Prof. Sanjeev Chatterjee joins as Senior Advisor to Vice-Chancellor for Young India Fellowship

June, 2017: With the Young India Fellowship (YIF) entering its seventh year, Ashoka University now welcomes Professor Sanjeev Chatterjee into the role of Senior Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor for the programme.

Prof Chatterjee’s association with the YIF began in 2009 when he first heard about it from Pramath Raj Sinha eight years ago. He recalls, “I was immediately drawn to the innovative thinking behind the idea. It was truly something India has needed for a long time – an opportunity for students to broaden their horizons, make informed decisions in life and become involved in building a better world.” He has been teaching Visual Communication Elective to Young India Fellows since the inception of the programme in the year 2011.

Through his many years of teaching experience, Prof. Chatterjee is known for his “teaching by doing” methodology, where his students learn about community engagement, media change making, media literacy, ethics, issues and subjects of media projects through the process of media making.

In 2005, he founded the organisation, Media for Change, in Miami. It was floated as an Experiential Learning Module for YIF in 2012-2013 and along with the help of two Fellows, a base was set in the form of their website and filings for recognition as a non-profit entity in the United States.

Prior to this, he had begun his journey into documentary filmmaking with the Center for Development of Instructional Technology in the mid-1980s. He says, “That was my Fellowship as it put me in touch with some of the foremost thinkers and doers in India. The work also allowed me to travel throughout the country making development oriented documentaries. Ultimately I decided that as a professor I would have the freedom to make the films I really wanted to make. As it turned out, I have enjoyed teaching as well. I have been really fortunate to have worked at the University of Miami for the past 23 years where I have enjoyed broad support for my film work as well as my teaching.”

Speaking about the future of the Fellowship and his role in the same, he notes “For this present assignment, I am learning everything I can about the YIF and Ashoka University as organisations. I am meeting with many people who have a stake in the institution and looking through organisational details to better understand how everything works and what is necessary for the years ahead to maintain the level of excellence the Young India Fellowship has become known for. Based on my findings, I look forward to providing input to the vice chancellor and team leaders about next steps for the YIF.”