The Research Centre, Centre for Gender and Cultural Studies (CGCS), initiated by the Research
and Development Cell, has been established at Jagat Guru Nanak Dev Punjab State Open
University (JGND PSOU), Patiala on 17 November 2025 and approved by Academic Council on
28 November 2025. The Centre for Gender and Cultural Studies is an interdisciplinary space
established to promote gender and sexuality inclusive research and teaching. CGCS is committed
to study the spectrum of inequalities, identities and politics in everyday lives and expand
understanding about the normative idea of gender, heteronormativity, family, pleasure and
desire. The research objective of CGCS is to decolonize feminist scholarship and praxis and
produce knowledge about transnational feminism, queer and trans thoughts.
The Centre for Gender and Cultural Studies will have three major focus areas for research - (i)
critical approaches to gender and culture; (ii) intersectional approaches to social issues; and (iii)
the need for critical discourses in higher education policies and practice.
The Centre for Gender and Cultural Studies (CGCS) shall facilitate doctoral and post-doctoral
research, conduct seminars, workshops, collaborative programmes, promote multidisciplinary
studies and publish research outcomes.
Objectives
The Centre for Gender and Cultural Studies shall conduct and support research and education in
the field of Gender Studies in the interdisciplinary perspective;
conduct multidisciplinary studies in areas related to gender and culture
promote incorporation of Gender and Cultural Studies into the University curriculum; develop cooperation in the field of gender equality between academia, media and non-
governmental organizations in the region.
Promote the following Research areas:
-Gender, Class, Nation;
-Gender and Cultural Representations in Visual Culture and Feminist Curatorship;
-Gender, Mobility, and Human Rights;
-Gendered Issues in Media;
-Gender and Economy in diverse cultures under Post socialism;
-Gender, Science and Technologies;
-Gender and Language;
-Artificial Intelligence and Ethics
CGCS proposes to examine curriculum, curricular policy and pedagogical approaches in higher
education from non-normative and critical lenses. This area of research will focus on innovative
pedagogy, inclusion of marginalized communities within the curriculum and unquestioned
normativities in curricular policy. This focus area seeks to develop strategies for inculcating
alternative and culturally sensitive approaches to pedagogy and curriculum development.
