Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady

Name: Dr. N. J. Francis

Mobile: 9446866896

Email: njfrancis@ssus.ac.in

Department: History

Designation: Professor

Campus: MAIN CENTRE, KALADY

Joining Date: 2010-09-14

N. J. Francis
Professor, Department of History
Sree Sankracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady;
Mob: 9446866896
njfrancis@rediffmail.com

N. J. Francis is Professor (since 2011) at the Dept of History, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady. Areas of interest include the early Buddhist art activity in the south-eastern Deccan, and the interface between early Indian Buddhism and patronage of art/architecture.
Specialized in early Indian history and epigraphy (University of Calicut), and in classical and decorative arts of India (The British Museum, London & Royal Holloway, University of London); Ph D (University of Calicut) on the early Buddhist art of Amaravati in the south-eastern Deccan; Ex-Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) at the Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla; UGC Post-Doctoral Research Award Fellow in History; and UK Visiting Fellow of Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, C/o the Nehru Trust for Cambridge University.
Publications on the Buddhist art of Amaravati, in the south-eastern Deccan, include A Source Book of the Early Buddhist Inscriptions of Amaravati, ISBN 978-93-82396-36-9 (Shimla, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Golden Jubilee Series, 2016); and an article on the institutional base of the early Buddhist art-activity at Amaravati in Deccan Studies (Special Issue on Buddhism in the Deccan, 2005). Citations of and from the doctoral research and publications on the Buddhist art of Amaravati have appeared in journals, books, dissertations, and proceedings published by Oxford University Press, Routledge, SAGE, Manohar, Indian History Congress, University of Texas at Austin; and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; and in websites hosted by Ecole francaise d’Extreme-Orient, Paris, in collaboration with HiSoMa Research Centre, Lyon, France; and the Society for South Asian Studies of the British Academy, London.

Interest in the histories of institutional formation within modern education in Kerala led to an edited volume Region, Religion and Culture in the Making of Higher Education in Kerala (Thrissur: St. Thomas’ College (Autonomous), Trichur, 2010). Similarly, foray into the history of urban process in the 18th and 19th centuries in the regional context of the erstwhile princely State of Cochin was published by The Hindu national daily (2011).

Since 2005, Editor of Advances in Arts & Ideas (ISBN 0973-2373), an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the humanities and social sciences. Citations of articles from this journal appeared in books and journals published by Oxford University Press, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden (Germany), University of Bologna (Italy), Gorgias Press, New Jersey, and Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR).

Served in the expert bodies/panels of Centre for Historical Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam; University of Calicut; University of Kannur; Kerala State Department of Archaeology; Kerala State Council for Educational Research & Training (SCERT); Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR); Christ College (Autonomous), Irinjalakuda; and St. Thomas’ College (Autonomous), Thrissur, affiliated to University of Calicut.
Member Secretary & Director of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, when SSUS first underwent the NAAC Accreditation, in 2014; and Professor & Head, Department of History, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, during 2013-2018. Member of various academic bodies/ committees of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, including Board of Studies in History, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, and Academic Council, at different times.
Underwent training by NAAC, Bangalore, to be an Assessor for NAAC peer team visits.
Honorary Director of The Medlycott Foundation, and Vice-President of the Kerala Historical Research Society.
Courses designed and taught include:
At the Master’s (MA in History): 1) Understanding Social History of Art and Architecture: Medieval India; 2) History of Archaeology in India: Select Themes; 3) Literary Texts and Literary Production in Early India: Introductory Historical Studies; and 4) Early State and Society in India;
At the Master’s by Research (M Phil in History): 1) Select Themes in Kerala History.
The Research group includes three completed Ph D, and eight ongoing doctoral research, with funding from UGC, ICHR, ICSSR, KCHR, and SSUS:
1) Shibi K., ‘Transactions and Transformations of Kalamezhuthu’;
2) Anitha Chandran, ‘Dynamics of Communities and Capital: The Konkanis of Kerala’;
3) Ranjith K. S., ‘From the Architecture of the Dead to the Architecture for the Sacred: The Archaeology and Pre-History of the Sacred Landscapes in Medieval Kerala’;
4) Anooj A. G., ‘Policing ‘Native’ Cochin: Imperial Information Designs and Regional Networks;
5) Usha Vijayan, ‘Imagining and Imaging Siva: The Making of Siva in Medieval and Pre-modern Kerala’;
6) Shanto Sankar, ‘Remembered Ports, Founded Ports, and Finding Ports: Monumental Visions of Port Cities in Early and Medieval Kerala’;
7) Santhosh E., ‘Cults, Texts and Patrons: Modes of Patronage and Forms of Validations in Medieval Kerala’;
8) Ajith K. G., ‘Pursuing Ceramics: Retrieving and Situating Ceramics in Iron Age and Early Historic Kerala’; and
9) Sreejith K. A., ‘Dissent, Protest and Prescription: Social Dimensions of Contestations in the Pre-modern Temple in Kerala.’
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Junior Lecturer in History in 1989 at the St. Thomas' College, Trichur (University of Calicut), Reader & Head, Department of History from 2004 onward, and Associate Professor & Head, from 2006 to 2010. Was Member of the College Council, Hon. Director of the Medlycott Foundation, Editor of Bulletin of St. Thomas' College Archives ; and Advances in Arts & Ideas.

At the Master’s (MA in History): 1) Understanding Social History of Art and Architecture: Medieval India; 2) History of Archaeology in India: Select Themes; 3) Literary Texts and Literary Production in Early India: Introductory Historical Studies; and 4) Early State and Society in India; At the Master’s by Research (M Phil in History): 1) Select Themes in Kerala History.

Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) at the Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla; UGC Post-Doctoral Research Award Fellow in History; and UK Visiting Fellow of Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, C/o the Nehru Trust for Cambridge University.
Citations of and from the doctoral research and publications on the Buddhist art of Amaravati have appeared in journals, books, dissertations, and proceedings published by Oxford University Press, Routledge, SAGE, Manohar, Indian History Congress, University of Texas at Austin; and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; and in websites hosted by Ecole francaise d’Extreme-Orient, Paris, in collaboration with HiSoMa Research Centre, Lyon, France; and the Society for South Asian Studies of the British Academy, London.
Citations of articles from the journal Advances in Arts & Ideas, edited by me appeared in books and journals published by Oxford University Press, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden (Germany), University of Bologna (Italy), Gorgias Press, New Jersey, and Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR).

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UGC Post-Doctoral Research Award in History (2007-2010); Fellow of Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) at The Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla (2006-2007); UK Visiting Fellowship of the Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria %26 Albert Museum, London (2009)

'Buddhist Art, Religion and Society at Amaravati and Allied Centres, BC 300 - AD 300' (Ph D); Early Indian History and Art; Early Buddhist Art of the Deccan; Art, Patronage and Religious Transformations in the Early Buddhist Centre of Amaravati in the Eastern Deccan

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Scholar: Shibi K.

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Topic: ‘Transactions and Transformations of Kalamezhuthu’

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Scholar: Anooj A. G.

Award Date: 31-01-2023

Topic: Policing Native Cochin: Imperial Information Designs and Regional Networks

Reg No: 12KA05HS03

Dept: HISTORY

Reg Year: 2013

Scholar: Anitha Chandran

Award Date: 20-09-2023

Topic: Dynamics of Communities and Capital: The Konkanis of Kerala

Reg No: 1921

Dept: HISTORY

Reg Year: 2012