Akanksha Jain is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fashion Communication at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Gandhinagar, where she has been teaching since 2021. She also served as the Course Coordinator for the Fashion Communication programme from June 2023 to July 2026. With over 13 years of experience in higher education, she specializes in media and visual communication, teaching courses in Semiotics, Photography, Visual Culture, Moving Images, New Media, and other interdisciplinary aspects of visual communication and media studies. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Social Sciences at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, and holds an M.Phil. in Social Sciences from TISS, along with Masters in Convergent Journalism from AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia and undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Her research examines the intersections of digital media, documentary cinema, censorship, online activism, visual culture, and freedom of expression. She has presented her work at leading national and international conferences, including the Fourth International Conference on Communication and Media Studies at the University of Bonn, Germany, and has published research in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. She also contributed as a researcher to a funded project on the legal and ethical aspects of television news broadcasting and qualified the UGC-NET with Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Beyond teaching and research, Akanksha Jain actively mentors student projects in photography, films, visual storytelling, and research. She regularly contributes to curriculum development, academic coordination, and institutional initiatives, and has delivered invited lectures and served as a jury member at academic and creative events. Professionally trained in film appreciation and multimedia production, she is committed to integrating critical inquiry, creative practice, and experiential learning into design and communication education.