Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

Indian Institute of Technology Madras

Thanggoulen Kipgen

Assistant Professor

  Research Interest

  • Sociology of Migration
  • Urban Sociology
  • Ethnicity
  • Identity
  • Northeast India Studies
  • Ethnography
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur (February 2022- May 2023)
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, St. Edmund’s College, Shillong (February 2020-February 2022)
  • Received Commendation Letter from the Director, IIT Kanpur for being rated Exceptionally Good by Students Reaction Survey as Course Instructor on Urban Habitat and Social Interaction in 2022-23-I
  • Received Commendation Letter from the Director, IIT Kanpur for being rated Exceptionally Good by Students Reaction Survey as Course Instructor on Sociology of Globalisation in 2022-23-II
  • Kipgen, Thanggoulen. (2023). Singapore as a Destination Among Trans-Border People: Migration from the Indo-Myanmar Borderland. India Quarterly79(1), 63–78. 
  • Kipgen, Thanggoulen. (2021). Ethnography among Migrants in a City: Field Experiences in Delhi. Explorations, 5 (1), pp. 115-133.
  • Kipgen, Thanggoulen and Biswambhar, Panda. (2020). Aspects of Change Among Female Migrants: The Case of Kukis in Delhi. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 27(2), pp. 302–312
  • Kipgen, Thanggoulen and Biswambhar, Panda (2019). Migrants and their social networks: a study of Kuki migrants in Delhi. Sociological Bulletin, 68 (3), pp. 342–356.
  • Kipgen, Thanggoulen. (2016). “Kuki Domestic Workers in Singapore”,Man and Development, 38 (4), pp. 131-148.
  • Kipgen, Thanggoulen, “Freedom to Fight For: Life, Contributions and Memories of Lhukholun (Pakang) Haokip of Henglep” in Thongkholal Haokip and Pum Khan Pau (eds.) “Forgotten Fighters: Heroes of the Anglo-Kuki War, 1917-1919”. London: Routledge (upcoming)
  • Kipgen, Thanggoulen. 2023. “North-East Youth Migration to Cities: The Kuki Case in Delhi”, In Sitlhou, H. (eds.) Identity and Marginality in North East India: Challenges for Social Science Research, pp. 132-156. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan
  • Kipgen, Thanggoulen. 2023. “Migration, Borders and Boundaries: Experiences of the Kuki Migrants in Delhi” in Gorky Chakraborty and Supurna Banerjee (eds). Negotiating Borders and Borderlands: The Indian Experience, pp. 314-334. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.
  • Kipgen, Thanggoulen. 2018. “The Three Bills and Conflicts in Manipur”, In Kharchandy, D. A. (eds.). ‘Understanding Tribes of Asia: Tradition, Roots, Identity Belief, Environment and Security’. Pp. 347-356. Lakshi Publishers and Distributors
  • Reviewed a book by Duncan Mcduie-Ra. (2017). “Borderland City in New India: Frontier to Gateway” published by Social Change, Vol. 47, Issue 4
  1. Selected for a Visiting PhD Students Programme under AUFF at Aarhus University, Denmark for three months from April 2018 to June 2018.
  2. Fellow at the Asian Graduate Students Fellowship (AGSF), National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, 2015
  3. Selected for National Eligibility Test (NET) and Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) under University Grant Commission (UGC), India
  4. University Rank Holder (Gold Medalist) 2011 in Master of Arts (Sociology) under North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India
  5. University Rank Holder (Gold Medalist) 2009 in Bachelor of Arts (Sociology Honours) under North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India

National:

  • Presented a paper entitled, “Bells, Ballads and Bunkers: Memories of the Japan Gaal in the Hills of Manipur” at the Two Day National Seminar on the “Indian National Army and the Kukis during the World War II” on 26-27, 2022 at Rayburn College, Manipur.
  • Presented a paper entitled- “From Sunburn to Air Condition: The Changing Livelihood Practices of the Kukis” at the National Seminar on Society, Ecology and Environment in Manipur: Climate Change Perspectives held at Moreh College, Moreh, Manipur during 28th to 29th December 2018.
  • Presented a paper at One Day Symposium organised by the Senapati Brigade of the Assam Rifles at Senapati, Manipur on the topic “Inclusive Development for Peace and Harmony in Manipur” held on the 27th of December 2017
  • Presented a paper on the topic “Out-migration of Northeasters to Cities: A Case Study of the Kukis of Manipur” at the 42nd All India Sociological Conference held at Tezpur University from 27th – 30th December, 2016.
  • Presented a paper on the topic “Liberalisation and Migration from Northeast India” at the National Seminar on “25 Years of Economic Reforms in India and its Impact on North East India”, held from 9th-10th December, 2016 at Shillong organised by North-East India Council for Social Science Research

International:

  • Back to the Village: Return and Reception of Northeast Migrants during the Covid-19 Pandemic in India at the XX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Melbourne, Australia, June 25-July 1, 2023.
  • Presented a paper on ‘Migration and Changing Gender Paradigms: A Case Study of Kuki Tribal Women Migrants in Delhi’ at the 4th Annual South Asia Conference, Ireland India Institute, Dublin City University which took place virtually from April 28 – 30, 2021.
  • Presented a paper at the 10th Annual CUHK Anthropology Postgraduate Student Forum, The Chinese University of Hongkong on the title “Challenges of Doing Fieldwork in Cities: An Experience in Delhi” which was held from 2-3 February 2018.
  • Presented a paper on the topic- “Northeast Migrants in Cities: The Question of Citizenship and Belonging among Kuki migrants in Delhi” at International Conference on ‘Location Northeast India: Human Mobility, Resource Flows and Spatial Linkages’ held at Tezpur University from 9-12 January 2018.
  • Presented academic paper at the 4th International Conference on Northeast India 2016 on the theme: “Reframing India’s North-East: People, Power, And Perspectives” on the topic- “Factors of Kuki Migration to Delhi”, organised by Sikkim University, Gangtok, held from 24th – 26th November 2016
  • Presented academic paper at International Seminar on “Understanding the Tribes of Asia”, organised by Synod College, Shillong on the topic- “The Three Bills and Conflicts in Manipur”, held from 3rd to 4th November 2016
  • Presented a paper at the ‘10th Singapore Graduate Forum on Southeast Asian Studies’ held at Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, on the topic “Kuki Domestic Workers in Singapore”, which was held from 24 June -27 June 2015
  1. Attended Online Workshop on “How to Be a Peer Reviewer Webinar” on May 31, 2023 organised by Sage Journals.
  2. Attended Online Workshop on “Overview of ATLAS.ti Windows” May 2, 2023
  3. Attended Online Workshop on “From Thesis to Book” organized by Anthropos India Foundation on 25th January, 2023
  4. Attended the “Empowering knowledge on ethical publishing: Mastering the art of identifying predatory, fake and cloned journals” at APAC Customer Success Hub, on Wednesday 08 June, 2022, Organised by Researcher Academy On Campus, Elsevier.
  5. Attended the “Reviewer workshop: How to get the most out of being a reviewer of scientific articles” at APAC Customer Success Hub Workshop, on Wednesday 10 August, 2022, organised by Researcher Academy On Campus, Elsevier
  6. Successfully completed “Academic Writing” from 18-24 February, 2021 organised by Teaching Learning Centre, Ramanujan College, University of Delhi.
  7. Successfully completed the “ICT Enhanced Teaching and Learning 2.0” from July 25-29, 2020 organised by ICT and IQAC, Sri Venkateshwar College, University of Delhi.
  8. Successfully Completed the Online ‘Ethnography’ Course via Zoom Platform From 18-20 June 2020, organised by Anthropos India Foundation, New Delhi.
  9. Attended a workshop on Anthropological Theories (online) conducted from 5th to 13th October, 2020 by International School of Anthropology, Anthropological Survey of India, Southern Regional Centre, Mysore.
  10. Attended a Winter Workshop on “Indigeneity, Orality, and Liminal Ontologies: Methodological Pluralisms and Approaches to Culture”, Organised by University of Tartu, Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore, Estonia at Centre for Karbi Studies, Karbi Anglong, Assam, from 15-20 January, 2020
  11. Attended a Three Weeks course on “Urban Commons and Right to the City” organised by Urban Action School from 10-30thNovember 2018 at the Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad, organised by European Commission, Action Aid Association, South Institute of Public Policy and Action and Citizens Rights Collective.
  12. Attended a Two Weeks “Orientation Programme on Migration” at The Centre for Development Practice and Research (CDPR), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Patna from February 17 to 27, 2018.
  13. Attended a Two Days Seminar on ‘Challenges of Doing Ethnography Today’ held at Tezpur University, India on 26-27 December, 2016
  14. Attended a Three Days Worshop on ‘’Style of Writing Academic Papers and Referencing in Education and Social Sciences’’ organised by the Department of Education, North Eastern Hill University, India from 22ndJune to 24th June 2016.
  15. Attended a Research Methodology Course organised by Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati from March 14-23, 2016 at IIT Guwahati, India.
  16. Attended a Research Methodology Course organised by the Centre for Social Development (CSD), New Delhi from December 8 -19, 2015.
  17. Selected for the ‘Asian Graduate Student Fellowship 2015’ organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, held from 18 May – 27 June 2015.
  18. Attended a Course on Sociology of Labour and Globalisation held during January 19- 30 2015 organised by the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, Noida, India.