Divya Balan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Studies at FLAME University, Pune, Maharashtra.
She has her Doctorate in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. Her doctoral thesis was “Immigrants Integration Policies in Britain: A Study of Indian Immigrants Incorporation 2000-2010”, in which she undertook a policy-level analysis of the integration measures the British Government took during the post-multiculturalist phase. Indian diaspora was taken as a case study to comprehend the impact of migration policies on diaspora integration in the UK. She has visited the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the University of Derby, the UK, on a short-term Europe Area Studies Programme Grant to complete her doctoral thesis.
Dr Divya served as an international visiting fellow of the Institute for European Global Studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland, in 2018. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMAD), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Before joining the FLAME University, she taught as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at Delhi University (Shri Ram College of Commerce & Kamala Nehru College) and the Department of International Relations at the Central University of Kerala. Her teaching and research interests include international, internal and forced migration, India-Gulf migration corridor, migration governance, Indian diaspora, non-resident Keralites, and refugees in India.
Dr Divya has received several scholarships and research grants, including the Victoria Jubilee Scholarship (2001), the Cullan Scholarship (2001), UGC Merit Scholarship (2005) and Europe Area Studies Programme Grant (2012). She is also one of the founding members and current Joint Secretary (2021-23) of GRFDT – Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism, New Delhi, and several other academic organisations.
She has authored several timely thought pieces in English and her mother tongue – Malayalam, for international, national and regional newspapers and magazines, including Routed Magazine, The Wire, Scroll.in, The New Indian Express, Times of India, Telangana Today, Truecopy Think, The Aidem etc., on migration-related issues.
Divya has published monographs and research papers in edited books and journals. She has also delivered invited lectures at several Indian universities, conducted FDPs – Faculty Development Programs, presented papers at numerous international and national conferences, and participated in policy consultations on migration at governmental and civil society levels. She has participated in workshops and symposiums in and outside India.
She is an active public speaker on themes related to migration, diaspora, and refugees.
DIVYA BALAN 