Dr. Shahal B. — Assistant Professor, Kannur University

Dr. Shahal B. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Kannur University, Mangattuparamba, Kerala, India. He is a researcher specialising in sound studies, media history, and sensory anthropology, with a focus on South Asia and Kerala. He completed his PhD in Communication from the University of Hyderabad in 2025 with a dissertation titled "Songbooks, Theatres, and Buses: The Many Embodiments of Cinema in Kerala's Socialscape." He is an incoming Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Nottingham, UK (2026–2028), awarded by the European Commission — one of the most competitive postdoctoral fellowships in Europe.

His published work includes articles in Studies in South Asian Film & Media and Sound Studies, and chapters in The Routledge History of the Senses and Kerala and the Crises of Modernity. He has presented at 14 international and national conferences. He has held five fellowships including the Senior Research Fellowship from the University Grants Commission and the Writing Urban India Fellowship from the Centre for Policy Research.

Contact: shahalb@kannuruniv.ac.in · https://shahal.be · https://uohyd.academia.edu/ShahalB · https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shahal-B

Shahal B. — Assistant Professor

Shahal B.

PhD in Communication · University of Hyderabad, 2025

Investigates the sensory lives of media — from Kerala’s cinemas to its coastlines. His work spans sound studies, media history, and sensory anthropology.

Sound StudiesMedia HistorySensory AnthropologyKerala Studies

Upcoming · 2026–2028

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow

University of Nottingham, UK · European Commission

5Fellowships
4Publications
14Conf. Talks
↓ CV

Areas of Inquiry

Cross-disciplinary work at the intersection of sound, media, and the senses — with a focus on South Asia.

01

Sound Studies & Aurality

The cultural life of sound in everyday South Asian settings — film music, public loudspeakers, cassettes, and the politics of listening in Kerala.

Film MusicAuralitySoundscapePublic Culture
02

Media History

How communication technologies embed themselves into social life — from the phonograph to streaming, traced through the landscape of Kerala.

TechnologyInfrastructureArchiveMedia Archaeology
03

Sensory Anthropology

The intersection of caste, space, and perception — how bodies navigate sensory environments shaped by power, belonging, and exclusion.

CasteSpaceEmbodimentSensory Studies
04

Kerala & Modernity

Regional media culture as a site of negotiation between the local and national, the sacred and the cinematic, the past and the contemporary.

KeralaRegionalismLanguageModernity

“Songbooks, Theatres, and Buses: The Many Embodiments of Cinema in Kerala’s Socialscape”

Examines sound technology adoption in Kerala through four critical historical moments — the phonograph, the loudspeaker, the audio cassette, and the CD — tracing how each reshaped the social fabric.

PhD in Communication · University of Hyderabad · February 2025

Published Work

2023Journal Article
Read

Film music and the mediation of everyday aurality in private buses: Field notes from Kannur, Kerala

Studies in South Asian Film & Media

Vol. 15, No. 1 · pp. 83–94

Read paper
2025Book Chapter

Stepping outside the cinema and into the cinematic; theatre songs and azaan in Kerala

The Routledge History of the Senses

Ed. Andrew Kettler & William Tullett · Routledge · ISBN 9781032345871

A Research Life

2026–28Upcoming

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow

University of Nottingham, UK

Dept. of Cultural, Media, and Visual Studies · European Commission

Among the most competitive postdoctoral fellowships in Europe, awarded by the EU Commission.

2025

Assistant Professor

Kannur University

Dept. of Journalism and Media Studies · Mangattuparamba, Kerala

2025

PhD in Communication

University of Hyderabad

Dissertation: Songbooks, Theatres, and Buses: The Many Embodiments of Cinema in Kerala's Socialscape

2021

Writing Urban India Fellowship

Centre for Policy Research, India

Competitive national fellowship for urban research

2020

Senior Research Fellowship

University Grants Commission, India

Competitive national research fellowship

2018

MA in Communication

University of Hyderabad

First Class with Distinction · JRF & NET awarded, University Grants Commission

2016

BA in English Literature

Payyanur College, Kannur University

Dept. of English Language and Literature · Kerala

Get in touch.

Open to correspondence regarding research collaboration, conference invitations, and academic inquiry.

shahalb@kannuruniv.ac.in ↗

Dept. of Journalism & Media Studies
Kannur University · Mangattuparamba
Kerala, India 670567