Faculty
Dr. Eldhose Varghese
Assistant Professor
Alliance School of Law
Dr. Eldhose Varghese holds a PhD degree in Anthropology from Pondicherry University, Puducherry on the topic: “Formation of Ethnic and Cultural Identity of Syrian Orthodox Christians (Jacobites) of Kerala: An Ethnographic Analysis.” He completed his MA in Anthropology from Pondicherry University, Puducherry.
Dr. Varghese has served as Visiting/Guest Faculty at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Tuljapur and as Assistant Professor at the School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Woxsen University, Hyderabad. He successfully completed an ICSSR Research Project (Special Call for Short-term Empirical Research 2023-24) titled “An Ethnographic Investigation of Empirical Reality and Cultural Underpinnings of Health, Sanitation, and Cleanliness among Select Tribal Groups of Western Ghats.”
His research interests span a diverse range of subjects, encompassing: ethnicity and ethnic identity, Anthropology of Religion, Minority Studies, Urban Studies, Sanitation Anthropology, Sociology of Deviance and Sociology of Food. Dr. Varghese’s current research interests include: Identity formations and boundary creations among Syrian Christians in Kerala, The impact of global forces, particularly global warming and climate change, on vulnerable communities in the Western Ghats, and Digital Anthropology, with a specific focus on the digital divide.
- Symbolic and Interpretive Meaning of the ‘Church’ of Jacobites in Kerala and its Role in the Construction of Identity, International Journal of Asian Christianity, Vol. 7, Issue 1, 2024, pp. 61-85, ISSN: 2542-4246 (Brill; Scopus indexed).
- Sacred Food, Memory, and Identity of Jacobites in Kerala, International Journal of Anthropology, 38, No. 1/2, 2023, ISSN: 0393-9383, (Scopus indexed).
- Antioch: The Symbol of Collective Identity and Resistance of Jacobites Kerala, Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Journal, Vol. 60, 2022, pp. 37 – 52, ISSN: 2414-6986.
- Space, Time, and Habitus of Jacobites, Social Glance, the Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol. 10, 2021, pp. 32-62. ISSN: 2319-3654.
- Qualified UGC – NET and JRF Examination held in December 2015.
Conferences (as a chairperson)
- Chaired a panel titled “Ethics, Digital Technologies, and Everyday Life” at the Post Congress of the 19th IUAES-WAU World Anthropology Congress, held on October 26-27, 2023, at the University of Hyderabad. The theme of the Congress was “Anthropology and Digital Cultures”.
Conferences (as Participant)
- Presented a paper titled “Second Syrian Migration, Cultural Memory, and Identity Formation of Jacobite Syrians of Kerala” at the International Conference on “Migration Challenges and Prospects with a Special Focus on Syrian Christians from West Asia to the Oriental Region (9th Century AD),” organized by the Department of Languages, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, on March 31, 2023.
- Presented a paper titled “Symbolism in the Culture of Jacobites and its Role in the Construction of Identity: An Ethnographic Investigation” in the Bilingual International seminar on “Revisiting Modernist Paradigms and Epistemological Shifts” organised by the School of Letters, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala held on 26 to 27 October 2022.
