Positioning Research

Dr Margaret Kumar is Adjunct Professor at Centurion University of Technology and Management, Odisha, India. She has been appointed Senior Fellow (Honorary) at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr Kumar has worked at the University of Melbourne and Deakin University, Australia, in several faculties and at the Institute of Koorie Education, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. Her forte lies in her multi-skilled qualities. She has a diversified experience of being an academic, an academic skills adviser, a Higher Degree by Research Language and Learning Advisor, Senior Lecturer in Teaching, Research and Research Support, Master of Education Co-ordinator, Strand Coordinator of International Education, Lecturer in Applied Linguistics and Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education. She has a deep cultural and educational awareness of the ethos of Indigenous societies and its diverse knowledge systems. This arises from her educational, cultural and social background. She has a high level of experience in interacting with cultures where protocol, hierarchical systems, customs, norms and values are integral parts of daily living, in facilitating communication within and among different educational, cultural and individual groups. She speaks several languages and has a Catholic, Hindu, Pacific and Western upbringing. Throughout her personal and professional development, she has lived with people from a number of cultures and diasporic communities. This coupled with experiential learning and teaching gives her an acute awareness of what is involved in capacity building for marginalized societies. To this end, she has a long track record of research and publications in areas such as: Indigeneity and Aboriginal cultures; new knowledge systems; cross-cultural understandings; cultures of learning; global literacies; internationalizing the curriculum and interdisciplinarity. She espouses knowledge that views pedagogy as a social practice and helps students learn within a holistic and comprehensive curriculum. She utilizes theoretical frameworks and methodologies to translate teaching and learning principles into practice. Her work in the area of cross-cultural and intercultural exchanges has been instrumental in supporting research students in bringing ‘new’ Knowledge Systems to the academy and the scholarship of learning.

Dr Supriya Pattanayak is presently the Deputy Vice Chancellor at the Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM)—the first multi-sectoral, state-regulated private university in Odisha, India. While being primarily in an administrative role, she is also involved in teaching, research and consulting. She is also involved in an advisory capacity in the social enterprise initiatives of the University, Gram Tarang Employability and Training Services, Gram Tarang Inclusive Development Ltd, Gram Tarang Foods and the Urban Micro Business Center. She has published extensively in the field of social work and research methodology. Dr Pattanayak has also been appointed as Adjunct Professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Melbourne, and is a Research Fellow at the St Petersburg State University, Russia. She has her qualifications from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (MA) and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (MPhil), India and RMIT University, Australia (PhD). She has an extensive teaching, research and policy experience, and her research interest is in the field of gender and development, education of indigenous people, sustainable livelihoods and social work pedagogy in different contexts. She has worked with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), multilateral and bilateral agencies, federal and state governments and universities in India and Australia. In her role as State Representative (Odisha), Department for International Development India (British High Commission), she worked collaboratively with various development partners in pursuance of harmonization of development efforts and achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).