Vice Chancellor



Dr.V.Bharathi Harishankar
Ph.D., FRSA
[email protected]

Dr.Bharathi Harishankar has assumed charge as Vice Chancellor from the Forenoon of 22nd Dec 2021 of Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women (Deemed to be University)




Dr.Bharathi Harishankar has been Professor of English and Founding Head of the Department of Women's Studies, University of Madras. She has held several administrative positions such as Dean Student Affairs, Director IQAC, Director International Centre, Coordinator RUSA, Director UGC HRDC and Member Syndicate.

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, London, UK Dr.Bharathi's research interests include Postcolonial Studies, Gender Studies, Literary Theory, Translation, Web Based Pedagogy and Open Educational Resources. She has 118 publications including books, edited volumes, textbooks, articles and translations in national and international journals. She has presented invited talks in over 100 conferences, most notably at Cambridge University, UK and La Pietra Dialogues at New York University, Florence. She has successfully guided 16 M.Phil &14 Ph.D scholars.

Recently, Dr Bharathi was instrumental in setting up a Gender Lab, the first of its kind in the country, to offer online workshops on gender sensitization, in collaboration with Sutherland Global Services. She has designed a Soft Skills course on Gender Sensitization and Workplace Readiness.

The awards of Excellence includes

  • MHRD's Leadership for Academicians Program (LEAP) at Jamia Millia Islamia and University of Virginia
  • Member of the School Board of Humanities at University of Hyderabad
  • NAAC Assessor
  • Humanities Research Centre Travel Grant, Australia
  • Visiting Fellowships to Universities in New Zealand
  • Shastri Indo-Canadian Faculty Enrichment Fellowship
  • Shastri Indo-Canadian Collaborative Course Development Grant with Dr. Evelyn Ellerman
  • Honorary Adjunct Professorship at Athabasca University, Canada
  • Nominated Member of Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), Australia
  • Consultant Author for Commonwealth of Learning and UNESCO
  • Member, Editorial Board of the international journal Communication and Culture
  • Peer Reviewer for the international journal, Sexualities
  • Preliminary Panel Adviser for Sahitya Akademi Award in English
  • Member of the CII Southern Regional Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
  • Member of the CII Southern Regional Committees on Affirmative Action
  • Member of UGC's National Committee for Choice Based Credit System
  • Member of Selection Committee for India Studies Chairs for Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)
  • Honorary Secretary, University Women’s Association Madras
  • Honorary Treasurer, University Women’s Association Asia.
  • Member, Reviewer Committee to select project proposals under IoE scheme, University of Hyderabad.
  • Member, Selection Committee of GOLDEN JUBILEE CONFERENCE AND LECTURE SERIES GRANT for Ministry of Education and Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute.

Dr.Bharathi has successfully completed/ conducting the National and International Projects for IDRC Canada, National Commission for Women, UGC and Erasmus