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Sami Ahmad Khan

Sami Ahmad Khan

Sami Ahmad Khan
Sami Ahmad Khan
Assistant Professor
Centre/School/Special Centre
Centre for English Studies,
School of Language Literature and Culture Studies
Room No
159
Email
sakhan@mail.jnu.ac.in
Personal Webpage
https://jnu.ac.in/Faculty/sakhan/cv.pdf
Qualifications
  • MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship: University of Oslo (2021-2023)
  • PhD (Science Fiction): Jawaharlal Nehru University (2010-16)
  • MA (English): Jawaharlal Nehru University (2007-09)
  • BA Hons. (English): Hindu College, University of Delhi (2004-2007)
Areas of Interest/Specialization
  • Science Fiction (with emphasis on India’s anglophone SF)
  • Speculative Fiction  
  • Creative Writing

 

Bio-note: Sami Ahmad Khan is a writer, academic, and documentary producer. He is the recipient of a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Fellowship (University of Oslo, Norway), a Fulbright FLTA grant (University of Iowa, USA), and a UGC-SAP and MANF Senior Research Fellowship (Jawaharlal Nehru University, India). He holds a PhD in Indian Science Fiction from JNU, has worked as an assistant features producer for All India Radio, and has taught at the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi), Jindal Global University, and GGS Indraprastha University. His future-war thriller Red Jihad won two awards [NBT India s National Debut Youth Fiction Award (co-winner) and Muse India Young Writer Award (runners-up)]. His second novel, Aliens in Delhi, garnered good reviews and was shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar. His fiction has been the subject of formal academic research and a part of university syllabi in India and the US. His overview of Indian SF has been translated into Czech and his short story has been translated into Marathi. His creative and critical writings have appeared in leading academic journals (Science Fiction Studies, The Journal of Popular Culture, Foundation), university presses (MIT Press, University of Wales Press), and trade imprints (Gollancz, Hachette, Bloomsbury, Routledge, Rupa, Juggernaut, Niyogi). His latest book is the critically-acclaimed Star Warriors of the Modern Raj: Materiality, Mythology and Technology of Indian Science Fiction, which was longlisted for the BSFA Award (non-fiction). Sami currently discusses life, society, and science fiction at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.

Experience

Eight years of post-PhD teaching/research experience

Awards & Honours
  • Recipient of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellowship at the University of Oslo, Norway (2021-23)
  • Shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2019 (Novel: Aliens in Delhi)
  • Sami’s novels and short stories have been the subject of formal academic research at universities in India and the US. His fiction has also been included in university syllabi at the BA and MA levels. For example, his second novel, Aliens in Delhi (2017) has been included in the BA syllabus of the University of Mumbai, India. His first novel, Red Jihad (2012), had been included in the MA English syllabus at Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal, India.  
  • His short story “PT Period” translated from English into Marathi (in Morpankhi Vigyankatha), 2022.
  • His academic essay “Surveying Indian Science Fiction” translated from English into Czech by Ikarie XB-1, 2016.
  • Winner of Global Islamicate SF Short Story Contest, USA (Third Prize for “Op. Mi’raj”), 2016.
  • Recipient of National Book Trust’s National Debut Youth Fiction Award at Delhi World Book Fair (Co-Winner), 2013
  • Recipient of Muse India Young Writer Award at Hyderabad Literary Festival (Runner-up), 2013
  • Recipient of a Fulbright FLTA grant at the University of Iowa, USA (2011-12)
International Collaboration/Consultancy
  • Member of CoFutures: an international group that is active across academic and technology research, policy, and the arts. 
Best Peer Reviewed Publications

Books
Star Warriors of the Modern Raj: Materiality, Mythology and Technology of Indian Science Fiction. University of Wales Press, 2021.

 

Journal Papers

  1. "Zombies and India: The neoMONSTERS Epidemiology". The Journal of Popular Culture, 56(2). 341-355. 2023.
  2. "Genre-Zombies and Zombie-Genre: Science Fiction, India and the Undead". Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction, 52(2) 18-33. Summer 2023.
  3. "Do Androids Dream of Wars and Climate Change? India’s Futures in Three Hindi 'Large Short' Films". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 34(1), 279-300. 2023.
  4. "Dom(e)inating India's Tomorrow(s)? Global Climate Change in Select Anglophonic Narratives". Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research. 6(2). 25-37. 2019.
  5. "The Others in India’s Other Futures". Science Fiction Studies. 43(3), Indian SF. 479-495. 2016. 
Recent Peer Reviewed Journals/Books
  1. "Control+Alt+Delete Humanity". Uneven Futures: Strategies for Community Survival from Speculative Fiction. Ed. By I. Yoshinaga, S. Guynes and G. Canavan. MIT Press, 2022.
  2. "The Day After Tomorrow in Bengaluru: Environment, Global Climate Change and Dystopia(s)". Science Fiction in India: Parallel Worlds and Postcolonial Paradigms. Ed. By S. Khilnani and R. Bhattacharjee. Bloomsbury, 2022.
  3. "The neoMONSTERS Thesis: Dystopias, Ideologies and Monsters in Ghoul and Betaal". Dibrugarh University Journal of English Studies. 29(1), 2021.
  4. Winter is Coming: Climatic Disruptions in "The Ice Age Cometh". Imagining Worlds, Mapping Possibilities: Select Science Fiction Stories. Ed. By S. Dogra and S. Khilnani. Worldview, 2021.
  5. "Sharing Air with Gandhi Toxin during Exile in 2099 AD: Manjula Padmanabhan’s Short-Stories". Studies in South Asian Film and Media. 6(2), 91-104. 2015.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.