Dr Indrani Lahiri

Dr. Indrani Lahiri is the Deputy Head of Leicester Media School at ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥, bringing extensive leadership experience in media and communications education. With a career spanning over a decade in academia, they have held key roles as Programme Leader, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Lead, and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Lead, shaping innovative curriculum strategies and championing inclusive learning environments. She holds an Associate Fellowship with the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London. She is the Fellow of Royal Society of Arts. She is Senior Fellow of HEA and an Academic Consultant in public relations. She is the Research impact Fellow for UNAI ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ SDG Hub. She is interested in developing interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary research projects within the university, nationally and internationally. 

She is a digital anthropologist specialising in community resilience, interdisciplinary interventions, and the use of digital media to foster mental health and well-being. Her work bridges academic research, community engagement, and policy development to address contemporary challenges in resilience-building, particularly among vulnerable populations. 

Indrani has designed and led dynamic modules that bridge academic theory with industry practice, in Public Relations and Advertising, preparing students for the evolving media landscape. Her research and pedagogical interests focus on community resilience, digital communication, media ethics, and the role of sustainability in media education. Passionate about fostering student success and professional growth, she actively engage in interdisciplinary collaborations and curriculum development initiatives.

Committed to lifelong learning, Indrani is continuously exploring new fields of study and professional development opportunities to enhance their impact in higher education. She plays a pivotal role in steering strategic direction, ensuring academic excellence, and fostering an inclusive and forward-thinking learning community.

 Indrani Lahiri has worked on developing projects on social media and brand communication as a Brand Communication and Research Manager. This project aimed at developing a strong relationship between the industry and academia. She undertook extensive market research and led brand awareness and campaigns based on academic research. One of the important roles that she had to undertake as part of this project was developing promotional and campaign materials (both visual and print) for both internal and external stakeholders as a part of developing strong integrated professional relationships. This had impacted on the engagement of the audience both within and inside the organisation and involved the identification of problems related to campaign material, communication and engagement. 

She encourages postgraduate research and welcomes research proposal from prospective students who want to pursue doctoral study. Students can email research proposals directly to her address.

She has an incessant interest in international research and teaching collaboration. Currently, she is working on developing a global network of academics to address broader global issues in digital society, media and politics. 

She is keen to develop community engagement projects to expand her research reach. Recently she has started working on UN Sustainable Development Goals and exploring ways to embed it in the curriculum. She is particularly interested in research led teaching and is passionate about working with students as co-producers and co-creators.

• Institute of Digital Media, Artificial Intelligence, Responsible Innovation, Ethics and Cyber Security (DARCY)
• Media and Communications Research Centre

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Book Reviews

 in media res- a media commons project

AI and India (Springer, forthcoming)

Left and the media in India (Monograph forthcoming)

Bordoloi, Sumedha; Meena, Kolar Sridara Murthy; Latha, K; Kanmani, T. R.1; Nirmala, M N2; Lahiri, Indrani3; Makesh, Lakshitha. Effectiveness of a Suicide Awareness and Safe Reporting Training Program for Media Students: A Quasi Single-arm Interventional Study in Indian Context’. Malaysian Journal of Psychiatry 33(2):p 60-65, Jul–Dec 2024. | DOI: 10.4103/mjp.mjp_14_24 

Lahiri, I. and Wilkinson, M. (2024). Breaking borders, building bridges. Advances in Library and Information Science, 146-161. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-1371-8.ch010

(2023) The Champions project. Developing a roadmap to give children experiencing homelessness a better future: Preventing the exacerbation of the impacts of COVID-19 on an already vulnerable population. (Will be published during launch at UCL)

Lahiri, I., Deka, L., Chakraborty, N., Pattni, K., & Punwani, A. (2022). Dynamics of dialogue, humanity, and peace in the metaverse. Advances in Multimedia and Interactive Technologies, 106-121. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-5907-2.ch010

Lahiri, I., Banerjee, D., Meena, K. S., & Alsulaimi, M. (2021). Digital media and covid-19 in the uk and india. COVID-19 in International Media, 129-138. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003181705-14

• Anthropology/Digital Anthropology
• Community Resilience
• Digital Society
• Communication
• Public relations
• Media Culture
• Media pedagogy
• Education for Sustainable Development
• Social Developmental Policies

• Public Relations and Strategic Communications
• Global Advertising and Stratgeic Management Practices
• Media and Communication Dissertation

Media Psychology, Advertising, Public Relations, Foundations of Communication, Organisations and Management, International Communication, Research Methods, Integrated Marketing Communications, Media and Communications Management.

In 2022, awarded the certificate of recognition for my services to the community in Leicester, as a runner-up of the High Sheriff’s Award in the Unsung Heroes in the Community category (education).

Associate Fellow of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London

Charles Wallace Trust Award 2013

International Student Mentoring Award 2013-2015

Political Studies Association

Postcolonial Studies Association

Royal Society of Arts

• Scientific Research Publishing (SCIRP)- Peer Reviewer in Politics, Media and Journalism, Anthropology and Social Sciences (2014-Present)
• Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA PGN)- Advisory Board Member and Peer Reviewer, Networking Knowledge (2014-Present)
• Stryvling Stirling International Postgraduate Research Journal (2011-2014)- Copy Editor and Peer Reviewer
• Scottish Media and Communication Association (SMCA) Committee Member (2013-Present)
• MeCCSA PGN Outreach Officer (2011-2012) 

CPD New Skills Academy

• Professional Neuro Linguistic Programming Certificate

• Introduction to REBT: Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy Certificate

• Level 3 Child Psychology Diploma

• Mental Wellbeing in Children and Young People Certificate

LinkedIn Learning

Communicating with Diplomacy and Tact 27/01/2023

• Leading Inclusive Teams 05/01/2023

• Accessing Your Brain’s Hidden Potential 05/01/2023

• 10 Mistakes Leaders Should Avoid 23/11/2022

• Managing Teams 22/11/2022

• What Is Program Management? 29/09/2022

• Prioritizing Your Tasks 16/09/2022

• Managing Generation Z 05/09/2021

• Uncovering Your Authentic Self at Work 16/09/2021

• Learning to Be Promotable 23/09/2021

(2024/25)

 (2018)

Big Data, AI and Robotics Symposium, June 28, 2018 

Communicating peace in the public sphere (PR in practice), research and teaching even, November 15, 2018

Presentation at Transformations in Learning and Teaching, ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥'s Teaching and Learning Conference 2024, on Feeding competencies: train an AI with students

Invited Talk at SOAS, University of London Undergraduate Induction Event, on Digital Storytelling, 29.09.2023

Invited talk at PG Seminar on Digital media, communications and mental heath, at NIMHANS, Bangalore, India, 18.04.2023

Invited talk, panel discussion and Q/A on Media and mental health communications (Lessons learnt from BRIC),  NIMHANS, Bangalore, India, 12.04.2023

Presentation on Cultivating Aspiring Leicester Minds, at Advance HE’s SustainabilitySymposium 2023: Top-down or bottom-up? How do we ensure all our graduates become sustainable citizens?, 30.03.2023

Presentation on The story begins: Community resilience, at Social Sciences Research Impact conference, University of Oxford, 20.03.2023

Presented on "Can social media influence policy and practice?" at MeHeLP Dissemination Conference, 02.03.2022

Presented on Creating or Curating Gender Specific Projects (Whys and Hows of creating or Curating art projects or festivals concerning gender issues and the funding for the same), In association with:Women's Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, India The Creative ArtsAcademy, India Australian High Commission, Indiam, 10.12.2020

Presented on Emotional literacy is central to emotional resilience: Lessons learnt, at, Third International Conference on Children’sHealth, Well-being, Education and Rights, Kosovo (Online), 01.06.2020

Invited talk, at, Probing the Role and Impact of social media on Major Aspects of Contemporary Life Conference, Asutosh College, Calcutta University, 22.02.2019

Keynote at MEHCON2019 conference Digital Media and Society, NIMHANS, Bangalore, India, 23.02.2019

Invited Keynote, at, InternationalSeminar on “Mass Media in the Era of Digitisation: Challenges and Opportunities", Sarada Kaksha, Rabindra Bharati University, 28.02.2019

Invited Keynote, on, "New Media and Contemporary society Conference", Jadavpur University, India, 17.07.2019

Presented "The migrant children school crisis: examining the intersection between media framing, neoliberalism and schooling in Leicester", at, Discourses Of ImmigrationAnd Citizenship: From Windrush To Brexit Conference Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association, De MontfortUniversity, 27.06.2019

Presented at ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ Teaching and Learning Conference, on Simulation games in Public Relations, 22.03, 2017

Presented probable research collaborations at University of Mumbai, Jadavpur University and Jamaia Milia Islamia University, India, August-September 2014

Globalisation and media in India, International Seminar, 11th December 2012, Jadavpur University.

Hosted the Scottish Media and Communication Association (SMCA) conference, 26th April 2013, Glasgow Caledonian University.

The role of media in changing Public Opinion in West Bengal, SGRS Post Graduate Research Conference, 12^th May 2011, University of Stirling.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and its relation with media for 34 years in West Bengal, MeCCSA – PGN Conference, 4^th-5^th July 2011, Bournemouth Business Centre.

Attended IRISS workshop on Social Media, University of Edinburgh.

Attended the Scottish Graduate Summer School, University of Edinburgh and Herriot-Watt University.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and its relation with media for 34 years in West Bengal, ECREA Symposium, 16^th-17^th December 2011, London School of Economics.

Scottish Oral History Centre, Inauguration seminar, University of Strathclyde.

Supervising RSA Fellow on project Celebrate our Similarities as an academic consultant

Sangeet Foundation

Successful completion of PhD research on Social media in PR: Kuwait, 2019

How does music foster community resilience among the South Asian diaspora in the UK post-COVID-19

iMuseum 

 (2024/25) funded by Research England’s Connecting Capability Fund

 (2018)

Higher Education Innovation Fund (2022/23) 

Higher Education Innovation Fund (2021/22) 

01.12.2024 

24.10.2024 

19.08.2022 Tanqueray & Community Resilience Season 4, Ep. 8

17.05.2022 Digital Society and Resilience World Telecommunication Day & Information Society Day ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ Events

12.05.2022 Leicester Stories – Community Wellbeing and Celebrating Our Similarities

08.03.2022 International Women’s Day the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media, ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥

(2021) BBC Radio Leicester Interview on Manav Utsav 2021 

13.05.2021 Talk Series On Mental Health During A Nationwide Covid Crisis, ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥

26.05.2021 A Germ’s Journey Newsdesk – The Story of A Germ’s Journey

28.04.2021 A Germ’s Journey Discussion – Telling Our Own Stories

2020 Mutual Aid, Radio interview. ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥. Media. 

(2020): Children's stories in Times of Corona Podcast. ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥. Presentation. 

03.11.2020 National Stress Awareness Day 2020, ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ Events

09.06.2020 Researcher brings together children from all walks of life during COVID-19

(2019): Cultural PR and smear. Radio Interview. BBC Leicester. #don’tfearsmear 

Building Resilience in Children 

Observations led me to a profound question: How can children and adults build resilience if they lack the tools to navigate authority and power constructively? Resilience isn’t just about bouncing back—it’s about having the tools and confidence to do so.

Cyber Policy in China by Greg Austin. Polity Press. 2014

China and Post-Socialist Development by Andrzej Bolesta. Polity Press. 2014

Communication

Public Relations

Advertising

Marketing

Public Speaking

Indrani Lahiri’s skills include research, data analysis, academic writing, public speaking, administration, international relations, copy editing, editing, public relations, teaching, social media, social networking, leadership, blogging, journalism, proofreading, teamwork, creative writing, report writing, copy writing and market research.