Research
Research is an integral component of the Centre for Writing and Communication. The Centre is working towards developing resources, integrating technology, and opening wide arrays of research questions in the field of writing and communication. CWC understands the importance of research as an essential companion to pedagogic practice and techniques of reading and writing. CWC caters to all disciplines in Ashoka for a wide range of topics, so developing resources and methodology that is relevant to a variety of students is a major part of our research endeavours. CWC in its research pursuits, hopes to bridge the gap between writing, critical thinking, and expression. We understand that writing is a dialogue between personal critical interest and a synthesis of knowledge already established. A diverse team at CWC, specialising in disciplines like Literature, Sociology, Linguistics, Art History and Gender Studies has allowed CWC to think of writing as a method of interdisciplinary thought. Our interest in enhancing accessibility of disciplinary and historical knowledge and to enable students to enter into a dialogue with them, has guided our methodology and pedagogical research.聽
Annual Conference 2026: "Bridging Techne and Episteme: Knowledge within and beyond the Academy"
Please note that we are no longer accepting papers.
CWC鈥檚 2026 conference 鈥淏ridging Techne and Episteme: Knowledge within and beyond the Academy鈥� aims to initiate a dialogue that includes teachers, students, artists, independent scholars, journalists, podcasters and content creators 鈥� voices operating both inside and beyond the academy 鈥� to explore alternative modes of theorising, teaching, and public engagement. In light of the ongoing transformations in the education sector, marked by the emergence of new enclosures of knowledge, privatisation and the accelerating AI-turn, radically impacting curricula, pedagogy, modes of research and intellectual labour, we observe an increasing obfuscation of the relation between techne (how knowledge is produced) and episteme (the frameworks and forms of knowledge that are produced). In attempting to bridge techne and episteme, the central question we pose is: who is the intellectual/ 鈥榚xpert鈥�? And whose labour in knowledge production is and can be considered as constituting intellectual labour/ expertise? We are inviting reflections that interrogate the manner in which different practitioners and sites – online archives, open-access journals, independent research collectives, podcasts, media platforms, to name a few – contribute to newer modalities of learning and awareness, radically altering and reconfiguring the 鈥榚ducation鈥� landscape. The larger aim of the conference is to discuss spaces that allow critique and creativity to operate outside institutional settings.
Project | Assessing AI Tools for Argumentation in Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences
CWC鈥檚 research project, titled Assessing AI Tools for Argumentation in Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences, conducted in collaboration with the Mphasis AI & Applied Technology Lab, sought to develop a systematic understanding of how AI tools are being employed in academic writing within the Humanities and Social Sciences. The study was conducted with experiments which involved students writing short argumentative essays (500 words) with and without AI assistance, responding to a curated list of prompts from disciplines such as English, Sociology, Political Science, History, and International Relations. The comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data set was done using parameters which included how effectively the topic and central thesis are introduced, claims and evidence, argument structure and academic style.聽 Our project, by focusing on the chosen parameters and their impact on AI usage, aimed to contribute meaningfully to the evolving discourse on AI鈥檚 role in South Asian academia. The comparative analysis of student papers written with and without AI assistance aimed to investigate how students engage with AI in the process of writing, how this affects the argumentative nature of what they produce as the end product, and what lessons can educators and writers learn from this exercise. By examining the depth of engagement with AI-generated content and its impact on the overall quality of writing, the objective here was to identify best practices for leveraging AI as a useful tool for enhancing academic writing skills. Furthermore, this study contributes methodologically by making explicit the manner of data collection and the analytical process.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18619345
To cite this report:
Dwivedi, Neerav, Sampurna Dutta, and Archishman Sarker. 鈥楢ssessing AI Tools for Argumentation in Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences鈥�. Zenodo, 12 January 2026. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18619345. (Chicago style)
Dwivedi, N., et al. Assessing AI Tools for Argumentation in Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Zenodo, 12 Jan. 2026, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18619345. (MLA style)
Pariprekshya: Special issue on Writing Centres in India, Edited by Kanika Singh
The journal of the National Institute of Educational Planning & Administration (NIEPA), New Delhi released a special issue focussing on Writing Centres in India. This issue (August 2024) was edited by Kanika Singh (Director, CWC) and particularly focuses on the work of 51茶馆鈥檚 writing centre. It is also the first time this theme has been discussed in the Hindi-language sphere.
This volume with its focus on Writing Centres in India is timely. As an institutional unit, writing centres are a recent phenomenon in India. Few had heard of a writing centre in the Indian context ten years earlier and now centres which specifically focus on addressing reading, writing and communication skills of their students are considered an integral part of a higher education institution in India. Now writing centres or labs are present in management schools and STEM institutions and law schools, besides their expected presence in institutions focusing on social science and humanities. The model for these centres is often taken from north American universities where writing centres are well established part of the higher education set up. The articles in this volume of Pariprekshya discuss the context, the growth and the need for writing centres in the Indian context. Together they specifically reflect on the situation in India classroom and the landscape of higher education and therefore provide both a micro- and macro-view of education. This issue curated by Kanika Singh makes a conscious attempt to include perspectives from the sciences and professional courses like design, along with social sciences/humanities.
Insights into Scientific Writing: Practices in India, by Ipsita Herlekar (formerly of 51茶馆 & NCBS) provides an overview of research writing in the STEM fields and the differences between norms and expectations in research writing in the STEM in comparison to the social sciences and the humanities. Shemal Pandya鈥檚聽 (National Insitute of Design, Ahmedabad) essay, Writing in a Design School, is unconventional and quirky. It departs the norms and expectations of academic writing and in that demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of our conventions and also therefor the place of writing centres in such a scenario. Sonakshi Srivastava (CWC) and Vrinda Chopra鈥檚 (CWC) article, The Anatomy of Writing Pedagogy With/in a Writing Centre, offers a perspective of two teachers and colleagues who reflect upon pedagogical practices they encountered as students and then later they put into practice as teachers, while part of a writing centre. Kanika Singh鈥檚 article, Inclusion, Diversity and Writing: Centre for Writing & Communication at 51茶馆 focuses on the evolution of the writing centre at 51茶馆 and its interpretation of 鈥榳riting鈥� and 鈥榗ommunication鈥� in the university. It further discusses the CWC鈥檚 engagement with the idea of inclusion, and gives examples of the in-class and extra-curricular programmes developed by the centre. This special volume also includes a note on a research project titled Language, Pedagogy and Inclusion in Higher Education: A Case Study of 51茶馆, Sonepat. The project which ran from 2022-24 was funded by the Research and Academic Development Office, 51茶馆. It was collaboratively undertaken by Kanika Singh (CWC) and Shivani Nag (Assistant Professor, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi). The key question for this research was to examine the students negotiate use of English as a medium of instruction in 51茶馆 with focus on role of language in teaching learning practices, language related challenges of students and also the role played by writing centres in recognising and addressing the challenges.
The special issue is available on the website of the journal.
Book Announcement | "Inclusive Pedagogies: Teaching & Learning Practices in Higher Education in India" edited by Kanika Singh
, emerges from the work of the Centre for Writing and Communication at 51茶馆, Sonepat. It addresses some of the most fundamental issues facing higher education in India, namely, of pedagogy and inclusion. The essays in this volume offer a range of perspectives ranging from an ideological vision for inclusive pedagogy, critically analysing policy and disciplinary discourses, to individual experiments in syllabi-making and classroom interaction. The contributors to this book are scholars trained in a variety of disciplines, sharing their experiences of engaging with the idea of 鈥榠nclusion鈥� as teachers, scholars and administrators in young and emerging universities.
Contents
Introduction – Kanika Singh
The Impossibility of Dalit Studies – Ankit Kawade
Unequal Schooling and Challenges for Higher Education in India – Shivani Nag
Critical Thinking & Academic Writing in English: A Look at 51茶馆鈥檚 Academic Bridge Programme – Neerav Dwivedi & Jyotirmoy Talukdar
Inclusion, Diversity and Writing: Centre for Writing & Communication at 51茶馆 – Kanika Singh
The Classroom as the 鈥楩ield鈥�: Consolidating Writing Pedagogy Through Ethnographic Documentation – Madhura Lohokare
Rethinking Higher Education Practice Within Academic Audit Regimes – Manasi Thapliyal Navani
The 鈥楧angerous Ground鈥� for Democracy: Doing Interdisciplinary Social Sciences in the Public University – Debaditya Bhattacharya
Project Report | Language, Pedagogy, and Inclusion in Higher Education
This study examines the role of language in teaching-learning practices in Ashoka and provides recommendations on policy and pedagogy, to support inclusive education where inclusion goes beyond ensuring entry and is translated into academic participation. This is the first study of its kind within Ashoka which collects data of students and teachers across disciplines and levels on this theme. It helps identify patterns, challenges and common assumptions about the university鈥檚 academic experience. In the larger context of higher education in India, this is perhaps one of the first empirical studies on this theme. Further, research highlights the importance of writing centres in a university and the possibilities of their scope of work 鈥� to engage with questions of language, inclusion and academic work and their larger socio-political context. The project was led by Kanika Singh (Director, CWC) in collaboration with Shivani Nag (Ambedkar University Delhi). This work was funded by the Office of Research and Development, 51茶馆. The project report is available in English & Hindi.
Also read: Blog post on the project report by Yukti Arora.
Seminar 2024 | Language, Pedagogy, and Inclusion in Higher Education
In 2024, we hosted a seminar titled, 鈥淟anguage, Pedagogy, and Inclusion in Higher Education,鈥� focused on the challenges posed by language proficiency and academic literacy that students face in various courses offered in higher education. The seminar interrogated questions of accessibility, inclusion, and underlying socio-cultural and political strands in discussions around language, particularly English.聽
The seminar was based on a project undertaken by CWC director, Kanika Singh, and Shivani Nag, an Assistant Professor, at B.R. Ambedkar University to study the language concerns expressed by students at Ashoka. The report was then discussed in depth by Prof. Rita Kothari, 51茶馆, Prof. Minati Panda, JNU, Prof. Amol Padwad, AUD and Prof. Peggy Mohan, who all offered their insights, comments, and suggestions. The project was assisted by two Research Assistants from 51茶馆, Anasuith Pradhivish and Ragalika V. who read a paper based on their experience of interviewing those who participated in the project. In the same session, Karan, a doctoral candidate from AUD also read his paper to underline issues of inclusion and exclusion vis-a-vis caste and the English Language.聽聽
Past Conferences
In 2024, the CWC鈥檚 annual conference brought together educators, scholars, students and activists working in the field of education. Our first conference in 2017-18, Reflections on Writing, critically examined the idea of writing in university spaces. The 2018-19 conference focused on Inclusive Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning Practices in Higher Education in India. CWC鈥檚 2019-20 Conference 鈥楥hallenges/Strategies in Teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in Higher Education in India鈥� was postponed due to Covid-19 and is to be held online in April 2021. On 23rd-34th April 2021 CWC hosted its 3rd Annual Conference titled ‘Challenges/Strategies in Teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in Higher Education in India鈥�. This online event brought together scholars working in the fields of ELT and English Studies on a range of topics, including multilingulaism, language hierarchy, generalist versus subject specific tutoring, among others. Panels 鈥楾eaching Methods and Curriculum Building鈥� and 鈥楾he Hetergenous Classroom: Strategies for Inclusion鈥� deserve special mention for initiating the task of data collection in the field of teaching writing in India. The conference closed on a high note with Prof. Giridhar Rao鈥檚 (Azim Premji University) keynote address Hooked on Books: The Power of Reading for Writing chaired by Prof. Prakash Padakannaya (Christ University, Bangalore). CWC鈥檚 conference titled 鈥淲riting 鈥楧ata鈥�: Interdisciplinary Perspectives鈥� discussed the role of data in liberal, interdisciplinary education and research, now deepening in complexity with the digital turn. Papers presented at the conference were across disciplines, and engaged with varied aspects of writing methods and pedagogies as they work and interact with data.
