Archives: Meet Our India Fulbrighters

Rimjhim Kumari

Ms. Rimjhim Kumari is working as a team member for RESPIN project in the Spire Lab in IISc, Bangalore. She excelled in academic by bagging a gold medal in her bachelor’s and achieving a first class in her master’s in English at Patna University. She served as the student representative in the Departmental Council, a student library representative, and on editorial board of the students’ journal Iris and the department newsletter WhatsHapp during her master’s degree.

Ms. Kumari actively participates in conferences and seminars and has helped organize lectures, workshops, and a national seminar in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences on Cultural Practices of Labour in Migration during her masters. She also presented a poster in the 2nd International Conference on Indigenous Languages: Towards Sustainable Multilingualism, held at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. She has also published a few articles and academic papers. She has been a part of several private and social organizations in the capacity of a writer, editor, and annotator. She recently completed her Bachelor of Education and has a good command in Hindi, Magahi, and English language.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Ms. Kumari is teaching Hindi at Wake Forest University. She believes that her skills and experiences of Indian cultural ethos would amplify her understanding of numerous cultures and identities across the globe.

Aishwarya Gupta

Ms. Aishwarya Gupta is a PhD candidate at the Department of Linguistics at the English and Foreign Languages University, Lucknow. Her doctoral research focuses on Mahatma Gandhi’s language use to address social issues, diverse language movements, and linguistic choices. Her research explores the cause-effect relationships of human interactions across socio-political contexts, focusing on interdisciplinary studies of discourse analysis, rhetoric, cognition, educational pedagogy, and international relations. She has a gold medal in her master’s in linguistics from the University of Lucknow. She is a member of the Linguistic Society of India and America. Her works have been published in reputed journals and featured in several national and international conferences.

As a language teacher, Ms. Gupta has worked closely with the staff and students at a primary school and for underprivileged Kasturba girls. She has developed many language proficiency pedagogies to enhance their communication skills. She is also passionate about contributing to society through sustainable development. She has drafted the United Nations UNCTAD Youth Declaration 2021 alongside being a facilitator and speaker of its Youth Network, amongst other interactions with the ambassadors of many countries.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Ms. Gupta will teach Hindi at Michigan State University. Considering cross-cultural linguistic knowledge as a global factor, Ms. Gupta seeks to use her Fulbright experience to give impetus to existing language methods that offer possible solutions and build innovative ways of effective communication towards problem-solving conversations to better establish language understanding, fostering cultural exchange and developing as a future educator.

Faaizah Ghazi

Ms. Faaizah Ghazi is a Junior Research Fellow at the Centre for Spanish and Latin American Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She completed her postgraduation in English literature from Lady Shri Ram College for Women in Delhi in 2019. She also holds an advanced diploma in Spanish from the University of Delhi. She has received various academic accolades throughout her school and university education. She recently qualified for the Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board examination for Post Graduate Teacher of English.

Ms. Ghazi has as a teacher in multiple projects with the Delhi Government, the Tripura Government, British Council, and Macmillan Education. She has been a part of the ed-tech platforms Mastree and PlanetSpark where she taught and mentored students of various ages and backgrounds across India and the Middle East. She has also taught English to undergraduate students at the University of Delhi’s Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board (NCWEB).

She is selected for the national annual Gurukul program of 2022 by The Foundation of Universal Responsibility wherein she will be culturally immersed in Tibetan and Buddhist philosophy, arts, and the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

As a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Ms. Ghazi will teach Hindi at the University of Utah. She is interested in using languages and literature to promote cultural pluralism and transgressive ideation in pedagogic discourse. She hopes to achieve this not only through collective discussions but also through individual logotherapy sessions.

Kritika Dhyani

Ms. Kritika Dhyani is working at Union World School in Dehradun. Prior to this, she worked as an assistant professor of English in the Department of Humanities at Shivalik College of Engineering, Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun. She conducted several courses in English language, literature, and linguistics in classrooms of varied sizes and language competencies. She completed her MA and BA from Hansraj College, University of Delhi. She worked as a teaching volunteer with National Service Scheme instructing underprivileged children. She has a level A2 certificate of proficiency in German from Doon University, Dehradun. She is a gold medallist in her M.Phil. degree in English Language Teaching from Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan. She is pursuing a postgraduate diploma in Translation Studies from Indira Gandhi National Open University.

In her academic oeuvre, Ms. Dhyani has read papers in various seminars and conferences. She considers her paper Media, Nudity, and Gender- Interactions a superlative articulation. Her M.Phil. dissertation is titled Rhetoric of Political Speeches: A study of Donald Trump’s Political campaign. Her areas of interest include deconstruction, gender studies, intersectionality, reader-response criticism, and cultural studies.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Ms. Dhyani will teach Hindi at Yale University. Apart from teaching, she will focus on the exchange of the practices which are an assortment of social, cultural, religious, and regional facets informing language. She aims at utilizing the opportunity to situate and start a dialogue to bring a shift in the dominant narrative about local practices, enhancing mutual understanding of spatial and cultural discourse.

Priyanka Chakraborty

Ms. Priyanka Chakraborty is a PhD candidate in the Department of English, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. She has submitted her doctoral thesis, which explores the pluralities of Tibetan identity and their articulation in contemporary Tibetan literature. She completed her master’s in English and Comparative Literature from Pondicherry University. She also holds a master’s degree in women and gender studies. She has presented her works in various international conferences and has been awarded best paper in two events. Last year, she attended the summer training school organized by Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on the Integration of Migrants in Europe at University of Tuscia, Italy. Her recent publication is a study of the journeys of texts and humans from India to Tibet.

Ms. Chakraborty has taught undergraduate and postgraduate students in two Banaras Hindu University affiliated colleges. As a faculty of English literature, she has taught several courses on poetry, drama, fiction, translation studies, gender studies and language. She regularly engaged her students in various academic and cultural activities. She is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Ms. Chakraborty will teach Hindi at Wesleyan University, Connecticut. She will develop language adaptability of students through language usage in their respective cultural environment and uses blended methods of language teaching. As a cultural ambassador she will use every opportunity to familiarize the students with her culture while developing their language skills. She believes in an equal, inclusive, and multicultural society and preaches the goal of a symbiotic, holistic and eco-friendly existence.

Stuti Benal

Ms. Stuti Benal is a teacher of foreign languages and has been teaching French at Alliance Française de Chandigarh. She recently completed her master’s in English from the department of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh. In addition, she also holds a master’s in journalism and mass communication from the School of Communication Studies, Panjab University.

Ms. Benal has worked in France as an English language assistant as a part of the prestigious Asisstant de Langue program for two years where she taught high school and college students while sharing her culture with them and developing her teaching methodologies. She has written for magazines and university newspapers in the past and continues to be an avid writer. Passionate about languages, she is currently learning Spanish and also working towards perfection in her native language, Pahari.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Assistant and cultural ambassador at the University of Notre Dame, Ms. Benal aspires to share her language with the students through innovative teaching strategies while incorporating the culture of her country in the classroom through music, food, literature, and films. She looks forward to enhancing her understanding of this increasingly multicultural world, which for her finds its reflection in the manifoldness of the Indian experience.

Vikas Audumbar Kadam

Dr. Vikas Audumbar Kadam works as an assistant professor in the Department of English, Malla Reddy University, Hyderabad, Telangana. He has taught many courses in English language communication, business communication, and soft skills at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has a PhD in English language education from The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad. He has done M.Phil. in English language studies from the University of Hyderabad. He has also completed a postgraduate diploma in the Teaching of English (PGDTE) and a B.Ed. in English from EFLU Hyderabad.

Dr. Kadam has published his research in international and national journals and presented at several national and international conferences in the areas of language assessment and testing, pedagogical and collaborative assessment, critical thinking, and teacher education. His recent publication includes a research article on Tertiary Level Teachers’ Research Engagement in a Scopus indexed international journal ‘IUP Journal of English Studies’. Dr. Kadam is associated with the Regional Institute of Education (RIE- NCERT), Bhopal, and SCERT Andhra Pradesh as a course content developer and teacher trainer.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, he will teach Hindi at Mississippi Valley State University, Itta Bena, Mississippi. In the world of globalization and technological advancements where spatial boundaries get thinner each day, Dr. Kadam, through his foreign language teaching assignments and other academic and cultural events, will attempt to establish an intercultural bond between his home culture and the local culture in the U.S.

Aanchal Aggarwal

Ms. Aanchal Aggarwal is pursuing her Bachelor of Education from Indira Gandhi University, Rewari, Haryana. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a master’s degree in linguistics from the University of Delhi. In her postgraduation, she closely studied, researched, and analyzed Hindi language at various levels of language aspects. Her immense interest in language learning and teaching has helped her in earning certificates of excellence from British Council and NPTEL.

Ms. Aggarwal teaches English as a foreign language. She has more than five years of experience teaching young and adult learners coming from diverse linguistic, cultural, and ethical background. Currently, she is providing language and soft skills training through online platforms, Enguru and Spark Studio. She has been a part of ‘Project Spoken English 2019’, which was a partnership project in collaboration with the Directorate of Education Delhi, Macmillan Education, and the British Council. Trinity College, London observed closed sessions for the project. Apart from being a language trainer, she has been associated with several private and non-profit organizations as a training coordinator, annotator, writer, mentor, and campus ambassador.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Ms. Aggarwal will teach Hindi at Boston University. She aims at cultivating her knowledge about the rich cultural and educational pedagogies practiced across the world and aspires to evolve into an accomplished language trainer. She is ambitious and hard-working and yearns to be an inter-cultural conduit of knowledge sharing in this program.

Benny Varghese

Mr. Benny Varghese is Research and Publication Officer (Post Graduate Teacher Mathematics) at Navodaya Leadership Institute, Canacona, Goa—one of the seven teacher training institutes for Navodaya Schools run by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. With 25 years of teaching experience in senior secondary schools, Mr. Varghese was honored with the National ICT Award by the Government of India in 2016 in recognition of his effective and innovative integration of ICT in promoting students’ learning. During 2020-22, he served as an institute advisory board member of the Central Institute of Education Technology, a constituent unit of the National Council of Educational Research and Training, Government of India. He holds a master’s degree in mathematics and a bachelor’s degree in education.

At times, the abstractness of mathematics makes its teaching and learning a dull experience for many. Through his Fulbright DAI project, ‘Toy-based pedagogy for enjoyable mathematics learning’, Mr. Varghese aims to transform the traditional methods of teaching and learning Math by means of gamification. Given children’s fondness for games, he intends to design and use mathematical games to teach and reinforce math concepts. Upon his return to India, he intends to share his enriching Fulbright DAI experience and his pedagogical findings with Navodaya school teachers. He further aims to implement the findings of his project in Navodaya schools and in other educational organizations in the country.

Alpa Nigam

Ms. Alpa Nigam is head teacher at Primary School Tilauli, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. With 15 years of teaching experience, she has trained approximately 1,25,000 teachers at NCERT and SCERT. She is also a member of the assessment framework team and the tools development team for the State Level Achievement Survey (SLAS). Her contribution to eContent and QR code development at NCERT and SCERT has helped make classroom teaching effective, easy, and accessible for many learners. Ms. Nigam uses art, craft and puppetry as pedagogical tools to make her classroom teaching effective for children with learning disabilities. In recognition of her innovative teaching methods, she received the National ICT Award 2016 from the Indian Ministry of Education and the State Award in 2017.

Through her Fulbright DAI project, Ms. Nigam is working on developing tools and content for early detection of learning difficulties that children face in classrooms. After returning to India, she intends to share these insights and experiences with her learning community of teachers through webinars, orientation meets, and training programs. She also plans to orient parents of children with learning disabilities so that they can cater to the educational as well as personal needs of their children. She hopes these efforts will eventually benefit numerous children enrolled in different schools.