90-101, DOI:10.1111/aswp.12116 (Publisher: Wiley)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2016). Street Violence against Indian Women in India: Mapping Prevention Strategies, Asian Social Work and Policy Review, 10 (3), 311-325, DOI: 10.1111/aswp.12099 (Publisher: Wiley).

Das, T., Bhattacharyya, R. Alam, F., and Parvin, A. (2016). Domestic Violence in Sylhet, Bangladesh: Analysing the Experiences of Abused Women, Journal Social Change, 46 (1), 106-123, DOI: 10.1177/0049085715618561(Publisher: Sage Journals)

Das, T., Alam, F., Bhattacharyya, R. and Parvin, A. (2015). Causes and Contexts of Domestic Violence: Tales of the Help-Seeking Married Women in Sylhet, Bangladesh,  Asian Social Work and Policy Review, 9(2), 163–176, DOI:10.1111/aswp.12055 (Publisher: Wiley).

Bhattacharyya, R. (2015). Understanding the Spatialities of Sexual Assault against Indian women in India, Journal Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, 22(9), 1340-1356 DOI: 10.1080/0966369X.2014.969684 (Publisher: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group).

Bhattacharyya, R. (2018). # Metoo Movement: An Awareness Campaign, International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 3 (4), Special Edition: Teaching and Training in Cross Cultural Competencies, 1-12

Bhattacharyya, R. (2017). India RisingSpace and Culture, India, 5(1), 1-11. doi:10.20896/saci.v5i1.258

Bhattacharyya, R. (2016). Draft Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016: Rhetoric or Surrogate-centric? Journal Space and Culture, India, 4(2), 9-21, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20896/saci.v4i2.219

Bhattacharyya, R. (2016). Balancing Motherhood And Career In STEM Jobs, Journal Space and Culture, India, 3(3), 28-31, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20896/saci.v3i3.178

Bhattacharyya, R. (2016). An Account of India’s under-5 Mortality Rate, International Journal of Social Work and Human Services Practice, 4(4), 82-88, DOI: 10.13189/ijrh.2016.040402

Sarma, J.B. and Bhattacharyya, R. (2015). Half Empty or half filled? Notes on Universal Health Coverage in Northeast India, The Clarion, 4 (1), 154-184.

Bhattacharyya, R. (2014). Good Governance and Development Mandate, Journal Space and Culture, India, 2(1), 1-4, DOI: 10.20896/saci.v2i1.65

Bhattacharyya, R. (2014). Life and Times of Unborn KamlaJournal Space and Culture, India, 2(2), 57-58, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20896/saci.v2i2.89

Meena, M.L., Singh, S. and Bhattacharyya, R. (2014). After the Kosi Avulsion, August 2008, North Bihar, India: Notes on the Socio-economic Impact, Journal Asian Profile, 42(3), 203-220, Asian Research Service, Canada V5H 4J8

Bhattacharyya, R. (2013). Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013: Will it ensure women’s safety in public spaces? Journal Space and Culture, India, 1 (1), 13-27, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20896/saci.v1i1.11 (ISSN: 2052-8396)

Bhattacharyya, R. and Vauquline, P. (2013). A Mirage or a Rural Life Line? Analysing the impact of Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act on Women Beneficiaries of Assam, Journal Space and Culture, India, 1(1), 83-101, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20896/saci.v1i1.10 (ISSN: 2052-8396)

Bhattacharyya, R., Meena M.L. and Singh, S. (2013). Some Reflections of the Geographies of Socio-Economic Impact of the Kosi River Floods, 2008, Journal of Earth Science and Engineering 1, 57-65, David Publishing: EL Monte, USA (ISSN: 2159-581X)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2013). The Volga River in R.W. Howarth (ed.) Biomes and Ecosystems: An Encyclopedia, Salem Press: A Division of EBSCO Publishing Ipswich, Massachusetts Hackensack, New Jersey, USA (ISBN: 978-1-4298-3813-9)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2013). Vistula Estuary in R.W. Howarth (ed.) Biomes and Ecosystems: An Encyclopedia, Salem Press: A Division of EBSCO Publishing Ipswich, Massachusetts Hackensack, New Jersey, USA (ISBN: 978-1-4298-3813-9)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2013). Irrawaddy Moist Deciduous Forests in R.W. Howarth (ed.) Biomes and Ecosystems: An Encyclopedia, Salem Press: A Division of EBSCO Publishing Ipswich, Massachusetts Hackensack, New Jersey, USA (ISBN: 978-1-4298-3813-9)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2012). Parsons, Charles in M.A. Pierce (ed.) Encyclopedia of Energy, Salem Press: A Division of EBSCO Publishing Ipswich, Massachusetts Hackensack, New Jersey, USA (ISBN: 978-1-58765-849-5)

Bhattacharyya, R. and Sarma, J.B. (2012). Building research capacity in resource-limited countries, The Clarion: International Multidisciplinary Journal, 1(2), pages, 168-181, (ISSN: 2277-1697)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2004). Conducting in-depth interviews in Assam, North Eastern Geographer 33(1/ 2), pages 79-87,

Bhattacharyya, R. (1997). Role of women in the use of domestic energy: A case study of poor families in and around Gauhati University Campus, Guwahati, North Eastern Geographer 28 (1 and 2), pages 70-71

Book Chapters

Bhattacharyya, R. (forthcoming, in press). Chapter Six: Did India’s Partition lead to Segregation of North East India? In Amit Ranjan (ed.). Partition of India: Postcolonial Legacies, (Routledge)

Bhattacharyya, R. and Prasad Sanjay (forthcoming, in press). Chapter 6. Water Scarcity in Delhi: Mapping for Solutions and the Way Forward. In Dr R.B. Singh, Dr Daniel Karthe Helmholtz and Dr Sergey Chalov (Eds.) Water and Sediments in Changing Environment of Eurasia—Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences, Springer: International Geographical Union (IGU-UGI)

Bhattacharyya, R. (forthcoming, in press). Pierre Bourdieu's Symbolic Violence: Scripting Gender among Assamese Middle-Class Women in Higher Education. In Anindita Datta (ed.) Power of Space, Spaces of Power: Scripting Gender in India, University of Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Press

Bhattacharyya, R. (2009). Feminist Political Economy. In R. Kitchin and N. Thrift (eds.). The International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Oxford: Elsevier, Vol.4, pages 79-86

Book Reviews

Bhattacharyya, R. (2017). What Gender is, What Gender Does, Journal Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, DOI:10.1080/0966369X.2017.1338432 (Publisher: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group).

Bhattacharyya, R. (2017). The Lhotsampa People of Bhutan: Resilience and Survival, Journal South Asia Research, 37 (1), 113-115, DOI: 10.1177/0262728016663300 (Publisher: Sage Journals)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2016). Discounted Life: The Price of Global Surrogacy in India, Journal Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, 1813-1814, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2016.1211585 (Publisher: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group).

Bhattacharyya, R. (2015). Some Aspects of Community Empowerment and Resilience, Journal Social Change, 45(4) 628-632, DOI: 10.1177/0049085715602795 (Publisher: Sage Journals)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2015). Working Childhoods: Youth, Agency and the Environment in India. Progress in Development Studies, 15(3), 292-294, DOI: 10.1177/1464993415578570 (Publisher: Sage Journals)

Other Peer-Reviewed Publications

Book

Bhattacharyya, R. (2013). Are We Empowered? Stories of young Indian working women, Saarbrücken, Germany: Lap Lambert Academic Publishing, (ISBN: 978-3-659-20580-4)

Book Chapters

Bhattacharyya, R. (2017). Economic Reforms, Higher Education, and New Career Aspirations: Findings from a Study of Indian women in Higher Education. In Baleshwar Thakur, H.S.Sharma, Suresh Mishra and S. Chattopadhyay (eds.). Regional Development: Theory and Practice (In 5 Volumes), New Delhi: Concept Publishing (ISBN: 9789351252023)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2017). Feminisation of Poverty: A Global Phenomenon. In Baleshwar Thakur, H.S.Sharma, Suresh Mishra and S. Chattopadhyay (eds.). Regional Development: Theory and Practice (In 5 Volumes), New Delhi: Concept Publishing (ISBN: 9789351252023)

Bhattacharyya, R., Vauquline, P. and Singh, S. (2011). Towards a Socially Sustainable India: An Analysis of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, 2006, in S.K. Singh, Raj Kumar, H.P. Mathur, N.B. Singh and V.K. Kumra (eds.). Energy Resources, Alternative Search and Sustainable Development, New Delhi: Shree Publishers, pages 73-88, (ISBN: 978-81-8329-395-2)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2008). Marriage, motherhood and career salience: young women in the contemporary society of Assam, in edited by A. K. Ray and B. Dutta Ray (eds.) Women Emancipation: Focus North East India, New Delhi: Om Publications, pages 163-182, (ISBN: 81-86867-85-6)

Guides (Compilation)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2011). Academic Writing, North Shields: ACCB Publishing (ISBN: 9781908368003)

Bhattacharyya, R. (2011). Searching Scholarly Information on the Web, North Shields: ACCB Publishing (ISBN: 9781908368010)

Conference and Workshop Papers

The Imbroglio: Geographies of India’s Missing Children, 2017 American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, 5-9 April 2017, Hynes Convention Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Sexual Violence in Conflict and India's Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act Quagmire, 3 September at Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Annual International Conference 2015 held at the University of Exeter, 1 - 4 September 2015

Scripting the Lives of Widows in the Briddha Ashrams of Varanasi (with Dr Suman Singh), 3 September at Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Annual International Conference 2015 held at the University of Exeter, 1 - 4 September 2015

Gender Discrimination in Assam (with Ms Rimili Das), 5 September 2015, Assam Forum Great Britain Conference, London School of Economics

Can we save Majuli?, presented at Assam Forum Great Britain Conference, London School of Economics, London, 13 September 2014.

Natural hazards reshape the map of Majuli, presented at Assam Forum Great Britain Conference, London School of Economics, London, 1 June 2013.

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY): An analysis of the attitudes and lived experiences of the Kamrup Centre, Assam’ presented at the annual conference of Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers), Edinburgh, UK, 03-05 July 2012

Social geographies of street sexual harassment: an analysis from India presented at the Gendered Violence conference, Bristol, UK, 23 – 25 November 2011

Problems of women labourers at Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act: An analysis from Assam presented at the International Seminar “Contextualizing Geographical Approaches to Studying Gender in Asia”, organised by the International Geographical Union Commission on Gender and Geography in collaboration with the Department of Geography, University of Delhi and the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, 03 March 2010

Pierre Bourdieu’s symbolic violence: Findings from a study of Assamese middle class women in higher education presented at the International Seminar “Contextualizing Geographical Approaches to Studying Gender in Asia”, organised by the International Geographical Union Commission on Gender and Geography in collaboration with the Department of Geography, University of Delhi and the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, 04 March 2010

Towards a socially sustainable India: An analysis of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, 2006’ presented at the International Conference on Strategic Management of Energy, Environment and Disaster for Sustainable Development organised  by Global Strategic Management  Inc, Saxon Drive, Beverly Hills, Michigan, USA in collaboration with Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, 11-15 January 2010

Impact of global economic crisis on India’s Flagship Social Welfare Programmes and Way Forward: A focus on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (education for all mission) presented at the International Conference on Strategic Management of Energy, Environment and Disaster for Sustainable Development organised by Global Strategic Management  Inc, Saxon Drive, Beverly Hills, Michigan, USA in collaboration with Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, 11-15 January 2010

Selective Westernisation: An example from Assam, presented at the Second Global Conference on Economic Geography held in Beijing, China, 25-28 June 2007

A reflection on  conducting fieldwork in developing countries: Lessons from India, a joint paper presented by Urmi Sengupta and me, at a workshop ‘Going Back Home: International Fieldwork for International Scholars', organised by The Developing Areas Research Network (DARN), University of Newcastle, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK, 06 June 2006

Marriage, motherhood and career salience: A study of young women in the contemporary society of Assam, a paper presented at the Royal Geographical Society –Institute of British Geographers, Annual Conference held in London, 28-31 August  2006

Attitudes of students in Assam towards Increase in sexual harassment against women in the public sphere a paper presented in the Royal Geographical Society –Institute of British Geographers Post Graduate Forum Mid-term Conference, 04 March 2006

Researching on Assamese women's changing status and role: Reflection on its different methodological issues, a paper presented at the Annual Academic Session, North-East India Geographical Society, organised by Department of Geography, Cotton College, 24 May 2003.