FACULTY PROFILE

FR. DR. RENISH GEEVARGHESE ABRAHAM

Designation: Assistant Professor of English (Level 12)

Residential Address:
Delhi Orthodox Centre
2, Tughlaqabad Institutional Area
Vayusenabad, New Delhi-110062

Email: renishabraham@ststephens.edu

Educational Qualifications

• PhD (English Studies): University of Delhi, Delhi.
• ThM: General Theology, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS), New York.
• MDiv: Theological Studies, SVOTS, New York
• MA (English Literature): Department of English, University of Delhi, Delhi.
• BA (English Language and Literature): Catholicate College, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala.

Titles of Theses:

• Doctoral Thesis: Missionary Literature and Community Formation in Nineteenth-Century Kerala (Awarded 2015)
• ThM Thesis: Holy Land as Inner Spiritual Landscape: The Journey of Gregorios of Parumala to Jerusalem, Translation with Introduction and Notes (2024)
• MDiv Thesis: Christ and Kenosis in Select Novels of Fyodor Dostoyevsky (2023)

Teaching Experience: 14 Years.

Administrative Experience: 10 Years

Awards and Recognitions

• Valedictorian (Summa cum Laude), Commendation for Thesis, Commendation for Service to the Community, SVOTS, New York, 2024.
• Dean’s List, SVOTS, New York, 2021-2024
• Visiting Lectureship at Soka University, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan in 2018.
• Visiting Lectureship at Keio University, SFC, Tokyo, Japan in 2018.
• Westcott-Teape Lectureship at the University of Cambridge in 2017.
• Treasurer (Ex-officio), St. Stephen’s College Alumni Association from October 2017 to July 2021.
• Joint Secretary and Treasurer (Honorary), All India Association for Christian Higher Education (AIACHE) from May 2018 to July 2021.
• Treasurer (Honorary), Maximizing Employment to Serve the Handicapped (MESH), an Indian Organization practicing Fair Trade from January 2019 to July 2021.
• Received Research Assistantship from the University of Delhi (Under UTA Scheme) from April 2011 to July 2012.

Areas of Interest

• Biblical Languages, Literature and Eastern Christianity.
• Renaissance and Eighteenth-Century British Literature.
• Indian Literature and Culture.

Courses Taught

• Modern Literature: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, D. H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers, Virginia Woolf’s Dalloway and T. S. Eliot’s Poetry
• Eighteenth-Century Poetry: Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Laurence Sterne and Thomas Gray
• Seventeenth-Century Literature: Shakespeare’s Macbeth, John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and John Dryden’s Mac Flecknoe
• British Poetry and Drama (14-17 Century): Chaucer, Spenser, Donne, Shakespeare and Marlowe
• Literary Theory: Post-structuralism, Post-colonialism, Feminism, and New Historicism
• Language and Linguistics: The Structure of Language, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax and Semantics.
• Indian Classical Literature: The Mahabharata, Cilappatikaram, Abhijnana Shakuntalam and Mrichkatika
• European Classical Literature: Homer, Sophocles, Ovid, Horace and Plautus
• Tutored Twentieth-Century Novel paper (Joyce, Kafka, Marquez) to Postgraduate students.

Publications

• “Fyodor Dostoyevsky: “Bridging Skeptical Intellect and Orthodox Spirituality in the Nineteenth Century,” Renish Geevarghese Abraham, The Malankara Sabha 3.3 (2024), pp 27-31.
• “Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church,” Renish Geevarghese Abraham and Santosh Koshy Joy in John Chathanatt (ed.), Christianity, General Series: Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer Verlag (2023). pp. 553-556.
• “Saints, Blessed, Venerable, and Servant of God in India.” Renish Geevarghese Abraham and N. J. Paniker in: Chathanatt, J. (eds) Christianity. General Series: Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Verlag (2023). pp. 658-666.
• “Negotiating Dual Belonging: A Study of the Socio-Cultural History of the St. Thomas Christians of India.” in Dual Belonging in Hinduism and Christianity: Both, Beyond, or Between edited by Nadya Pohran and Daniel Soars (London: Routledge, 2022)
• Book Review. Psalmic Odes from Apostolic Times: An Indian Monk’s Meditation. Francis Acharya. Ed. Bernard Kilroy. Vidyajyoti Journal of Theologiocal Reflections 83.9 (Delhi: ISPCK, 2019). (ISSN: 0970-1079).
• “Modernity and Islamic Self: A Study of Maulana Mohamed Ali’s Autobiography My Life: A Fragment” in Studies in Multicultural Literature. T Sai Chandra Mauli (Jaipur: Aavishkar, 2013), 242-254. (ISBN:978-81-7910-408-8).
• “The Problems of Rendering Classical Urdu Ghazals into English…” in Versos and Rectos. Ed. Lata Marina Varghese. Pathanamtitta: Catholicate College, 2011, 72-90. (ISBN: 978-81-921377-0-4).
• Preface to an Autobiography. The Mission. Jogen Khan. (Shyamnagar: Bibliofili, 2011)
  (ISBN: 978-81-921701-4-5).
• Book Review. Spirituality of People’s Movements: A Christian Search in the Indian Context. Poulose Mangai. Vidyajyoti Journal of Theologiocal Reflections 76.12 (Delhi: ISPCK, 2012). (ISSN: 0970-1079).

Conference Participation

Chair

• A Session titled “Who are we Kidding? The Indian Child as Audience” in a Conference on No Child’s Play: Literatures and/for Childhoods in Contemporary India organized by the Department of English, Lady Sri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi, on 16 March 2018.
• The plenary session of a workshop on Rethinking the Relevance of Religion in the Modern World organized by St. Stephen’s College in association with Delhi Brotherhood Society on 13 and 14 March 2017.
• Chaired and delivered the Opening remarks of the 3rd St. Stephen’s College public lecture on Science and Religion by Prof. Ross H Mackenzie, organized on 25 October 2016.
• A Session in a UGC-sponsored National Conference on Versos and Rectos: Translation and Re-creation Across Borders and Cultures organized by the Post Graduate Department of English, Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, Kerala on 15 and 16 July 2010.

Presentations

• Presented a paper titled “Parumala Thirumeni’s Urshlem Yatra Vivaranam: An Analysis” in a workshop on Travelogues in Indian Literature organized by the Department of English, University of Delhi on 5 and 6 December 2016.
• A Paper titled “Modernity and Islamic Self: A Study of Maulana Mohamed Ali’s Autobiography My Life: A Fragment” in a UGC, British Council, and Orient Blackswan—sponsored International Conference on Islam and English in India: Cultural, Literary, Pedagogic, Historical, Political and Philosophical Encounters organized by the Department of English, Hyderabad Central University, Hyderabad on 6, 7 and 8 September 2011.
• A Paper titled “Domestic Ideology and the Treatment of Sexuality in the Victorian Novel: A Study of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton” in a UGC-sponsored National Seminar on Women’s Voices: A critical Investigation organized by the Department of English and Research Centre, Govt. Brennen College, Thalassery, Kerala on 12 and 13 August 2010.
• A Paper titled “The Problem of Translating Urdu Ghazals into English and their Postcolonial Redefinition” in a UGC-sponsored National Conference on Versos and Rectos: Translation and Re-creation Across Borders and Cultures organized by the Post Graduate Department of English, Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, Kerala on 15and 16 July 2010.
• A Paper titled “Revisiting Khasi Literature and Culture in the Modern Context” in a UGC-sponsored National Conference on the Linguistic, Cultural and Artistic Heritage of the Tribal People of India organized by the Department of English, St. Dominic’s College, Kanjirapally, Kerala on 4 and 5 February 2010.

Special Lectures

International

• Delivered a Lecture on “Tagore and Japan” on 16 October 2018 at Keio University, Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), inaugurating an academic collaboration between St. Stephen’s College and Keio University, Japan.
• Delivered the following lectures at Soka University, Tokyo, Japan as Visiting Lecturer from 05 to 24 October 2018:
  • The Impact of Ancient Sanskrit Classics on Goethe and the German Orientalists in the Nineteenth Century.
  • The Economic Fundamentals of British Imperialism in India.
  • Learning English and Indian Philosophy at St. Stephen’s College.
  • Strategies and Conventions of Academic Writing.
  • Tropes, Themes and Motifs in Fantasy Literature in the West.
• Delivered three public lectures on the topic “Negotiating Hinduism and Christianity in the History of Kerala” on 25, 26, and 27 October 2017 as Westcott-Teape Lecturer at the University of Cambridge.

National/State/Regional

• Conducted a Curriculum Enrichment Programme at the Department of English, Union Christian College, Shillong Meghalaya from 21-23 September 2015.
• A Special Lecture on the methodology of Literature at Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, Kerala on 29 December 2014.
• An inaugural lecture for the English Association on English Studies and Critical Theory at SPM College for Women, Delhi University in September 2012.
• Coordinated a three weeks course on “An Introduction to Indian Culture” for Japanese students from Soka University, Japan in February-March since 2014 for a period of seven years
• Coordinated a 14 days course on “Entrepreneurship and Social Transformation in India” for Japanese students from Keio University in February-March since 2019.

Administrative Experience

Statutory

• Bursar, Stephen’s College, (11 January 2016 to 31 July 2021)
• Public Information Officer, St. Stephen’s College, (27 July 2019 to 31 July 2021)
• Member, College Governing Body (Ex-officio) (11 January 2016 to 31 July 2021)
• Member Secretary, College Finance Committee (11 January 2016 to 31 July 2021)
• Coordinator, College Building Committee, (11 January 2016 to31 July 2021)
• Convener, Grievance Redressal Cell, St. Stephen’s College (1 April 2016 to 31 July 2021)
• Member, Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) (11 January 2016 to 31 July 2021)
• Nodal Officer, National Scholarship Portal (25 September 2019 to 31 July 2021)
• Nodal Officer, J&K Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (2018 to 31 July 2021)
• Convener, College Purchase Committee (11 January 2016 to 31 July 2021)

External

• Peer Team Member, External Academic and Administrative Audit organized by Kristu Jayanti College (Autonomous), Bangalore on 29 and 30 August 2019.
• Member, Governing Body, Baring Union Christian College and Baring Union Christian College Association (BUCCA), Batala, Punjab from February 2020 to July 2021.
• Member, Governing Body, Ewing Christian College, Allahabad from February 2020 to July 2021.
• Peer Team Member, External Academic and Administrative Audit organized by Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi on 04 and 05 February 2021.

Internal/Non-Statutory

• Dean, Alumni Affairs, St. Stephen’s College (06 September 2024 to Present)
• Liaison Officer, St. Stephen’s College (06 September 2024 to Present)
• Head, Department of English (09 January to 30 April 2017)
• Chairperson, College Café (11 January 2016 to 31 July 2021)
• Coordinator, Centre for Languages, St. Stephen’s College (1 May 2014 to 15 August 2021)
• Coordinator, Soka University-St. Stephen’s College Academic Partnership Programme (2013-2021)
• Coordinator, Keio University-St. Stephen’s College Academic Partnership Programme (2018-2021)
• Convener, Research Project Monitoring Committee (11 January 2016 to 31 July 2021)
• Convener, College Bursary Committee (11 January 2016 to 31 July 2021)
• Convener, Science Facilities Committee (11 January 2016 to 31 July 2021)
• Associate Dean (Residence), (March 2015 to January 2016)
• Resident Tutor, Mukarji West Block, (1 July 2014 to 30 April 2015)

Training Programmes

• Completed Syllabus Upgradation Course for Foundation Course in English-LLC 1 as part of Four-Year Undergraduate Programme from CPDHE, University of Delhi in 2013.
• Completed a 28 Days Orientation Programme in the Human Resources Development Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, from 19 July to 16 August 2016.
• Completed the Palladium Kaplan Norton Balanced Scorecard Certification course from 11 to 22 May 2020.
• Completed a two weeks Refresher Course in English Language and Literature at the Human Resources Development Centre, University of Mumbai from 05 to 17 October 2020.
• Completed a two weeks Refresher Course in English Language and Literature at the Human Resources Development Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia from 26 November to 10 December 2020.

Extracurricular Activities

• President & Staff Adviser, Social Service League, St. Stephen’s College (24 July 2013 to 31 July 2021).
• Staff Adviser, Malayalam Literary Society, St. Stephen’s College (24 July 2013 to Present).
• Staff Advisor, BA Programme Society, St. Stephen’s College (01 September 2012 to 22 May 2013).

Languages Known

• Malayalam, English, German, Syriac, Hindi, Urdu, Greek Koine, and Latin