Jaya Upadhyay
| Grant Category: | Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program |
| Project Title: | NA |
| Field of Study: | Hindi |
| Home Institution: | DIT University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand |
| Host Institution: | Yale University , New Haven, CT |
| Grant Start Month: | August 2025 |
| Duration of Grant: | Nine months |
Brief Bio:
Dr. Jaya Upadhyay is Assistant Professor of English literature and language communication at DIT University, Dehradun. She keeps her lessons interesting by linking them with diverse cultural stories. During her graduate studies in English Literature, she formed a deep interest in exploring narratives, which later translated into the study of gendered discourse in Indian screen narratives as her doctoral topic. She completed her PhD in 2019 from the University of Lucknow. The examination of cultural life is an enduring passion that Jaya is unfolding through research and writing articles, some of which have been published in the Web of Science and Scopus.
A notable experience adding to Dr. Upadhyay’s personal and professional growth was her time as a “Fellow in Ideas 2021” at Harrison Middleton University in Arizona. This online fellowship offered her a chance to engage in conversations on subjects ranging from apple picking to robotics. It was here that she was formally introduced to the Socratic method of discussion, which has enriched her teaching and learning experience.
As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Dr. Upadhyay will be teaching Hindi at Yale University. She is planning to bridge common symbols and analogies between Indian and American cultures in innovative ways to enrich the learner’s experience. She is confident that her time at Yale will benefit her teaching skills and provide a fresh perspective on building interactions, holding discussions, and incorporating modern technology in classrooms while adding to her personal development.