Home Institution India: Banaras Hindu University

Manvi Tandon

Manvi Tandon is a PhD candidate at the Department of English, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. She completed her master’s in English literature from Banaras Hindu University in 2022, following which she taught English at North-Eastern Hill University, Tura, Meghalaya for a semester as a guest lecturer. For her doctoral research, Manvi is studying narratives of relational childhood trauma. She is working in the area of childhood studies and is deeply interested in childhood ideology and child rights advocacy. Her academic interests include childhood narratives, translation, and popular culture.

Manvi studies Indian fiction for her doctoral thesis. She avidly participated in volunteering and social work during her undergraduate days through the National Service Scheme (NSS), and an internship at My Home India where she worked with ‘Children Under Need for Care and Protection.’

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Manvi is assisting with teaching Hindi at the Department of Asian Studies, the University of Texas at Austin, TX. She hopes to contribute to the university’s language programs and foster cross-cultural understanding. This opportunity will also allow her to immerse herself in American culture and share her knowledge of Indian life, to fulfill her role as a cultural ambassador.

Sneha Sharma

Sneha Sharma is a dedicated Hindi tutor from Jorhat, Assam. She completed her master’s in linguistics from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, where she received a gold medal for her academic excellence. She also holds a master’s in English from the University of Delhi and completed her undergraduate studies at Sophia Girls’ College, Ajmer, where she was actively involved in various co-curricular activities. Sneha was a vibrant member of the college comm unity, participating in the theatre society, volunteering for the National Service Scheme (NSS), and serving on the editorial board of the university magazine.

Sneha has a profound passion for folk songs, Indian mythology, and various Indian dance forms. She is currently training in the Indian classical dance form Kathak and has a two year diploma in the same. Her love for languages and cultures extends beyond her formal education; she hosts a podcast and maintains a blog trying to promote the use of Hindi in the social sphere. She also authored a research paper titled “Birds in Selected Folksongs of Rajasthan,” highlighting her deep interest in regional folklore and culture.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Sneha is teaching Hindi at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. She aims to inspire and educate by blending traditional and modern elements, making learning an enriching and enjoyable journey for all her students. She is also keen to imbibe the teaching pedagogy of the U.S. so that innovative ideas may be formed and utilized in her teaching career.

Ashutosh Kumar

Ashutosh Kumar is an Associate Professor of History at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. He earned his Ph.D. from the History Department of the University of Delhi, where he also taught from 2012 to 2014. He received South-South Exchange Program for Research on the History of Development (SEPHIS), a Government of Netherlands funded program Fellowship during his Ph.D. He was fellow at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom; Yale University, USA; Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi; the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi, and at Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla. He is president of Indian Association for South Asian Studies (IASAS) and Chairman of Centre for Alternative Studies in Social Sciences, New Delhi.

His most recent publications include Coolies of the Empire: Indentured Indians in the Sugar Colonies, 1830-1920’, Cambridge University Press, 2017 and ‘Girmitiyas and Global Indian Diaspora: Origins, Memories and Identities’ Cambridge University Press, 2023.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence scholar, Dr. Kumar is exploring issue of rights of Indian indentured laborers on colonial sugar plantations during nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through the letters, petitions and depositions of indentured Indian migrants with a particular emphasis on the letters they wrote in regional Indian language. His project analyses such laborers’ letters and makes the case that Indian indentured laborers were able to fight for their “rights”, natural and contractual with planters and the colonial government through petitions, in addition to being able to voice their feelings and concerns on a variety of other matters.