Student Research Seminar Series – “Human, Technology and the Future of Meaning”
24 March 2026, Tuesday
24 March 2026, Tuesday
11:00 AM
02:00 PM
School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (SLASS), IILM University, Gurugram
School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, IILM University, Gurugram
Dr. Aparna Vijayan (Convener, Assistant Professor, Department of Liberal Arts, SLASS) and Dr. Gurvinder Ahluwalia (Convener, Professor, Department of Psychology, SLASS)
IILM University, Gurugram
The Student Research Seminar on “Human, Technology and the Future of Meaning” was conducted at IILM University, Gurugram on 24 March 2026 as the inaugural event of the Student Research Seminar Series — a university-level initiative designed to promote a research-oriented academic environment and facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue amongst students and faculty across five disciplines: Liberal Arts, Psychology, Design, Journalism, and Computer Science.
The seminar received ten research papers presented by sixteen student presenters across two structured technical sessions: Session I (Digital Culture & Technology), featuring papers by Kimaya Jain and Payal Pratap, Nivedita Tanwar, and Smridhi Taneja on themes including ethical branding, algorithmic relationships, and AI in social media; and Session II (Psychological & Social Dimensions), featuring presentations by Drishti Kumar, Jigyasa Goyal, Ishita Gouchwal and Prakamyaa Agnihotri, Jahanvi Pareek, Aditi Sharma, Jagriti Malhotra and Lavisha Gupta, and Jagriti Manga, addressing themes of emotional intelligence, health anxiety, pre-retirement identity, and social media detox.
The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Dr. Mandeep Kaur Arora of Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi, who critically examined the evolving relationship between human cognition and technology, with particular emphasis on the ethical and psychological implications of artificial intelligence — providing students and faculty with a scholarly anchor for the day’s interdisciplinary inquiry.
A Guest Speakers’ Panel convened three practitioners from diverse professional domains, each addressing the use of growing technology and AI in their respective fields: Mr. Sangam Agrawal (sustainable natural farmer and permaculture expert), Ms. Abhivyakti Banerjee (Advocate, The Supreme Court of India), and Ms. Sahana Ghosh (Journalist and Associate Editor, Nature India) — all of whom participated via online address.
The sessions were chaired and evaluated by Dr. Shakeel Anjum, Dr. Deepika Dhiman, and Dr. Priyesh Kumar Singh from SLASS, who provided constructive feedback to student presenters to encourage academic rigour and critical engagement; five paper presenters were recognised through three best paper awards, and all participants received certificates at the seminar’s conclusion.
Sixteen student presenters from five disciplines gained direct experience in formal academic paper presentation, receiving evaluative feedback from session chairs Dr. Shakeel Anjum, Dr. Deepika Dhiman, and Dr. Priyesh Kumar Singh, thereby developing their research communication, argumentation, and academic confidence in a peer-reviewed, faculty-evaluated setting.
The thematic breadth of the two sessions — spanning digital culture, algorithmic influence, ethical branding, AI in social media, emotional intelligence, health anxiety, pre-retirement identity, and social media detox — exposed all attendees to interdisciplinary research perspectives that transcended the boundaries of any single academic programme or department.
Engagement with the keynote address by Prof. Dr. Mandeep Kaur Arora on the ethical and psychological implications of artificial intelligence enabled students to situate their own research inquiries within a broader scholarly discourse on the relationship between human cognition, technological transformation, and questions of meaning.
The Guest Speakers’ Panel, comprising a Supreme Court advocate, a science journalist, and a permaculture expert, demonstrated to students the diverse ways in which technological change and AI are reshaping professional practice across sectors as different as law, environmental science, and journalism — reinforcing the applied and cross-disciplinary relevance of the seminar’s central themes.
The inaugural nature of the event — as the first edition of the Student Research Seminar Series at IILM University, Gurugram — provided students with an institutionally significant opportunity to contribute to and help establish a sustainable academic platform for student research dissemination, with five paper presenters receiving formal recognition through the best paper awards.