Host City India: Ann Arbor

Krishna Kumar Pandey

Dr. Krishna Kumar Pandey is Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the Central Institute of Hindi, Agra. Additionally, he holds the position of Regional Director at the Central Institute of Hindi’s regional center in Shillong, Meghalaya.

In 2020, Dr. Pandey completed his Ph.D. in linguistics at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. His doctoral research focused on the area of second language acquisition, orthography, spelling errors, and the culture of learning. He obtained his master’s in linguistics from the Department of Linguistics at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). In 2012, Dr. Pandey received the BHU prize for securing the first rank in his bachelor’s in linguistics at BHU. He has published research papers that explore topics such as the culture of learning, the role of English as a second language in India, and the nature and identity of the Devanagari script. Furthermore, he has written articles on language, culture, and identity, which have been published on reputed news platforms.

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, Dr. Pandey is teaching Hindi at the University of Michigan. In this role, he is contributing to the global prominence and growth of Indian languages, particularly Hindi. He intends to integrate the valuable teaching and learning experiences gained from this program into his pedagogical practices upon returning to India. In addition to providing an exceptional platform for teaching and learning, Dr. Pandey views the Fulbright FLTA program as a remarkable opportunity for fostering intercultural exchange.

Lalitagauri Kulkarni

Dr. Lalitagauri Kulkarni is Director, Centre for Excellence in Entrepreneurship and Development at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune. Her recent books, co-authored with Vasant Chintaman Joshi, include Inclusive Banking in India: Re-imagining the Bank Business Model (2021), and The Future of Indian Banking (2022) published by Palgrave Macmillan. These books examine the possibilities for a more inclusive business model for banks in a digitalized environment. As Director of the deAsra Centre of Excellence in Nano entrepreneurship, she researches policy alternatives for problems of nano businesses in India.

Dr. Kulkarni’s Ph.D. on secondary market trading in life insurance was an investigation into how the institutionalization of unregulated money lending could prevent the exploitation of poor policyholders. She has published papers on inclusive development, finance, and banking policy and has been involved in several research and consultancy projects.

Dr. Kulkarni’s Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence fellowship project aims to understand how financial technology has helped remove credit barriers for low-income women entrepreneurs in the United States. Dr. Kulkarni is examining how US FinTech innovations can be adapted in India to reduce the gender gap in financial inclusion. Applying quantitative and qualitative techniques, her research indicates how the positive externalities of FinTech can be maximized in financing women-led micro businesses in both countries. Through her findings, she aims to help the emerging FinTech industry in India in designing suitable business models for financing women’s micro businesses. Her research also proposes a roadmap for Indian policymakers to take affirmative action to reform the “one-size-fits-all” policy of digitalization.

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.

Amartya Kanjilal

Amartya Kanjilal graduated from the Faculty of Law, Delhi University in 2013. Since then, he has been engaged in human rights and criminal law litigation and research. He has worked as a judicial clerk in the Delhi High Court and practiced as a criminal defense lawyer in various courts in Delhi. He also worked at Project 39A, where he provided legal representation to death-sentenced prisoners in the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts. He has researched and written extensively on issues of criminal and constitutional law, with a special focus on capital punishment jurisprudence and gender law reform.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Master’s fellow, Amartya is studying the administration of criminal justice in the U.S., concentrating on legal aid mechanisms. He hopes to continue building his practice in the future, focusing on criminal justice and legal aid. He also hopes to teach seminar courses at law universities in the future.