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CURRICULUM VITAE

DR. NITHIYA A/P GUNA SAIGARAN
DR. NITHIYA A/P GUNA SAIGARAN
Senior Lecturer
Department of Indian Studies
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
0379675636
ResearcherID
Scopus Author ID
ORCID ID

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION

  • PhD, (Anthropology and Sociology)
    Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
  • M.Arts (Gender Studies)
    Universiti Malaya (UM)
  • B.Arts (Indian Studies)
    Universiti Malaya (UM)

ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES

  • Programme Coordinator
    01 Jun 2026 - 31 May 2028 (Department)
  • Coordinator
    01 Mar 2026 - 01 Mar 2027 (Department)
  • Timetable Coordinator
    10 Jan 2025 - 31 Dec 2026 (Department)
  • Task Force Member
    17 Sep 2025 - 31 Dec 2026 (Department of Indian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)
  • Academic Advisor
    05 Sep 2025 - 31 Dec 2026 (Department)
  • Academic Advisor
    01 Oct 2025 - 31 Dec 2026 (Department)
  • Academic Advisor for Prittika A/P Devaraju (24005826)
    01 Oct 2025 - 31 Dec 2026 (Department of Indian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)
  • Coordinator
    07 May 2026 - 07 May 2026 (Department)
  • Coordinator
    06 May 2026 - 06 May 2026 (Department)
  • Coordinator
    15 Apr 2026 - 15 Apr 2026 (Department)
  • Coordinator
    08 Apr 2026 - 08 Apr 2026 (Department)
  • Coordinator
    08 Apr 2026 - 08 Apr 2026 (Department)
  • Timetable Coordinator
    10 Jan 2025 - 10 Jan 2026 (Department)
  • Ketua Pengawas (3/2/2025) -DKF - 08:30
    03 Feb 2025 - 03 Feb 2025 (Department of Indian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)
  • Ketua Pengawas
    27 Jan 2025 - 27 Jan 2025 (Department of Indian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)

MEMBERSHIPS

  • MEMBER IN MALAYSIAN SOCIAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION, MEMBER
    2026 to present (National)

AWARD AND STEWARDSHIP

  • FIRST PLACE (FASS Researcg Exhibition & Competition 2024)
    2024, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,  (University)
  • The FASS Writing Fellowship Retreat 2023
    2023, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,  (University)

PUBLICATIONS

Article in Journal
WoS
  1. Qiu, ZY; Gong, JK; Firdaus, A; Saigaran, NG (2026). AI algorithms and gendered labor: narratives of female employees in China's leading digital platform companies, CHINESE JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION. . doi:10.1080/17544750.2025.2612526
  2. Saxena, V; Saigaran, NG (2026). Commodity mnemonics: Rubber, memory and plantation labour in colonial Malaya, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY. . doi:10.1080/03085147.2026.2640750
  3. Shill, S; Thambiah, S; Saigaran, NG (2026). Production Targets, Coercive Control, and Bargaining with Public Patriarchy in Readymade Garment Factories in Bangladesh: Violence Against Women in the Global Supply Chain, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. . doi:10.1177/10778012261438117
  4. Saxena, V; Saigaran, NG (2025). Songs of Tamil plantation women of Malaya: Contesting memories and histories, MODERN ASIAN STUDIES. . doi:10.1017/S0026749X24000520
ESCI
  1. Saigaran, NG; Bada, AB (2023). PERCEPTIONS OF MALAYSIAN INDIAN WOMEN ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN MALAYSIA: A PEEK INTO THE INDIAN HOUSEHOLDS, KAJIAN MALAYSIA. 41(2), 173-194. doi:10.21315/km2023.41.2.9
Scopus
  1. Saigaran N.G. (2026). A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON THE PATRIARCHAL BARRIERS TO HEALTHCARE FACED BY MALAYSIAN INDIAN WOMEN IN KULIM, KEDAH, USING KABEER S THEORY OF EMPOWERMENT, Kajian Malaysia. 44(1), 69-89. doi:10.21315/km2026.44.1.4
  2. Shill S., Thambiah S., Saigaran N.G. (2026). Production Targets, Coercive Control, and Bargaining with Public Patriarchy in Readymade Garment Factories in Bangladesh: Violence Against Women in the Global Supply Chain, Violence Against Women. . doi:10.1177/10778012261438117
  3. Saigaran N.G., Saxena V. (2025). Negotiating Agency: Women Plantation Workers in the Contemporary Tamil Novel, Asia in Transition. 30, 189-210. doi:10.1007/978-981-95-0277-6_11
  4. Saxena V., Saigaran N.G. (2025). Songs of Tamil plantation women of Malaya: Contesting memories and histories, Modern Asian Studies. . doi:10.1017/S0026749X24000520
  5. Saigaran N.G., Bada A.B. (2023). PERCEPTIONS OF MALAYSIAN INDIAN WOMEN ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN MALAYSIA: A PEEK INTO THE INDIAN HOUSEHOLDS, Kajian Malaysia. 41(2), 173-194. doi:10.21315/km2023.41.2.9
Others
  1. Shilli, S., Thambiah, S., & Guna Saigaran, N. (2025). Maternity benefits: Overlooked gender rights in the feminized workplace of Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector. Sarjana, 40(2), 1–20.
  2. Saigaran, N. G. (2023). Patriarchy and Malaysian Indian Women–Plantation and Present Status A Glimpse). Journal of Indian Studies, 16, 45-53.
  3. Guna Saigaran, N. (2022). Interlocking the interconnection between gender beliefs and capability deprivation amongst marginalised communities: A conceptual framework. Asia-Pacific Journal of Futures in Education and Society, 1(2), 19 36.
Books
  1. Saigaran, N. G. (2026). Gender beliefs, culture and capability deprivation among Tamil women in Malaysia: Navigating the triple yoke of oppression. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-95-7474-2
Chapter in Books
  1. Saigaran, N.G., Saxena, V. (2025). Negotiating Agency: Women Plantation Workers in the Contemporary Tamil Novel. In: Pham, C.P., Sy, J.M.C., Nguyen, T.N.T. (eds) Decolonizing Comparative Literature. Asia in Transition, vol 30. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-95-0277-6_11
  2. Guna Saigaran, N., Karupiah, P. (2022). Poverty Among Malaysian Indian Women. In: Baikady, R., Sajid, S., Przeperski, J., Nadesan, V., Islam, M.R., Gao, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68127-2_173-2
  3. Saigaran, N. G. (2022). Women and Decision Making within the Household: The Malaysian Indian Women Perspective. In Tiwary R. A & R.Gupta (Eds.), Re-Thinking Gender, Equality and Development: Perspectives from Academia, (pp.175-140). Vernon Express
  4. Saigaran, N. G., & Thambiah, S. Malaysian Indian Women's Education and Their Marginalisation: An Intersectional Analysis. In Nagappan, R., & Mukherjee, H (Eds.), Malaysian Indians and Education: Reimagined Development Opportunities (pp. 100-119). Routledge.
  5. Saigaran, N.G. (2022). The Impoverishment of Malaysian Indian Women: A Capability Approach Perspective. In: Karupiah, P., Fernandez, J.L. (eds) A Kaleidoscope of Malaysian Indian Women s Lived Experiences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5876-2_5
Other Publications
  1. Hoffstaedter G., Guna Saigaran N., Ilana N., Hooi Y.K., and Jalil AA. (2023, July 2023). Malaysia at 60: the urgency of inclusion. New Mandala. https://www.newmandala.org/malaysia-at-60-the-urgency-of-inclusion/ - Mass Media(newspaper,radio,tv,popular Magazine)

RESEARCH PROJECT

International
  1. 2024 - 2026, International Funding
    Exploring Coloniality And Precarity Engagements Amongst Urban-poor Resilient Malaysian Indian Women (excape- Urmi) ( Principal Investigator(PI))
University
  1. 2024 - 2027, University Grant
    The Voice Of The Subaltern: A Literary Study Of Tamil Plantation Women Narratives ( Co-Researcher)
  2. 2024 - 2027, University Grant
    Indians in Malaysia and Singapore by Arasaratnam Sinnappa ( Principal Investigator(PI))
  3. 2024 - 2027, University Grant
    Malaysian Indians' Contributions to Nation Building: Promoting Awareness of Thirukkural in Contemporary Practice for National Unity ( Principal Investigator(PI))
  4. 2022 - 2024, University Grant
    Unpacking Intergenerational Poverty Transmission: The Connection Between Resilience And Capability In Influencing Social Mobility Of Malaysian Indian Women And Their Children ( Principal Investigator(PI))
  5. 2023 - 2024, University Grant
    Roles And Participation Of Men And Women In Non-governmental Organizations (ngo): A Study Of Myskill Foundation ( Principal Investigator(PI))

PAPER PRESENTED

Plenary Speaker
  1. The Integration of Pallangkuli and Athichudi to Decolonise Eurocentric Research Methods in the Indian-Malaysian Community, 12th European Feminist Research Conference: Contemporary Feminist Liberation Struggles: bodies, borders and Intersections, ATGENDER - The European Association for Gender Research, Education and Documentation (International) (09 Jul 2025 - 12 Jul 2025)
Invited Speaker
  1. Gender Transformative Approaches - Intersectionality Perspective, Buen Vivir: Sahred Future for Transformative Change, Department of Social Work, University of Sindh (International) (21 Mar 2024 - 21 Mar 2024)
  2. Marginalised Indian Population: Some Critical Insights from Fieldwork, Who are you, Malaysia? Representations of Malaysia's Past, Present, and Future after 60 Years of Nationhood, The Malaysia and Singapore Society of Australia (MASSA) (International) (07 Jul 2023 - 08 Jul 2023)
  3. Faculty Competitive Grant (GKF) Information Session, Faculty Competitive Grant (GKF) Information Session, FASS RMU (University) (05 Jul 2023 - 05 Jul 2023)
  4. The Culture of Indians in Malaysia, Exchange Programme of Universiti Malaya and Universiti Brawijaya, Department of Media dan Communication Studies  (International) (17 May 2023 - 17 May 2023)
Oral Presenter
  1. Decolonising Gender: The Impact of Alternative Education on Gender Identity among at-risk Malaysian Indian Youths, 7th Asian Consortium for South Asian Studies (ACSAS) Conference, South Asian Studies, National Univesity of Singapore (International) (22 Nov 2024 - 23 Nov 2024)
  2. Unlocking Education's Equality: Navigating Cultural Capital and Habitus for Social Justice from the B40 Students and Educator's Lens, International Conference on Sustainability Education Development 2023 (ICSED), Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya (International) (25 Oct 2023 - 26 Oct 2023)
  3. Usage and determinants of English language learning among Indian students of University of Malaya: A study, 11th International Conference - Seminar on Tamil Studies 2023, International Association Tamil Research and Department of Indian Studies  (International) (21 Jul 2023 - 23 Jul 2023)
  4. "Flipped Classroom" Method and its impact on learning: A study among Malaysian Indian Students in Sungai Petani, Kedah, Malaysia, Fifth International Conference on Research in Tamil Education 2022, Faculty of Languages and Communication, Sultan Idris Education University & Natramil Mullai Tamil Sanggam Foundation, India (International) (09 Dec 2022 - 10 Dec 2022)

ACADEMIC/ PROF. SERVICES

Evaluation
  1. (2026) Appointment as External Assessor (american Degree Transfer Programme - Arts), National, (External Assessor)
  2. (2025) Unveiling Gendered Realities in Myanmar’s Small-scale Aquaculture: Opportunities for Change, University, (Reviewer)
  3. (2025) Aspek Sosioekonomi, Peluang Pendidikan dan Pencapaian Akademik Pelajar Kaum India Di Sekolah Menengah: Kajian Kes Di Selangor, University, (Internal Examiner)
Media Appearance
  1. (2022) Interview for National Day 2022 -oriental Daily Newspaper Sdn Bhd, University, (Interview)
Mentoring
  1. (2026) Mentoring/supervision (sweetha Munusamy), University, (Academic Advisor)

SUPERVISION

Postgraduate Student
  1. (2026) MORPHO-SEMANTIC STUDY OF SANSKRIT LOAN WORDS IN THE PRESENT-DAY MALAY, KALARANI SAHADEVAN
  2. (2026) MEDIA PERSPECTIVES ON RURAL WOMEN'S MARGINALIZATION IN CHINA, ZHOU RUIBING
  3. (2026) Organisation, Gender, and Technology: Exploring Professional Well-Being of Female Employees in Chinese Internet Companies, QIU ZHENYU
  4. (2024) Empowerment of Garment Workers Bargaining with Public Patriarchy in Bangladesh, SHAMALI SHILL
  5. (2023) Language Shift and Ethnic Identity of Malaysian Tamil Youths, BHARATHI A/P MUTTY
  6. (2026) A STUDY ON INDIAN WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN KUALA LUMPUR: THE ROLE OF AI IN BRANDING, SNEHA A/P RAJESWARAN
  7. (2023) A Pragmatic Analysis of the Narratives of Lived Experiences of Malaysian Indian Transgenders, SHUHASYINI A/P BALAN
Under Graduate Students
  1. (2025) The causes and solutions for obesity among Indian students of the University of Malaya from 2019 to 2024
  2. (2025) A study on the impact of artificial intelligence and the levels of acceptance based on its applications among Indian higher education students of Malaya University.
  3. (2025) An Analytical Study on the Level of Awareness, Perception, and Attitude towards Corruption among Malaysian Indian Students
  4. (2025) An Analysis of Socioeconomic and Educational Intergenerational Progress among Indian Graduates of the University of Malaya
  5. (2025) Industrial Training, SANGEETHA A/P KALAISELVAN
  6. (2024) Tinjauan Taraf Ekonomi Pelajar India B40 Universiti Malaya
  7. (2024) Stereotaip Antara Kaum dan Kesannya terhadap Peluang Pekerjaan untuk Belia India Malaysia
  8. (2024) Penggunaan Kecerdasan Buatan Dalam Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Bahasa Tamil
  9. (2024) Jenis - Jenis Perkahwinan Masyarakat Tamil di Malaysia: Suatu Penyelidikan
  10. (2022) Latihan Ilmiah (Final Year Project)
  11. (2022) Practices, GERY CLARET A/L SELVANATHAN, SHALINI A/P MATHIALAGAN, SOO SIEW TENG, DURAAGASHINI A/P KATHIGESU, DHURGA DEVI A/P NAGARAJOO, KAUSALYA A/P RAVI, THEVATHARSINI A/P PRAPAKAR

TEACHING

Bachelor
  1. (2024) AIH3003 - Academic Project
  2. (2024) AIH1012 - An Introduction to Malaysian Indian Family Systems
  3. (2024) AIX2007 - Digital Humanities
  4. (2024) AIH3027 - Malaysian Indian and Social Change
  5. (2024) AIH1110 - Malaysian Indians Socioeconomic Condition
  6. (2024) AIH1010 - Malaysian Tamils Social History
  7. (2024) AIH2030 - Seminar Series in Indian Studies
  8. (2023) AIH1006 - An Introduction to Malaysian Indian
  9. (2023) AIH1012 - An Introduction to Malaysian Indian Family Systems
  10. (2022) AIX2007 - Digital Humanities
  11. (2022) AIX3001 - Ethics and Professionalism in Social Sciences
  12. (2022) AIH2012 - Research Methodology Tamil Studies
  13. (2022) AIH2111 - Seminar in Tamil Studies
  14. (2022) AIH2030 - Seminar Series in Indian Studies
  15. (2022) AIH1011 - The Culture of Malaysian Indians
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)
  1. (2026) AIH1006 - An Introduction to Malaysian Indian
  2. (2025) AIH1010 - Malaysian Tamils Social History
  3. (2026) AIH1011 - The Culture of Malaysian Indians
  4. (2025) AIH1012 - An Introduction to Malaysian Indian Family Systems
  5. (2025) AIH1110 - Malaysian Indians Socioeconomic Condition
  6. (2025) AIH2009 - Modern Indian Social History
  7. (2026) AIH2030 - Seminar Series in Indian Studies
  8. (2025) AIH2112 - Malaysian Tamils Socioeconomic Condition
  9. (2025) AIH2117 - Malaysian Tamils Culture
  10. (2026) AIH3027 - Malaysian Indian and Social Change
  11. (2025) AIH3308 - Minority Groups Among Malaysian Indian
  12. (2025) AIH3322 - Belief and Practises Malaysian Hindus
  13. (2026) AIX2007 - Digital Humanities

COURSE ATTENDED

Internal/ External Course
  1. PROGRAM TRANSFORMASI MINDA 2026, RUANG TEC, ARAS 8, BANGUNAN CANSELERI (09 Feb 2026 - 13 Feb 2026)
  2. ATGENDER 2025 12TH EUROPEAN FEMINIST RESEARCH CONFERENCE ON ?CONTEMPORARY FEMINIST LIBERATION STRUGGLES: BODIES, BORDERS AND INTERSECTIONS, BARCELONA, CATALONIA, SPAIN. (06 Jul 2025 - 15 Jul 2025)
  3. 7TH ASIAN CONSORTIUM FOR SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES (ACSAS) CONFERENCE , NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE (NUS) (20 Nov 2024 - 24 Nov 2024)
  4. ROLES AND PARTICIPATION OF MEN AND WOMEN IN NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGO): A STUDY OF MYSKILL FOUNDATION, (02 Sep 2024 - 06 Sep 2024)
  5. EXPLORING COLONIALITY AND PRECARITY ENGAGEMENTS AMONGST URBAN-POOR RESILIENT MALAYSIAN INDIAN WOMEN (EXCAPE-URMI), (11 Aug 2024 - 28 Aug 2024)
  6. SUPERCHARGE YOUR CLASS WITH CHATGPT, DALAM TALIAN (19 May 2023 - 19 May 2023)