Rate My Professor Malavika Vettah Varma

Malavika Vettah Varma is an Associate Lecturer, adjunct faculty, and teaching staff member at Curtin University Dubai within the Faculty of Humanities, specifically the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry. She delivers media and journalism units to undergraduate students across programs such as Media and Communications, Business, Information Technology, and Psychology at the Dubai International Academic City campus. Her teaching portfolio includes JOUR1000 Introduction to Journalism - Writing in Trimester 1, 2021, where she supported the unit coordinated by Dr. Kayt Davies. This internal mode unit, with lectures and tutorials, covers practical reporting skills, ethical journalism practice, news research and sourcing, interviewing techniques, story structure, grammar, punctuation, concise writing, neutral tone, Curtin style guidelines, media law, diversity in journalism, and journalism's role in society, democracy, and current affairs. Assessments comprised tutorial presentations, essays, and news writing tasks. In Trimester 3, 2024, she taught COMS2000 Media, Culture and Consumption, coordinated by Dr. Stewart Woods, focusing on media influences, cultural contexts, news consumption, and public engagement with media. She has also handled NETS2000 Web Media and other media units, guiding students in hands-on projects like developing blogs, news stories, and media plans.

After five years of dedicated teaching, Malavika Vettah Varma received the TAG Founders’ Award for Excellence in Learning & Teaching from the Transnational Academic Group, which operates Curtin University Dubai. She collaborates with unit coordinators from the Perth campus, including Dr. Kayt Davies, Dr. Stewart Woods, Denise Woods, Kara-Jane Lombard, and Eleanor Sandry. Complementing her academic role, she is a senior journalist and features writer whose work has appeared in prominent publications such as The National (for example, her 2018 article profiling entrepreneur Rakesh Wahi, founder of ABN Group and co-founder of Transnational Academic Group), Gulf News, Outlook Traveller, IANS, Spice Route, and Yahoo Maktoob. Her journalism experience provides practical insights into media production, ethical reporting, and industry dynamics, enhancing her contributions to student education in media studies.