Arun John and Karthik Kamalanathan, two PhD students from the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, have been awarded $1500 each as travel grant by the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) to participate in the annual conference in Colombia in July 2017. Early-stage scholars, who are members of IAMCR and come from low and middle income countries, are awarded a travel grant each year. “The conference encourages media and communication scholars to come together. Every year, around 20 people from across the world get selected and this year, there are three from India,” says Karthik.
Arun adds, “It’s really rare that two people from the same institute get selected for this grant.” Arun’s paper has been accepted for presentation in the Participatory Communication Research section, while Karthik will be presenting in the Emerging Scholars Network segment. “Community radio in South India, particularly in Kerala and Karnataka, is my focus of study,” says Arun. Whereas, Karthik’s study revolves around child nutrition in South India. “My work is about mid-day meal programmes and how they benefit students,” says Karthik, who had earlier presented his work in Dubai at The Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), 2015.
While Karthik plans to pursue film studies and TV production, Arun wants to teach. “If not teaching, I would like to work as a researcher at an International organisation,” says Arun. Apart from their love for academics, the duo shares a passion for travelling as well.
