Dr Indrani Lahiri
Leicester,UK
Summary
Transformational leader and applied anthropologist with extensive experience in driving institutional change and enhancing teaching, research, and knowledge exchange. As Deputy Head of School, led Education 2030 reforms and integrated employability, inclusion, and sustainability into curricula. Founded the Building Resilience in Children project, promoting mental health literacy through innovative interventions. Currently completing a Senior Leader Level 7 Apprenticeship, refining strategic leadership skills in organisational change and stakeholder engagement.
Overview
1
1
Certification
11
11
years of post-secondary education
16
16
years of professional experience
Work history
Lead Industry Partnerships, Placements, and Employability, School of Creative Industries and Culture
De Montfort University (DMU)
Leicester
2026.12 - Current
- Led external stakeholder relationships, strengthened collaborations, expanded high-quality placement opportunities, and embedded employability within curriculum, preparing graduates for future-focused careers.
- Led initiatives enhancing student experience, improved NSS outcomes, and embedded employability-focused strategies across programmes in collaboration with ACE Internships and Careers and Enterprise teams, ensuring industry relevance within curriculum.
- Drive strategic goals: Contribute to the development and implementation of the school’s strategic objectives, aligning with DMU’s Empowering University Strategy, Education 2030 framework to enhance employability.
- Shape Academic Vision: Influence teaching, research, and knowledge exchange priorities across Leicester Media School, ensuring alignment with institutional benchmarks and global standards.
- Provide strategic oversight, line management and mentorship to academic colleagues, supporting excellence in teaching and research progression.
- Strengthened School’s knowledge exchange profile by facilitating interdisciplinary projects and collaborations with external partners, including the University of Leicester, NHS, charities, and local enterprises.
- Lead systematic tracking of activities and outcomes, such as opportunity types, student engagement, partner feedback, and graduate role conversion, while contributing to School-level reporting and enhancement plans.
DMU Education Academy Fellow
De Montfort University (DMU)
Leicester
2025.09 - Current
- Lead Professional Development: Design and deliver Continuing Professional Development (CPD) workshops and resources for academic staff, focusing on inclusive pedagogy, technology-enhanced learning, and AI integration.
- Advance Education 2030 Principles: Embed block teaching, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and competency-based assessment strategies into curriculum design and delivery.
- Championed teaching excellence: Promoted evidence-based pedagogical practices, supporting colleagues to achieve high standards in teaching and learning across the university.
- Fostered innovation in learning: Drove initiatives incorporating digital tools, AI, and immersive technologies (VR/AR) to enhance student engagement and improve assessment practices.
- Contributed to quality enhancement: Supported institutional teaching and learning plans, including strategies for NSS improvement and curriculum reviews.
- Collaborate on Knowledge Exchange: Work with internal and external partners to share best practices in teaching and learning, aligning with DMU’s Empowering University Strategy and global education standards.
- Mentor Academic Staff: Provide guidance and mentorship to colleagues pursuing Advance HE fellowships and professional recognition pathways.
- Review Advance HE fellowships applications: Review and provide feedback on internal applications for the fellowship.
Research Fellow, UNAI Sustainable Development Goals
De Montfort University (DMU)
Leicester
2025.01 - Current
- Collaborate on Global Initiatives: Work with international partners and networks to promote sustainability education, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and DMU’s global engagement strategy.
- Advance sustainability in higher education: Led research and scholarly activities embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) principles across curricula and institutional strategies, enhancing institutional commitment to sustainability.
- Support Institutional Enhancement: Contribute to DMU’s Education 2030 reforms by embedding sustainability into block teaching and competency-based assessment frameworks.
- Knowledge exchange and impact: Facilitated interdisciplinary projects and partnerships with external organisations, including NGOs, civic bodies, and industry, driving community impact and influencing policy development.
- Mentor and Engage Academic Staff: Provide guidance on integrating sustainability into teaching practice and support colleagues pursuing Advance HE fellowships with a sustainability focus.
- Disseminate research outputs: Published and presented findings at national and international conferences, strengthening DMU’s reputation as a leader in sustainability education.
Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication
De Montfort University
Leicester
2015.05 - Current
- Lead core modules in Public Relations and Strategic Communications, and Global Advertising Management and Strategic Communication, integrating strategic communication, crisis management, media psychology and ethical frameworks.
- Validated and reviewed UG and PG programmes across Media, Fashion & Textiles and Business & Law, aligning them with sector standards and employer needs to enhance programme credibility.
- Integrated digital and mental health literacy, media framing, and community engagement themes into teaching, leveraging active research and external projects to enhance student understanding.
- Design inclusive, student-centred curricula using Universal Design for Learning (UDL), flexible assessment and technology-enhanced approaches (DMU Replay, Panopto, AI tools, Discord).
- Lead practice-based, real-world learning through industry projects with SMEs, charities and public sector partners, enhancing graduate employability and enterprise skills.
- Examine postgraduate theses (MRes and PhD) and support undergraduate postgraduate supervision in the UK and internationally, contributing to strong academic standards and research culture.
- Developed and moderated curricula for partner institution Asia Pacific University, Malaysia, ensuring educational quality and relevance.
Deputy Head, Leicester Media School
De Montfort University (DMU)
Leicester
2023.12 - 2025.10
- Shape the vision for teaching, research and knowledge exchange across Leicester Media School, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities and external benchmarks.
- Developed and implemented school’s strategic goals aligned with DMU’s Empowering University Strategy and Education 2030 framework.
- Lead initiatives to enhance the student experience, including improving NSS outcomes and embedding employability-focused strategies across programmes in collaboration with ACE Internships, Careers and Enterprise teams.
- Provide strategic oversight and mentorship to academic colleagues, supporting excellence in teaching and research progression, including co-presenting at the DMU Teaching and Learning Conference (2024) and QAA Conference (2025).
- Facilitated interdisciplinary projects and collaborations with external partners, enhancing school's knowledge exchange profile with entities like University of Leicester, NHS, charities, and local enterprises.
- Advocated for school's achievements and priorities at university-wide fora, ensuring representation of Media and Communications in institutional planning and decision-making processes.
Programme Leader, BA (Hons) Media and Communications
De Montfort University
Leicester
2021.01 - 2023.12
- Championed UDL, AI and adaptive learning, and project-based pedagogy, resulting in enhanced engagement and improvements in NSS indicators.
- Led the transition of the programme to block teaching (Education 2030), ensuring coherent, student-centred, competency-based learning and assessment design.
- Coordinated staff delivery, assessment strategies and quality assurance processes to ensure compliance with institutional and external requirements.
- Fostered a culture of continuous enhancement through peer observation, shared practice and co-designed dissertation teaching across media, film and journalism.
- Developed and launched Media and Mental Health certificate course in collaboration with NIMHANS, India.
Teaching Fellow / Guest Lecturer
University of Stirling
UK
2011.01 - 2015.01
- Delivered engaging media, communication and cultural studies modules at UG and PG levels, fostering critical thinking and academic development.
- Supervised student research projects and developed innovative, practice-informed teaching activities to improve student engagement and learning outcomes.
- Oversaw examination of 140 postgraduate theses as Deputy Programme Leader, enhancing programme management and ensuring quality assurance standards.
Education
PGCert in Higher Education - Education
De Montfort University
UK 2015.10 - 2016.12
PhD - Communication, Media and Culture
University of Stirling
UK 2010.01 - 2014.01
MA - Journalism & Mass Communication
Sikkim Manipal University
India 2005.01 - 2007.01
Post Graduate Diploma - Mass Communication
Jadavpur University
Kolkata, India 2003.01 - 2005.01
BA - Political Science, Business, History and Economics
Calcutta University
Kolkata, India 2001.01 - 2003.01
Skills
- Curriculum design
- Industry engagement
- Knowledge partnerships
- Academic quality standards
- Student engagement
- Learning innovations
- Public engagement
- Inclusive pedagogy
- Academic leadership
- Institutional planning
- Programme design
- Leadership coaching
- Communication skills
Certification
- Senior Leader Apprenticeship, MBA, University of Exeter (currently pursuing, 2025–2027).
- Leadership Management & Team Leader – QLS Level 7 Advanced Diploma, 2024.
- Certifications in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), NLP and Mental Wellbeing in Children.
- Level 3 Child Psychology Diploma.
- Mental Wellbeing in Children and Young People Certificate.
- Professional Neuro Linguistic Programming Certificate.
- Ongoing engagement with Leadership & Management Academy and DMU Education Academy.
Hobbies & Interests
Reading, squash, table tennis, hiking, cycling, gardening, vlogging and video editing.
Affiliations
- Reading
- Content creation
- Photography
- Chess
- Cycling
- Gaming
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & CREATIVE OUTPUTS
- Kumar, S., Raghavan, R., Brown, B., Colucci, E., Lahiri, I., Barrett, A., Wilson, M., Wilson, A., Soletti, A. B., Dasan, C., Swirydzenka, N., Kumar, M., Venkateswaran, C., Lakhanpaul, M., Iyer, M., M. Sivakami, & Manickam, S. (2025). A review of theatre interventions and mental health: inspiration, elicitation and dissemination. Arts & Health, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2025.2604818
- Crosby,S., Firth, C., Lahiri, I., Laird,K., Watson,W., Younie, S., (2025) Communicating public health information to a global audience: an evaluation of methods to overcome barriers using a community-focussed approach. Health Education, 125 (5): 603–621. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-06-2023-0066
- Bordoloi, S.; Meena, K.S.M.; Latha, K; Kannani, T. R.; Nirmala, M N; Lahiri, I.; Makesh, L. (2024) Effectiveness of a Suicide Awareness and Safe Reporting Training Program for Media Students: A Quasi Single-arm Interventional Study in Indian Context’. Malaysian Journal of Psychiatry 33(2): p60-65, DOI: 10.4103/mjp.mjp_14_24
- Lahiri, I & Wilkinson, M. (2024). Breaking Borders, Building Bridges: A Global Perspective on Inclusive Academic Research in the Era of Globalisation. In S. Chakraborty (Ed.), Challenges of Globalization and Inclusivity in Academic Research (pp. 146- 161). IGI Global Scientific Publishing.
- Lahiri, I., Deka, L., Chakraborty, N., Pattni, K., Lakhanpaul, M., & Punwani, A. (2023) "Dynamics of Dialogue, Humanity, and Peace in the Metaverse: Towards a Conceptual Debate." In Dynamics of Dialogue, Cultural Development, and Peace in the Metaverse, edited by Swati Chakraborty, 106-121. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2023.
- R. Mifsud, L. Deka and I. Lahiri (2023) "An Optimised BERT Pretraining Approach for Identification of Targeted Offensive Language: Data Imbalance and Potential Solutions," 2023 4th International Conference on Computing and Communication Systems (I3CS), Shillong, India, 2023, pp. 1-8, doi: 10.1109/I3CS58314.2023.10127515.
- The Champions project (2023). Developing a roadmap to give children experiencing homelessness a better future: Preventing the exacerbation of the impacts of COVID-19 on an already vulnerable population. (https://researchnow.flinders.edu.au/en/publications/champions-project-policy-brief-in-partnership-with-the-childhood-/prizes/)
- Jordan, J. and Lahiri, I. (2022) Digital leisure as sites of diasporic solidarity (chapter 11), In: Sharp, B., Finkel, R., & Dashper, in K. (Eds.). (2022). Transforming Leisure in the Pandemic: Re-imagining Interaction and Activity during Crisis (1st ed.). Routledge.
- Lahiri, I., Banerjee,D. Meena, K.S., Cherian, A.V., Alsulaimi, M. (2021) Digital media, society and COVID-19 in UK and India: discourses and recommendations (Chapter 3). In: Pollock, J.C. and Vakoch, D.A. (Eds.) Coronavirus in International Media, New York, Routledge.
- Lahiri, I. & colleagues (various years). Multiple non-traditional outputs (short films, documentaries, online resources, podcasts and public engagement content) hosted on DMU Figshare, including high-profile work with Sangeet Foundation, House of Commons events, and BRIC educational media.
- Forthcoming publications
- Book chapter Echoes of the Self: Authenticity and the Human Voice in Automated Communication, Springer Nature, 2026
- Monograph Subaltern Media and Leftist Political Communication in India: Voices from the Margins, Palgrave, 2026
SELECTED GRANTS, CONSULTANCIES & KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE
- Principal Investigator, Building Resilience in Children (BRIC) – Research England (UKRI Communities and Capabilities Fund), c. £18,000, in collaboration with Leicester Startups, University of Leicester, Loughborough University and creative industry partners.
- Co-Investigator, MeHeLP – Mental Health Literacy in Urban and Rural Communities, Kerala – ESRC/AHRC/GCRF-funded international interdisciplinary project, total award £686,862 (PI: Professor Raghu Raghavan).
- Academic Consultant, NHS-related community engagement and consultation projects via Celebrate Our Similarities CIC, including:
- NIHR Research Engagement Ambassadors – East Leicester Medical, £7,000.
- NHS Lutterworth consultation contracts, £8,000 (community needs analysis to inform hospital redevelopment).
- Academic Consultant, The Dark Side of the Moon documentary with Sangeet Foundation – production and dissemination nationally and internationally, £8,500.
- Academic Consultant, World Peace Day partnership with Leicester Outdoor Pursuit Centre and Celebrate Our Similarities – in-kind contribution worth £3,000 to marginalised communities.
- HEIF-funded projects, Building Resilience in Children with Twin Planets – game development, website and workshops (multiple awards around £7,000 each).
- Internal DMU funding (e.g. ERCF, Project Aitfa) to support community engagement with SMEs, social prescribing, and BRIC-linked social enterprise development.
- Leading digital qualitative research in Arts Council funded action research project, Talent 25.
- Collectively, these and related activities represent well over £700k in external and internal funding and demonstrable knowledge exchange and impact.
POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH SUPERVISIONS AND EXAMINATIONS
- Two PhD supervision to completion on (1) Public Relations in Kuwait in 2021; (2) ‘The role of social media in the mental health literacy and help-seeking of British South Asian young adults: A mixed methods approach’ in 2024.
- Three Current Supervisions:
- DMU Doctoral Scholarship Award on “iMuseum: A framework for inclusive intelligence that provides new contemporary view into museum studies discourse and Leicester’s super diversity” with Computer Science (submitted, awaiting viva).
- “Airwaves of Influence: Promoting Exclusive Breastfeeding Among breastfeeding women in the UK and Nigeria, (submitted, awaiting viva)
- “Community resilience through creative arts and music”, PhD by Professional Practice, with ADH (self-funded/sponsored; part-time)
- MRes
- Successful completion of GlobalHealth Communications, MRes in 2023
- Two External PhD examinations
LEADERSHIP, SERVICE & EXTERNAL ROLES
- External positions of responsibility
- Deputy Programme Leader, MSc Media and Communications Management, Ho Chi Minh University, Vietnam.
- Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London.
- Postgraduate supervisor at NIMHANS (India) and Jadavpur University (India).
- Governance, advisory and civic roles
- Advisory Board Member, Canal & River Trust; member of Leicester Waterways Partnership Engagement & Wellbeing subgroup.
- Member, Leicester, Leicestershire Economic Partnership (LLEP), providing strategic leadership and building India–UK economic and educational links.
- Governor, Parks Primary School, Leicester.
- Active engagement with LCB Depot and community organisations across Leicester and Leicestershire, contributing to events promoting wellbeing, resilience and social inclusion.
- Public and policy engagement (selection)
- Invited talk at the House of Commons (February 2024) on community resilience and policy influence.
- Keynote and invited speaker at multiple international and national conferences, including NIMHANS Bangalore, Rabindra Bharati University, Jadavpur University and Advance HE’s Sustainability Symposium.
- Extensive pro-bono contributions to workshops, public lectures and cultural events (e.g. Peace and Wellness Symposium, MeHeLP dissemination, arts-based wellbeing workshops), often with significant attendance and online reach.
- Regular media engagement including BBC Radio Leicester interviews and podcasts on mental health, resilience and community wellbeing.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- Areas of teaching expertise
- Public Relations and Strategic Communications
- International and Global Advertising Practices
- Anthropology, media, mental health, resilience and community engagement
- Digital media, digital anthropology and AI-enabled communication
- Inclusive pedagogy, decolonising the curriculum and UDL
- Practice-based, enterprise and social innovation projects in media
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Lead Industry Partnerships, Placements, and Employability, School of Creative Industries and Culture
De Montfort University (DMU)
2026.12 - Current
DMU Education Academy Fellow
De Montfort University (DMU)
2025.09 - Current
Research Fellow, UNAI Sustainable Development Goals
De Montfort University (DMU)
2025.01 - Current
Deputy Head, Leicester Media School
De Montfort University (DMU)
2023.12 - 2025.10
Programme Leader, BA (Hons) Media and Communications
De Montfort University
2021.01 - 2023.12
PGCert in Higher Education - Education
De Montfort University
2015.10 - 2016.12
Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication
De Montfort University
2015.05 - Current
Teaching Fellow / Guest Lecturer
University of Stirling
2011.01 - 2015.01
PhD - Communication, Media and Culture
University of Stirling
2010.01 - 2014.01
MA - Journalism & Mass Communication
Sikkim Manipal University
2005.01 - 2007.01
Post Graduate Diploma - Mass Communication
Jadavpur University
2003.01 - 2005.01
BA - Political Science, Business, History and Economics
Calcutta University
2001.01 - 2003.01