Papers by Sreeram Gopalkrishnan
Cultural Studies of Science Education, 2021
Jawaharlal Nehru’s contribution in pioneering the concept of scientific temper in India is widely... more Jawaharlal Nehru’s contribution in pioneering the concept of scientific temper in India is widely acknowledged, and his legacy has had an influence on Academia, Education policy and popular science movements in the country. But in the last decade, the new age social media revolution has seen a renaissance of right wing nationalism, backed by an aggressive trend where ancient myths are transformed into historical facts and instant messaging groups are flooded with forwards of superstitious and irrational beliefs of religious exceptionalism. This has set the platform for a mythologization of science in a polarizing society eager to find sustenance in past glories. In such a fluid situation, it would be pertinent to ask how young Indians are handling the misinformation masquerading as science. This mixed method study explores the impact of the mythologization of science on Indian millennial group and the results show that they are not to be underestimated.
Media Watch
Digital technology tools like any computerized system have a viral tendency and what awaits the I... more Digital technology tools like any computerized system have a viral tendency and what awaits the Indian Elections in 2019 is a Trump style sophisticated digital computational propaganda. Such tools are emerging as threats to democracies, especially like India, with a free media and a booming population, connecting to the web through smart hand-held devices, increasingly relying on social media for its news sources. The Indian landscape for digital privacy is also fertile with vast amounts of data being pilfered, hacked and legally accumulated. If carefully designed election propaganda based on fake news and bots is launched on the eve of the 2019 elections who will protect the pillars of Indian democracy? This qualitative study paper with a triangulation of two methods examines the role of computational propaganda in elections and undertakes to find the likelihood of its replication during the Indian general elections in 2019.
Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities
In the last decade a new kind of Tamil film was noticed, widely celebrated as new wave, neo-noir,... more In the last decade a new kind of Tamil film was noticed, widely celebrated as new wave, neo-noir, 'Madurai genre' and even as a backlash to the 'Rasigar Mandram'(Fan Clubs) Stars of mainstream cinema. The rise of such films was in itself an achievement considering the commercial stranglehold of the politico-cultural ecosystem in the Tamil film industry. The new directors moved away from the bubble of 'mass scene'(grand super hero entry scene) appearances, political innuendos, super star 'punch' dialogues and fan club worship of pouring milk on opening day giant-size 'cutouts'. What the new Tamil films did portray were marginalized, subaltern low-caste characters with aspirations built around grim storylines, expository dialogues and dark themes. This article endeavors to thematically analyse three 'new wave' Tamil films and trace the underlying strains of a new generation narrative drawn out from the dirty underbelly of 'post-Dravidian Rajni-persona Superstar cinema'.
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Papers by Sreeram Gopalkrishnan