Contact: +91 8113056730

Email Id: meetsajan@gmail.com

Teaching experience: 07 years

Short Bio

Dr. Sajan Thomas has studied in India and Europe, attending institutions affiliated with the University of Kerala, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and the University of Bergen in Norway, from which he obtained his MPhil and PhD degrees. He is the recipient of numerous international fellowships from Harvard University, the Sutasoma Trust, Lånekassen, the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies in Copenhagen, UNICEF, and the Lauritz Meltzer Research Foundation.

Dr. Thomas has been a commissioned writer for 360.info, an academic journalism platform hosted at Monash University, featuring a global network of academic experts with relevant and demonstrable research expertise. His articles have appeared in leading international platforms such as The Diplomat, The Business Times, and Eco-Business.com. Indian media groups that have carried his pieces include The Economic Times, The Hindu Business Line, NDTV, The Wire, Down To Earth, Telegraph India, Press Trust of India, and ET Energy World.

Along with Dr. Titto Idicula from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Dr. Thomas writes a column titled "Nomadic Insights" on onmanorama.com. You can read it here.

https://www.onmanorama.com/topic/general-topics/77/nomadic-insights.html

His debut Malayalam novel, Doramma Viplavam, was published by Chintha Publishers, Thiruvananthapuram, and released by renowned writer Paul Zachariah during the Wayanad Literature Festival in 2022.

Detailed Bio

Scholarships and Fellowships

1. Fredrick Barth – Sutasoma Trust fellowship for doctoral research at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bergen, Norway (2009 -2013). Supervisors: Prof. Andrew Lattas and Prof. Bruce Kapferer

2. Norwegian Lanekassen scholarship for pursuing Mphil degree in Anthropology of Development at the University of Bergen (2006-2008). Supervisor Prof. Bruce Kapferer.

3. Lauritz Meltzer grant from the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bergen, during the PhD extension period (2013-2014)

4. Fellowship from the Global Equity Initiative, Harvard University, Massachusetts, to research on the community-based palliative care movement in Northern Kerala (2006)

5. Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2017) from the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi (declined)

6. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Humanities And Social Sciences (2017) from the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi (declined)

7. Bharat Petroleum scholarship for postgraduate studies and research at the national level (2003-05)

8. Stipend to research on Intellectual Property Rights from the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi (2004)

9. CSDS-Sarai fellowship to research on the Information Economy and Labour Rights in Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram (2004-2005)

10. University rank holder for the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Political Science, University of Kerala (2003, 2005)

Experiences

1. Research internship at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) between April and July, 2005.

2. Supra visiting scholar at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS), Copenhagen, Denmark (August 2011)

3. Faculty member at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)-Kudumbashree community college for the post graduate diploma in development praxis (2015-16)

4. Research Associate, Research Unit on International migration, Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram (2016-17)

5. Invited faculty, Semester-in-India programme for American students, Center for International Academics, University of Kerala (2014)

6. Expert member, PhD progress evaluation committee, Kerala Council for Historical Research, (2014 and 2015)

7. Visiting lecturer at the Indian Institute of Archaeology, an institute under the Kerala Council for Historical Research (June -July, 2015)

8. Member in the Academic committee of PGDDP programme, Tata Institute of Social Sciences- Kudumbashree community college (2016)

9. Resource person for the refresher course in research methodology, UGC-Academic Staff College, University of Calicut (2013)

10. Member, PG Board of Studies of University of Kerala in Political Science and Public Administration (2022)

Other Academic Experiences

1. Finished a doctoral course titled Philosophy of Social Sciences at Vatnahalsen, Norway (January 2011)

2. Successfully completed the PhD coursework in Community Psychology at the Oslo Summer School, Norway (2011)

3. Finished doctoral courses titled “The Search for Order: Territory, Citizen, State and Governance” from the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bergen (2011)

4. Participated in the Nordic PhD method course titled “From Text to Field and from Field to Text” at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway (21- 23 May, 2012)

5. Professional visitor at the Frankfurt Book Fair – the world’s largest trade fair of books –in Frankfurt, Germany (October 2013)

6. Completed a three week summer course in ‘Philosophy of Social Sciences and Humanities’ from the Centre for Philosophy, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore (June 2006)

7. Finished two courses as part of the Fulbright educational partnership between University of Kerala and Claremont Graduate University, California (2005).

 Publications

Books/Monographs

1. Thomas, Sajan (2015) The Fear of Fever: Epidemic Persistence and Medical Authority in a Kerala Village. Publisher: University of Bergen, Norway, ISBN: 978-82-308-3420-6. Accessible from the Bergen Open Research Archive http://bora.uib.no/handle/1956/17082

2. Gray, Sarah, Narayan, Camille and Thomas, Sajan (2006) Partnerships for Hygiene and Sanitation Promotion: The case of UNICEF Gujarat and Vasudhara Diary Union. Publisher: United Nations. Accessible from https://www.sarahgray.info/uploads/1/3/9/5/13957304/partnerships_for_hygiene_and_sanitation_awareness-_the_case_of_unicef_gujarat_and_the_vasudhara_dairy_union_.pdf

3. Thomas, Sajan (2017) Keralathile Kudumbashree Edapedalukal (edited book). Publisher: State Institute of Languages, Government of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, ISBN:978-81-200-4247-6 https://keralabookstore.com/book/keralathinle-kudumbasree-idapedalukal/17640/

4. Fiction (Malayalam Novel) Doramma Viplavam (2022) Chintha Publishers: Thiruvananthapuram, ISBN: 978-93-94753440, https://amazon.in/dp/B0BRGL9TKL

Journal articles

1. Thomas, Sajan (2023) Microcredit and Poverty Alleviation in Kerala. Journal of Human Sciences, Volume 3, Issue 1, Accessible from https://journal.kannuruniversity.ac.in/JHS/common/viewfile/36_article_577.pdf

2. Thomas, Sajan (2018) Beyond health-seeking behaviour: Exploring the hospital attacks in Kerala. Issue 2, Accessible from https://alablog.in/issues/2/hospital-attacks/

3. Thomas, Sajan (2017) A New Socio-Medical Gaze: The Political Anatomy of Epidemic Management in Kerala, Indian Journal of Politics and International Relations, Volume 10, Number 1. ISSN: 0973-5011

4. Thomas, Sajan (2017) A Risk Society Analysis of the Emergent Epidemic Crisis in Kerala, ISDA Journal, Volume 27, Number 4. ISSN: 0971-2550

5. Thomas, Sajan (2015) The Clash of Domestic Economies: An Ethnography of the Social Relations in Microcredit, Journal of Polity and Society, Volume 7, Issue 1. ISSN:0976-0210

6. Thomas Sajan (2015) A Historical Anthropology of the Household Economies in Kerala’s Migrant Settlements, ISDA Journal, Volume 25, Issue 3. ISSN: 0971-2550

7. Thomas, Sajan (2014) Critical Medical Anthropology: Some Epistemological Issues, Journal of Polity and Society, Volume 6, Issue 2. ISSN: 0976-0210

8. Somasekharan, Jayasekhar, Harilal, KN and Thomas, Sajan (2015) Transformation of Value Chain Governance: The Impact of Food Safety Regime on Fishery Sector of Kerala, Agricultural Economics Research Review, Volume 28, ISSN: 0971-3441

9. Varkey, Shaji and Thomas, Sajan (2005) Kerala Development Experience in a Technological Age. ISDA Journal, Volume 15, Issue 4. ISSN: 0971-2550

10. Somasekharan, Jayasekhar, Harilal, KN, Chandran, KP and Thomas, Sajan (2016) Experiencing the food safety regime: Compliance, market access, and coping strategies of Indian fishery sector, Agricultural Economics Research Review, Volume 29, ISSN: 0971-3441

11. Thomas, Sajan (2016) Religion, Community, Identity: Reform and Change in Kerala, (A review of the book edited by Prof. Ashokan Mundon) ISDA Journal, Volume 26, Issue 3, ISSN: 0971-2550

Chapter in edited books

1. Thomas, Sajan, Mathew, Aju and Gopala Rao, PrabhuDass (2012) Community-based Palliative Care Initiative in Irudaya Rajan and K.C Zachariah (Ed) Kerala’s Demographic Future: Issues and Policy Options, Centre for Development Studies & Academic Foundation, New Delhi. ISBN 978-81-7188-786-6

2. Thomas, Sajan and Raj, Jayaseelan (2008) The Kudumbashree weapon of poor: Grassroot States and Self-Developmentalism in Kerala in T.M Joseph (ed) New Governance Paradigm: Issues in Development, Kalpaz Publications, New Delhi. ISBN: 978-81-7835-715-7