Admissions 2024 Integrated Programmes

Department of Social Work

Dr. Reena Merin Cherian

Designation : Assistant Professor

Qualification : Ph.D

Email-ID : reena@rajagiri.edu

Dr. Reena M. Cherian is a Social Work educator, researcher and practitioner. With a rich academic background and extensive professional experience, Dr. Cherian has significantly contributed to both academia and community development. From 2011 to 2015, she was Assistant Professor at the University of Delhi, where she taught social work, mentored students, and conducted research. Dr. Cherian has also held the position of Head of the Citizen Empowerment Division at St. Mary's School, Safdarjung Enclave, Delhi, from October 2016 to August 2018, where she led initiatives focused on citizen empowerment. Her role as a Project Officer at Praxis Institute of Participatory Practices and Partners in Change from September 2015 to October 2016 involved managing projects centered on participatory practices and social change.In addition to her academic roles, Dr. Cherian has initiated projects on community-based interventions for preventing substance and drug abuse under the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (2021-2024). She has completed several other research projects, such as evaluating CSR flagship projects on healthcare delivery for the GAS Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) and developing a socio-emotional learning framework for The Teacher Foundation.Dr. Cherian has been invited as a resource person and speaker at numerous national and international forums, including the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development, Bengaluru and the Technical University of Applied Sciences in Würzburg, Germany. She has published extensively, with articles on visual arts interventions, experiential learning, adolescent aspirations, and trauma in refugee children appearing in reputable journals. She has also contributed chapters to books on community development and authored a book "Juxtaposed: Seven Stories of Adoption."Her participation in various conferences and seminars includes presenting papers on topics such as substance abuse prevention, art therapy, gender studies, and recreational activities for children with disabilities. Recognised for her innovative teaching methods, including the use of Ground Level Panels and Interactive Forum and Theatre, Dr. Cherian was awarded the Erasmus+ Staff Mobility Programme (KA107) to the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt, Germany in 2023.

  • 2011-2015 Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work Adoption in India: A Study of Issues and Practices Department of Social Work, University of Delhi
  • 2008-2010 Master of Arts in Social Work Working with Individuals and Groups, Group Work, Community Development, Research Methodology etc Department of Social Work, University of Delhi
  • 2005-2008 B.A Psychology Basic Psychological Processes, Developmental Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, Psychometric etc Union Christian College, Ernakulam District, Kerala
  • 2020 till 2024 Assistant Professor and Department Coordinator (2023-24), Department of Sociology Social Work, CHRIST (Deemed to be University)
  • July 2019 till June 2020 Student Counsellor, NPS, T John, Bangalore Facilitating sessions for students in Psychology, implementing IEPs, following SEL
  • August 2018-July 19 Consultant, The Art Outreach Society, Kochi 
  • October, 2016-August, 2018 Head, Citizen Empowerment Division, St. Mary's School, Safdarjung Enclave, Delhi
  • September, 2015-October, 2016 Project Officer, Praxis Institute of Participatory Practices and Partners in Change
  • 2011-2015 University Teaching Assistant, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, University of Delhi
  • 2010-2011 School Social Worker, St. Mary's School, Safdarjung Enclave, Delhi 
  • Associate-investigator : Promoting Healthy behaviour: Community based Interventions for Preventing Substance and Drug abuse in the Community under Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and National Institute of Social Justice and Empowerment, 2021-2024
  • Completed Minor Research Project Reservoirs and Residents: A Case of Community Organisation for Restoration of five lakes in Bengaluru under Seed Money Scheme, CHRIST (Deemed to be University)
  • GAS AUTHORITY OF INDIA LTD (GAIL)-Completed: Evaluation of CSR flagship projects on health care delivery in 5 districts of Madhya Pradesh
  • PRAVAH-Principal Investigator: 2016: Developing self assessment tools and manual for project on “Challenging Gender Realities and Enhancing Safety through a Leadership Journey of Adolescents”
  • PRAVAH: Principal Investigator: 2017 Completed: Developing manual and handbook for (Pravah Learning Voyage Consultancy)
  • CONFEDERATION OF INDIAN INDUSTRIES-2012: Documentation officer: (Completed): CSR Evaluation of projects on women empowerment
  • Media Labs Asia, Ministry Of Social Justice And Empowerment-2013: Documentation officer: Completed : Assessment of CSR projects-development of audio library for visually impaired.
  • Conducted a session on 'Monitoring and Evaluation' as a part of a workshop on 'Gender Budgeting for Local Self Government' organised by Rajagiri Research Institute & Rajagiri Outreach in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India on 14th June 2024.
  • This is to certify that Dr Reena Merin Cherian, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (Autonomous) facilitated a session took on 'Gender and Equity (Understanding gender Identity, expression and Diversity, Equity and Intersectionality in Child Protection services)' on 21/6/24, 19/7/24 and 22/8/24 organised by the United Nations
  • Children’s Fund, India (UNICEF) in collaboration with Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Kerala and Rajagiri Outreach, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (Autonomous).
  • Invited to deliver a lecture on ‘Effectiveness of Art Based Interventions: A Case Study’ at the Better Tomorrow Conference held on 20th July, 2024.The Conference was organised by The Art Outreach Society in collaboration with Kerala Start Up Mission and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
  • Invited as Resource Person by Kerala Association for Social Workers on ‘Preparing a publishable article from Dissertation Thesis’ on May 17, 2024 at 6:45 pm.
  • Invited as Resource Person by Landmark Group, Bengaluru on Journeying through Well-being at Workplace for employees of the institution, February, 2024.
  • Invited as Resource Person for Menschenrechtswoche (Human Rights Week) at Technical University of Applied Sciences, Wurzburg, Germany in December 6, 2023 to deliver talk on Critical engagements with Systemic Approaches to understanding Families.
  • Invited as Resource person for a symposium on ‘Social Work Education: Reflections from Classroom’ on August 16, 2023 organised by Department of Social Work, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad
  • The Art Outreach Society and Muthoot Fin Corp-Principal Investigator: 2018 completed: Developing modules of art therapy for different special constituencies and applying in the community
  • The Teacher Foundation: Principal Investigator: 2019: Completed: Researching on the Socio-Emotional Learning and drafting of Indian Socio-Emotional learning framework. Baseline study of Indian Socio-Emotional Learning Framework (ISELF) in 14 schools in Bangalore; organised workshops in three cities for school heads and educators on the ISELF.
  • Invited Panelist on Social Work Profession or Vocation: Indian Institute of Spirituality and Social Work, July 2021
  • Invited Panelist to 74th Roundtable, Rajagiri Media on the topic, Educating the Have- nots in India, August, 2021.
  • Talk on ‘Tribals of Chattisgarh’ for Batch 12, Border Security Force, Border Security Force Base Camp, Defence Ministry, Devanahalli, Bangalore
  • Invited speaker on ‘Mental Health and Social Work-A webinar’ at Guru Nanak College, Madras University.

Articles

 

  • Francis, C., Cherian, R. M., & Alex, R. G. (2022). Quantitative research: Understanding the personality of single and married women: Implications for women-centred social work practice. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work34(1), 100-112.Akkayasamy, V. S., Panneer, S., Cherian, R. M., & Daniel, E. (2024). Post‐road traffic injury experiences and challenges faced by college students: A qualitative study in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, India. Asian Social Work and Policy Review18(3), e12321.
  • Cherian, R. M., & Reshmy, A. N. Y. (2023). Body, visual arts, and healing: A study of the effectiveness of facilitative visual arts interventions with women survivors of intimate partner violence in Kerala. Critical and Radical Social Work, (Early View), 1-18
  • Cherian, R., & Prakash, G. S. (2022). Reflexivity Through Experiential Learning in Social Work Education: Implications for Signature Pedagogy. Journal of Social Work Education and Practice, 7(4), 17-26.
  • Cherian, R. M., & Kohli, Y. (2022). Analysing the Shift in Aspirations among Adolescents during Covid-19 Pandemic. CHILDREN FIRST, 55
  • Cherian, R. M. (2021). Many Voices, Many Worlds. Artha Journal of Social Sciences, 20(4), 117-120.
  • Cherian, R.M & Francis.C (2021) Factors influencing Student Mentoring: Insights from Higher Education Institutions, SCMS Journal of Indian Management, VolumeXVIII, Number -2, ISSN 0973 - 3167
  • Cherian, R.M, 2021, The Odd One is ‘Out’: Voices from Virtual Classrooms, Engage- Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 56, Issue No. 13, 27 Mar, 2021, 9 March 2021
  • Cherian, R.M, 2021, A narrative approach to dealing with trauma in refugee children through Social Case Work Practice, Journal of Social Work Education and Practice, Volume 6; Issue 1, January 1.
  • Cherian R, M, 2020, Pedagogy of the Virtual Space: Content Analysis of Voices from K-12 Online Classrooms of Four Indian Cities.
  • Cherian R, M, 2019, Using Superheroes in Art Therapy through Counselling for Adolescents Boys in Conflict with Law: Illustrations from Juvenile Home in Ernakulam, Kerala, Mahatma Gandhi Central University Journal of Social Sciences 
  • MGCUJSS Volume-I, Issue 1, April-September.
  • Responsible financing-A crying need to eliminate cronyism and irresponsible lending through transparent public disclosure, Reena Cherian, Pradeep Narayanan and Rohan Preece.
  • Cherian , R.M; Book Review, Shreerekha Subhramanium, Women Writing Violence: The Novel and Radical Feminist Imaginaries, New Delhi, SAGE Publications, 2015, 312 pp., ₹750, ISBN 978-8132109082.
  • Batra, S and Cherian, R.M, “Leisure and Recreational activities for students with Visual Impairment”, Disabilities and Impairments, Volume 27 (2), 2013, pp 128 to 134
  • Cherian, R, “Rendering Cross Cultural transformation using Art: A Study of Windows project in Delhi” Discovery, Volume 14, Number 35. ISSN 2278 -5469
  • Cherian, R, Researching Culture of a Classroom’, Journal of School Social Work, August, 2014, ISSN-0976-3759
  • Cherian, R, Dressing: A Gender Issue? Roles Sedimenting to Norms and Influencing Choices. International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. ISSN-2250-3226 Volume 4, Number 2, (2014), pp155-159

Books and chapters 

  • Paul, V., & Cherian, R. M. (2023). Educate, Enable and Empower Future Leaders: A Model for Community Development Through the Child Sponsorship Program. In J. C. Chennattusserry, E. N. Elangovan, & V. Paul (Eds.), Models for Social Responsibility Action by Higher Education Institutions (pp. xx-xx). Springer. https://doi.org/10.52305/YZHL7860
  • Cherian, R. M. (2023). Civil Society and Populism. In Encyclopedia of New Populism and Responses in the 21st Century (pp. 1-3). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore
  • Cherian, R. M., & Thomas, J. A. (2024). Religious Undercurrents and Populist Responses.
  • Cherian, R.M , Juxtaposed: Seven Stories of Adoption, 2017, Book, AlterNotes Press, Delhi, ISBN 978-8193312858, ₹300
  • Participated in Leadership Training organized by Christ University Education Leadership Institute, CUHELI on November 24-25, 2023.
  • Presented paper on ‘Role of women in preventing substance abuse in the community: promoting healthy behaviour in rurban communities of Bangalore.
  • Presented paper on Forging Active Citizenry for students of Social Work through Service Learning: Reaffirming the ethos of National Education Policy 2020 at Department of Studies & Research in Social Work at the Annual National Conference on Social Work in education, 2023.
  • Participated in 15 days Refresher Course in Social Sciences organized by UGC-HRDC, University of Hyderabad from July 4, 2022-July 16, 2022
  • Presented paper on “Art therapy and community’ at National Conference on Facilitative Arts Therapy, Virtual Webinar, 2020
  • Presented paper on “Conflict mitigation : Understanding cohesion’ at Indian Social Work Congress, 2019
  • Presented paper on ‘Gender and Street Art’ at Conference held in Freiburg, Germany December, 2014.
  • “Leisure and recreational Activities for Children with visual impairment: A Case of Amarjyoti school in Delhi” at “National Conference on Praxis in disability studies” hosted by Department of Social Work, Pondicherry university”, (July, 2013)
  • Presented paper in International Conference on Global peace, emotional intelligence and cross cultural transformation in “Rendering cross cultural transformation through artistic expression: A Study of Windows Project in Delhi”; organized by Global Peace Foundation, Kathmandu, Nepal, December, 2013
  • Presented Paper in National Conference on “Transforming lives of Developmentally disabled through Recreational and leisure activities” on the topic “ Recreational activities for children with mental retardation: A Case study of Manovikas Kendra” (2009).
  • Presented paper on “Agency of an Adopted Child: Lacanian Perspective” in First Indian Social Work Congress, organised by Department of Social Work, University of Delhi and NAPSWI, (February 28-29th, 2013.)
  • Presented paper on “Feminists perspectives in Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Naalu Pennungal” in Women Studies and Development Centre, University of Delhi in ‘National Conference on Feminist perspectives in India’ (2013).
  • Attended Workshop on Evaluation Research organized by NAPSWI in Department of Social Work, University of Delhi.(2013)
  • Advanced Diploma in Women and Gender Studies, University of Delhi
  • Certificate Course in Business and Human Rights, Indian Institute of Law, Delhi- HUDA, Singapore.
  • Certificate Course in Narrative Therapy, Dulwich Centre , Australia, 2014
  • Certificate Course in Family Therapy and Counselling, IAFT, Delhi-2010
  • MOOC: Becoming and Equitable Practitioner (Edx-MITx)
  • Online training on Introduction to Digial Journalism by Reuter
  • Erasmus+ staff mobility programme (KA107) at Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt
  • Visited Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt, June 2023 under Erasmus+ staff mobility programme (KA107)