{"id":495,"date":"2019-11-09T10:00:51","date_gmt":"2019-11-09T10:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/?page_id=495"},"modified":"2022-01-06T07:28:50","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T07:28:50","slug":"mathaifenn","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/mathaifenn\/","title":{"rendered":"Mathai Fenn, Ph.D."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"369\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/mbf_parur2.jpg?resize=525%2C369&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/mbf_parur2.jpg?w=960&amp;ssl=1 960w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/mbf_parur2.jpg?resize=300%2C211&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/mbf_parur2.jpg?resize=768%2C540&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 706px) 89vw, (max-width: 767px) 82vw, 740px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption>Mathai Fenn, Ph.D. <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/14GPASjl4FnxahqCO1aiPYHROGjaWlC-2ThtxKKz9lXQ\/edit?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"(click here for a detailed CV) (opens in a new tab)\">(click here for a detailed CV)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>My Digital Visiting Card<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/mathai.fenn.net\">https:\/\/mathai.fenn.net<\/a>  ( Click to send me a whatsapp or to save my details to your phone )<\/li><li><strong>LinkedIn<\/strong>: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mathaifenn\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mathaifenn\/<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Facebook: <\/strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mathaifenn\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mathaifenn<\/a><\/li><li><strong>My Podcast<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/anchor.fm\/mathaifenn\">https:\/\/anchor.fm\/mathaifenn<\/a> ( Also available on Spotify and RSS)<\/li><li><strong>My Youtube Videos<\/strong>: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/mathaifenn\/videos\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/mathaifenn\/videos<\/a><\/li><li><strong>Speaker&#8217;s Introduction<\/strong>  <em>If you need to introduce Mathai Fenn to an audience, you can print <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1SwvH-TrrYzbHJM0MNvyjFpFfVRH494XAjR7SCb2QZNQ\/edit?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\">this document<\/a> to read out.<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Mathai Fenn has a B.A. in Psychology from <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Union Christian College (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/uccollege.edu.in\/\" target=\"_blank\">Union Christian College<\/a> (1984), an M.A. in Psychology from the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.keralauniversity.ac.in\/dept\/dept-home\" target=\"_blank\">Dept. of Psychology, Kerala University<\/a>, Trivandrum (1986),  and finally a PhD from the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hss.iitb.ac.in\/\" target=\"_blank\">Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay<\/a> (1996). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">During his B.A. days, Fenn focussed on understanding the individual. This was informed by his readings in Post Freudian Psychoanalysis, and Existentialism. It was also the time he laid the foundations for his interest in Cognitive Psychology (<em>how do we perceive the world around us? How much of it is true and how much is made up by our mind?<\/em>). For example, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/BEuNa1Vp_b0\" target=\"_blank\">in this Tedx video<\/a>, Hinze Hogendoorn, asks the question of how we perceive time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During his M.A. program, he saw the question of <strong>Consciousness<\/strong> as a coming together of existential questions (the experience &#8211; phenomenology) and cognitive science (how we create the world around). It was also a time when he was introduced to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Transpersonal Psychology (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Transpersonal_psychology#Origins\" target=\"_blank\">Transpersonal Psychology<\/a>, and his impassioned plea against reductionism got a warm response and a life long membership at the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Association of Humanistic Psychology (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Association_for_Humanistic_Psychology\" target=\"_blank\">Association of Humanistic Psychology<\/a>. It also resulted in a long term relationship with <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Tom Greening (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.tomgreening.com\" target=\"_blank\">Tom Greening<\/a>, the editor of the<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" Journal of Humanistic Psychology (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/home\/jhp\" target=\"_blank\"> Journal of Humanistic Psychology<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His PhD was under two supervisors, Prof Meenakshi Gupta from Psychology and Prof. P.R. Bhat (from Philosophy), both at <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hss.iitb.ac.in\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hss.iitb.ac.in\" target=\"_blank\">HSS Dept of IIT Bombay<\/a>. Graduate courses in Philosophy gave him the vocabulary to express what he had always felt. Taking a page from <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/entries\/dilthey\/\" target=\"_blank\">Wilhelm Dilthey<\/a>, Mathai subscribes to the view that the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"reductionistic (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/metacrock.blogspot.com\/2016\/09\/reducationism-scientific-methodology.html\" target=\"_blank\">reductionistic<\/a> methods for understanding Natural Sciences (<strong>Naturwissenschaft)<\/strong> were not appropriate for understanding the Human Being (<strong>Geisteswissenschaften<\/strong>). His interest in symbols that began with his exploration of Psychoanalysis blossomed into an interest in Semiotics that has its roots in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ferdinand_de_Saussure\">Ferdinand <\/a>Saussure and was further developed by Lacan, Derrida, Foucault, Barthes and others into what we now know as <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Post Structuralism (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.philosophybasics.com\/movements_poststructuralism.html\" target=\"_blank\">Post Structuralism<\/a> \/ Post Modernism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Theory.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Click here to read about Gestalt Theory that he subscribes to (pdf) (opens in a new tab)\">Click here to read about Gestalt Theory that he subscribes to (pdf)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A curated list of authors that he has enjoyed and has influenced him would include:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul><li>Soren Kierkegaard<\/li><li>Jean-Paul Sartre<\/li><li>Albert Camus<\/li><li>Wilhelm Dilthey<\/li><li>Hans-Georg Gadamer<\/li><li>Erich Fromm<\/li><li>Sigmund Freud<\/li><li>R.D. Laing<\/li><li>Michel Foucault<\/li><li>Jacques Derrida<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Work Experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Mathai Fenn&#8217;s work is based on his theoretical outlook.  When the opportunity presented itself for tenure at XLRI Jamshedpur, he took it because it gave him an opportunity to look at organizations as a microcosm of society and Marketing Communications gave him the opportunity to look deeper into symbolic communications. Apart from XLRI, he has also delivered lectures at<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"IIT Gandhinagar\u2028 (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/iitgn.ac.in\/\" target=\"_blank\">IIT Gandhinagar<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"IIT Bombay\u2028 (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.iitb.ac.in\/\" target=\"_blank\">IIT Bombay<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"IIM Kozhikode\u2028 (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.iimk.ac.in\" target=\"_blank\">IIM Kozhikode<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"IIM Calcutta\u2028 (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iimcal.ac.in\/\" target=\"_blank\">IIM Calcutta<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.iimb.ac.in\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"IIM Bangalore\u2028 (opens in a new tab)\">IIM Bangalore<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Gitam University (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gitam.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">Gitam University<\/a>, Vishakapattanam<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"New Shores (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.newshores.edu.in\" target=\"_blank\">New Shores<\/a>, Bangalore<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"American University of Armenia (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.aua.am\" target=\"_blank\">American University of Armenia<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"ICARE (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.icare.am\" target=\"_blank\">ICARE<\/a>, Yerevan, Armenia<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"TISS (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.tiss.edu\" target=\"_blank\">TISS<\/a> Mumbai<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"NRTI Baroda (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nrti.edu.in\" target=\"_blank\">NRTI<\/a>. Vadodara<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"SP Jain Global (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spjain.org\/global-campus\/dubai\" target=\"_blank\">SP Jain Global<\/a> MBA &#8211; Dubai Campus<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Chinmaya School,  (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.chinmayavidyalayaktm.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Chinmaya School, <\/a>Kottayam<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Before taking up the position at XLRI he worked for a while in Advertising and Qualitative Research in Bombay. Believing in Peter Drucker\u2019s words &#8211; \u201c<em>Business is the art of creating a customer<\/em>\u201d, during his initial period he also worked as a door to door salesperson doing cold calls. For fun, he has worked as a Santa Claus in a clothing boutique in Bombay as well as a few short stints in movies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YrWViYGuhLQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/HosPoster.jpg?resize=417%2C589&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A poster from the movie Humans of Someone on Youtube\" class=\"wp-image-1133\" width=\"417\" height=\"589\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/HosPoster-scaled.jpg?resize=724%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 724w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/HosPoster-scaled.jpg?resize=212%2C300&amp;ssl=1 212w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/HosPoster-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1087&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/HosPoster-scaled.jpg?resize=1085%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1085w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/HosPoster-scaled.jpg?resize=1447%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1447w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/HosPoster-scaled.jpg?resize=1008%2C1426&amp;ssl=1 1008w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/HosPoster-scaled.jpg?w=1809&amp;ssl=1 1809w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/HosPoster-scaled.jpg?w=1575&amp;ssl=1 1575w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 417px) 100vw, 417px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><figcaption>A fun project with a few friends: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YrWViYGuhLQ\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YrWViYGuhLQ\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/YrWViYGuhLQ<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My Digital Visiting Card: https:\/\/mathai.fenn.net ( Click to send me a whatsapp or to save my details to your phone ) LinkedIn: https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mathaifenn\/ Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mathaifenn My Podcast: https:\/\/anchor.fm\/mathaifenn ( Also available on Spotify and RSS) My Youtube Videos: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/mathaifenn\/videos Speaker&#8217;s Introduction If you need to introduce Mathai Fenn to an audience, you can print this &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/mathaifenn\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Mathai Fenn, Ph.D.&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/495"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3232,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/495\/revisions\/3232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetalkshop.in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}