Home Institution India: The English and Foreign Languages University

Akshiti Sharma

Ms. Akshiti Sharma recently completed her MA in English from the English and Foreign Languages University, submitting a dissertation focused on developing accessible and inclusive learning materials for ESL learners through Translanguaging. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi, where she was actively involved in the institute’s debating and literature societies, as well as the National Service Scheme (NSS).

Beyond academics, Akshiti has been deeply engaged with social initiatives through her work with the NGO Connecting Dreams Foundation. There, she contributed to Project Kilkari, teaching underprivileged children practical communication skills and empowering women from marginalized communities with technological literacy. She has worked as a content developer with Disha Publication Inc. and BookWatch. She recently translated a Hindi novella into English, blending her interests in language, education, and cultural exchange.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant at the University of Michigan, Akshiti is contributing to the university’s South Asian Language Program, fostering cross-cultural understanding and further exploring translanguaging practices and development of innovative materials to create more inclusive and effective language teaching methodologies. She hopes to apply insights gained from the Fulbright program to enrich language education in India, particularly for multilingual learners in diverse contexts.

Lalremruati

Ms. Lalremruati is a PhD candidate at the School of English Language Education at The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in linguistics, both from EFLU Hyderabad. Before her doctoral journey, she served as an assistant professor of English at the College of Horticulture, Central Agricultural University, Mizoram.

Her doctoral research is an ethnographic exploration of grassroots-level implementation of English language education policies in Mizoram. Her research focuses on the lived experiences of English teachers in government schools, examining how they navigate, negotiate, and recontextualize a technologically assisted program in their resource-challenged contexts.

As a Junior Research Fellow, Lalremruati has presented her work at several prestigious conferences in India and abroad on how teachers recontextualize policy measures. She is an active member of the History of English Language Education (HELE) Studies Society, India, where she disseminates the history of English language education in Mizoram through conferences and publications.

Through the Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Fellowship, Lalremruati is acquiring a cross-cultural comparative perspective on how language education policies affect minority groups in low-resource contexts. Her goal is to contribute to equitable and inclusive education for marginalized communities. In her free time, she enjoys watching documentaries on pretty much anything. She also writes whimsical little poems on her Instagram account.

Anna Lynn Tom

Anna Lynn Tom is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Comparative Literature and India Studies at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. She received the Indian Council of Social Sciences Research (ICSSR) doctoral research fellowship in 2022 for her study on interventional feminist practices in contemporary visual art in India. Previously, she was as an assistant professor in English at St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru. She completed her master’s from EFL University, Hyderabad, focusing in Indian and world literatures.

Anna has published critical writing on gender, art and culture on Indian online platforms such as The Chakkar, Live Wire, Catharsis, Articulate, and ASAP Art Connect. She has also published book chapters and academic papers in research journals. She has presented her ongoing work on the presence of women and queer artists in the contemporary Indian art scene at national and international conferences. Through her doctoral research, Anna aims to understand different methods of reading feminist art of the Indian contemporary through bodily mediated encounters within the decolonial avant-garde.

As a Fulbright Nehru Doctoral Research fellow at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, Anna is conducting a comparative analysis of understanding feminist interventions during the period of the women’s movements (roughly 1960 – 1990) in the U.S. and India through an exploration of the Miriam Schapiro Archives on Women Artists. Anna is an avid consumer of fiction and cinema. She also practices experimental forms of writing and photography.

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.

Chandrika Das

Ms. Chandrika Das is a final year Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Translation Studies, the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. Her research has led her to explore epic narratives and folktales in the Rajasthan region. She is working on oral-visual cultures, which are now on the wane in a fast-changing digital world. She collects epic narrations and explores translational relations between the narratives’ visual and oral constituents.

Ms. Das is a recipient of the Junior Research Fellowship awarded by the University Grants Commission India. She has presented her work at various national and international conferences. She also served as Associate at the Nida School of Translation Studies, Italy and was selected for the SISU Translation Research Summer School, Shanghai, which was organized by the Baker Center for Translation and Intercultural Studies. She is a budding translator, who translates between Hindi and English. One of her translated short stories has been published by Sahitya Akademi in their journal Indian Literature.

As a Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant, Ms. Das is teaching Hindi at the University of Texas, Austin. Through her participation in the program, she is engaging with a diverse teacher-learner community. She hopes to return to India with upgraded pedagogical skills, which would aid her career as an academician in India.

Vaibhavi Chaturvedi

Vaibhavi Chaturvedi is a PhD candidate in English literature at the English and Foreign Languages University, Lucknow. Her research delves into the significance of culinary narratives, exploring how they serve as vital spaces for creative expression and cultural identity for women. Through her work, she aims to highlight the intersection of food, literature, and gender, revealing how culinary storytelling can empower women and provide insight into their lived experiences and societal roles.

Vaibhavi completed her master’s degree at Jamia Millia Islamia and her bachelor’s degree at the University of Delhi. She has been awarded the Junior Research Fellowship by the University Grants Commission of India. She has presented her research at numerous national and international conferences and has published papers in her field of study. With over two years of experience, she has taught English as a foreign language to young and adult learners from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. During her time as an intern with the Anubhuti Organization, she assisted in the development of a competency-based curriculum for students who had dropped out of primary schools.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Vaibhavi will be teaching Hindi and Urdu at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC. She aims to promote cross-cultural understanding by integrating a range of cultural perspectives into her teaching. She is eager to participate in the program as it will enhance her ability to be a compassionate and culturally aware scholar and educator.