Jaya Upadhyay

Jaya is a Professor of English Literature in the valley town of Dehradun in India, where the surrounding mountains are an ample resource and inspiration for teaching poems and prose to her students. She has also been teaching English language communication for quite some years now, keeping her lessons interesting by linking them with diverse cultural stories. With her students at Yale, she aims to use the same experience to help them understand her native language better.

 

During her graduate studies, she formed a deep interest in exploring cultural narratives that later translated into selecting the study of gendered discourse in Indian screen narratives as her doctoral topic. This examination of cultural life is an ongoing liking that she is unfolding through writing and discussing ideas with people. She is sure to add to those reflections during her time at Yale.

 

One interesting experience adding to Jaya’s personal and professional growth was her time as a “Fellow in Ideas” at Harrison Middleton University in Arizona. This online fellowship offered her a chance to engage in conversations ranging from apple picking to robotics. It was here that she was introduced to the Socratic method of discussion, which has greatly enriched her teaching experience and she can’t wait to explore its benefits at Yale.

 

On a lighter note, if she ever goes missing, you can probably find her in the library, and when she is not reading or writing, you will find her binge-watching world cinema on her latest favourite platform, Mubi.