Headline

Faculty at UoPeople, California, Chair - UoLearners’ & BSL, UDEI, IIO, ADU, ADEI, ADEP, DEF, UL, DUR, DHA, ADHA, EHA, ARDA, IDRI, IGI, AIGI, TBP, TNPP, TGL, tglX, WaveHills... Email : research.abirlal@gmail.com

About

Pioneering Critical Digital Humanities, Internet Linguistics, Learning Management Systems (LMS), and Online Learning Ecosystems. Introduced and developed the academic fields of Viromemeology, Virolinguistics, Digital Waste Studies, and Digital Andragogy. Professional Roles & Academic Engagements: Lecturer at University of the People, California; Director, Bengaluru School of Languages; Former Language Expert at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru; Former Professor at Amity University; Working Group Chair at the University of Helsinki; AI and Education Fellow at Stanford University; Visiting Researcher at Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg; and Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) Member at GITAM (Deemed to be University). Teach For India Fellow; National Fellowship Selection Committee Member (FRC); ICSSR Doctoral Fellow; India School on Internet Governance (InSIG) Fellow (2024); Organising Committee Member and Fellowship Committee Member, Youth Internet Governance Forum India (YIGF-India); and postgraduate alumnus of Birmingham City University, UK. Founder & Builder of Academic, Educational & Research Initiatives: The Learners' University; Universal Digital Education Initiatives (UDEI); Association of Digital Universities (ADU); Association of Digital Education Institutions (ADEI); Association of Digital Education Providers (ADEP); Digital University Ranking (DUR); Indian Internet Observatory (IIO); Digital Education Forum (DEF); Digital Humanities Alliance (DHA); Association of Digital Humanities Alliances (ADHA); Environmental Humanities Alliance (EHA); Internet Linguistics Research Network (ILRN); Alliance of Internet Waste Studies Networks (AIESN); Memeology and Memetics Research Network (MMRN); Internet Rights Research Centre (IRRC); Internet Diplomacy Research Centre (IDRC); Social Entrepreneurship Forum (SEP); Digital Andragogic Forum (DAF); Digital Humanities Forum (DHF); Critical Humanities Forum (CHF); The Good Lecture Series (TGL); WaveHills Journals and Books; Dukady Publishing Company; and Polar Journals. Best Mentor Award, Amity University; Digital Transformation Excellence Award, St. Xavier's College, Tamil Nadu. Research Interests: Internet memes, digital discourse, multimodality, social semiotics, internet governance, digital education, artificial intelligence in education, digital humanities, internet linguistics, and emerging digital cultures. Email: research.abirlal@gmail.com

Location

Bengaluru

AI stack

claude

gemini

grok

openai

Work experience

Founding Director at Bengaluru School of Languages, Aug 2026 - Present · 2 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

University Faculty at University of the People, Jul 2026 - Present · 3 mos, California, United States

Fellow, AI in Education, @GSB — Applied AI Initiative at Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Jan 2026 - Present · 9 mos, United States

English Expert for the IMPRINT Project - SPIRE Lab at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Aug 2025 - Present · 1 yr 2 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Founder at University of the Learners', Jul 2025 - Present · 1 yr 3 mos, Global, The Learners’ University is the India’s first and world’s one of the earliest fully remote, futuristic non-traditional and non-profit university, initiated in 2023 by the Universal Digital Education Initiatives towards the accessible digital education for all aligned to SDG 4, to redefine what higher education in the digital age.

Education

Post Graduation Certificate in Editing and Publishing, Jadavpur University

Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Humanities and Culture, Digital Humanities and Culture, Jadavpur University