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Shanti Pappu

Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute

ORCID iD 0000-0003-4786-4968
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About

Shanti Pappu, is the founder/secretary, Sharma Centre for Heritage Education (SCHE), India and a former Professor of Prehistory at the Deccan College, Pune, India. She was educated at La Martiniere, Kolkata, graduated from Stella Maris, Chennai, and completed her Master’s degree and PhD at the Deccan College, Pune, researching the prehistoric archaeology of northern Tamil Nadu. She is passionate about research in archaeology, and in bringing the subject alive for children and teachers. She founded the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education in 1999. Along with Dr. Kumar Akhilesh, she has been developing research and public outreach programs at the Centre focusing primarily on prehistoric archaeology and associated sciences. For over 20 years, her team has been investigating aspects of early prehistoric occupation of South Asia, through multidisciplinary efforts, involving excavations at the site of Attirampakkam and Sendrayanpalayam, and studies across parts of northern and southern Tamil Nadu. These projects include establishing and coordinating teams of scientists from India, Spain, France, the USA and Sri Lanka, facilitating collaborative networks to address questions related to India’s prehistoric past, through intertwined approaches in archaeology, geomorphology, palaeoenvironments, geochronology, remote sensing, and ethnoarchaeology. She has published numerous research papers in peer-reviewed journals, including Nature and Science, a book, and is currently working on a three-volume series on the prehistoric archaeology of Tamil Nadu. She has communicated results of this research in conferences and workshops in India and abroad. In addition, she is keenly interested in experimental archaeology and is co-directing with Dr. Kumar Akhilesh, programs on these themes for both research and educational purposes. She is also interested in the history of prehistoric research in India, and is currently investigating the life and work of 19th century prehistorians in India. In addition to research, the SCHE is dedicated to public outreach through creating awareness of archaeology amongst children and teachers through the Sharma Children’s Museum and through traveling workshops. For this, she is responsible for developing public archaeology programs, that have been held in-house and across India and S.Korea. In addition, her team designs innovative courses on prehistory and lithic experimental studies for undergraduate, postgraduate, PhD and postdoctoral students and faculty, both in-house, and across parts of South Asia. She is currently working with her team to devise new hybrid teaching methods through both in-person and virtual modes of learning.

Employment

  • Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute Professor of Prehistory
    2013 - 2014
  • Sharma Centre for Heritage Education Founder and Secretary/Project leader
    1999 - Present

Education

  • Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (19)